For months people would say to me, “Just wait, your whole life is going to change.”
Duh. Can you hear me rolling my eyes?
Isn’t that the point? To change your life, start or expand your family, and so on when you get pregnant?
People can get so melodramatic when you tell them you’re pregnant. But, you’ve heard all those complaints.
Obviously — and to all of you reading this who told me my life was going to change, forgive me — I just nodded my head, smiled and said, “I can’t wait” while silently dismissing you.
Don’t you know that until someone is in the parenting club there’s no point in telling them that? They’re not going to listen. That’s like trying to tell a teenager there’s no reason to rush into adulthood because there’s bills and work and chores and other mundane responsibilities. All they see is freedom.
And all an expectant parent sees is the wonderful, adorable baby they’ve envisioned in their mind.
So, obviously I was expecting my whole life to be turned upside down, to go through some major upheaval and need beta blockers or valium or both to manage the insanity.
Granted, the first week home with Lyla was challenging, but it really didn’t take long for her to fit right into our life.
Yes, there’s change, but it’s incremental … almost like weight gain, before you know it you’ve put on 20 pounds.
Or, with a baby, before you know it there are toys everywhere, making a bottle or changing a diaper is second nature, you reach into your pocket for something and discover a pacifier and after the first couple trips out of the house that took an hour to get ready, suddenly you can be out the door almost as quickly as when there wasn’t a bundle of joy to strap into a car seat.
Sometimes when people would tell me “your whole life is about to completely change” it almost sounded like an ominous warning tinged with a bit of resentment and wistfulness.
There is something about pregnant women that makes people, especially veteran parents, want to scare the crap out of them. What is up with that?
Parenting so far has been wonderful. I wonder to myself, “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”
And I’m already plotting what I need to say to persuade Jason to go for no. 2 in a couple years. I don’t want to wait too long, I’m 31 and high risk as it is, plus I don’t want to have a huge gap in age anyway. My sister and I are nearly 12 years apart while Jason and his younger brother are separated by more than six years.
So, yes, life has changed. For the better. And in ways I would never have expected, which is what I suspect everyone was trying unsuccessfully to articulate.
I enjoy changing diapers, even stinky poopy ones, and feeding Lyla and trying to soothe her when she’s fussy. Every moment is awesome when it’s challenging.
Therefore I hereby promise to NEVER tell an expectant parent, “Just wait, your whole life is going to change.”
I know better because I have officially joined the parenting club. Like every pregnancy and every baby, every parent is different, and every parenting experience is different so I’ll just let you expectant parents find that out in your own way and time.

And now, pictures of Lyla.