MY FIRST BLOG POST AS A FULL FLEDGED MOM

Wow, it has really been a while since I last blogged. Let's see if I still know how to do this...

I gave birth almost a year ago. Yes, I've jumped in to the motherhood bandwagon! Hence, you may ignore the blog header implying a pregnant woman, as I've long been over that phase. As to when I can find the time to edit my header, I guess, we just have to wait for now. Having said that, it's understandable why my blog has been dormant for so long except for that one copy/paste post which I managed to squeeze in between mommy duties. I do miss blogging -- not just writing in my blog, but most especially interacting with my blogging buddies and reading updates in their blogs. So, here I am in the wee (and unholy you may say) hours taking the chance to update this blog while my soon-to-be 1-year-old son sleeps in his room and my husband beside me dozing deeply and most likely in the abyss of dreamland currently.

So what does motherhood have in store for me?

1. Love at first sight. Imagine being in a relationship with someone whom you basically did everything with together for nine months -- eating, taking a bath, working, shopping -- not a single thing you did that you weren't with that person, you even breathed together! He was so close to you he heard every heartbeat of yours. You were so attached to him, you felt his every move, even his hiccups! Nine months and yet neither of you have seen each other during that time. Then one day, you finally got to see his face... and you finally got to hold him, kiss him, hear his cry, talk to him and look him in the eyes... and seeing him turn his head as he recognized your voice -- the voice he had heard for nine months that he was inside the womb. The feeling is amazing.

2. My love for my husband grows more and more each day. Each ache and pain that accompanied my pregnancy, from sciatica to burning gastritis all the way through contractions and post partum soreness, he was always there with me and for me and our son. From the first breastfeeding until the most recent diaper change and the back-breaking bath times and all the unlimited supply of tantrums and unexplainable colicky fussing in between, he was there. A lot of times I was literally at my wit's end tearing my hair but my husband's love and devotion to me and our son kept me sane. Parenthood could get so hectic crazy, and for us who has no extended family around readily available to lend us a hand, Vince and I have learned to value and love each other more as we in tandem raise our son. I'm thankful for that because it defines our relationship more.

3. It is life changing. I understand that not having a child is the way that some people choose to go and I have no negative thing to say about that (unless of course it's intentional abortion, then I have a different view on that), but there really are wonderful things I only came to fully realize and understand when I became a parent. Emotions and fears I thought I knew? I only truly felt them once I became a mom. Now I can proudly say that I know better because I really do. Parenthood is a hashtag-feather-in-a-cap kind of thing. Some of my perspectives have changed simply for the fact that I now have a child who is so precious to my heart and whose life depends on me. It is life changing also in the aspect that date nights for Vince and me now meant grocery shopping and dinner out together as a family, traveling light meant umbrella stroller and booster chair versus bulky stroller and high chair, movie marathon meant Super Why marathon, mini van versus car, takeouts instead of fine dining sit-in, double bed replaced by a king bed (ooohlala!), Coach versus Carter's... yeah, I'm sure you TOTALLY get what I mean, IF you're a parent *wink wink*. It is challenging most of the time for Vince and me (and probably for Vonn Kaleb too, yikes!) but at the end of the day, we lay in our bed with full and perky hearts because there is just a certain je ne sais quoi bliss that parenthood brings.

Well, I'm positive that what I have in my list is nothing but short compared to what veteran moms may have in theirs. I'm only at my first year of motherhood yet I can attest already that it entails so much emotion, so much effort, so much strength, so much courage, so much everything that it's not possible to capture in one blog post what it has in store for one. As I grow into motherhood each day, I'm expecting to discover more new things, new fears, and new feelings. If there's anything that motherhood had already taught me, I have learned that owning a child gives new meaning to life. It's upping life to a different level of wonderful and awesome. Now I understand why having a child (or more) is truly one of the greatest blessings one can have, and that every child is a gift from God.

Well, well, well. What do you know, after the long hiatus, I still know how to blog :)