What to really be scared of after delivery

This is for all the pregnant moms I have been scaring with my posts lately. 

Ketch and his giant hand.
(It's just the camera angle.)

I just need to clarify a few things:

First of all, there is nothing more amazing than the newborn stage with your first baby. Yes, you have to deal with constant sleep deprivation for the first time ever, but you also get to experience the first smile, the first head turn, the first giggle. You also really learn what it means to love unconditionally. It is a feeling so fierce, so scary and so wonderful it makes every poopy diaper and 3am crying session able to be forgotten.  Just ask any parent who has children that are grown and gone. No one remembers the bad, because there is so much good.

Second of all, I have a toddler to chase around all day long, as well as, the sleepless nights. Sleep deprivation and hormones make for a really emotional roller coaster. It is healthy to be able to express your emotion, but instead I have to suppress it because there is enough emotion going on in this house without me adding to it.

Third, there are a lot of things I can't do right now because of Ketcher's oxygen tank. Some examples include putting Ketcher in a sling, so I can still get things done when he is awake. Or even going for a walk... I could do it but it would take me longer to prep the stroller, both kids, and hook up the travel oxygen than the actual walk. Even something as simple as sitting on the porch requires manual labor to move the tank and get setup outside in a way that doesn't involve tangled cords.

I am having a wonderful time connecting with my new baby.  Night feedings are almost a blessing, because they are the only time I am not distracted while I feed him. You will find that watching your sleeping baby smile and frown and make all kinds of faces is just one of life's simple and profound pleasures. That goes by so fast, make sure you get some video of it.

"Oh, not the belly pushing!"

Even with all the nasty spewing out of Kenzie there are still so many moments that make me so glad to be her mom. Tonight I was putting her to bed, and I was giving her raspberries on her cheek.  She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a big kiss and started laughing like crazy. She didn't want to let me go. We were both laughing and it was just one of those moments you catalog in your memory.  I won't remember the epic the tantrum at target, but I won't forget that first real bedtime snuggle.

The only real things to be afraid of are the mesh underwear you get at the hospital, when they push on your belly every 15 minutes for the first 24 hours after birth, and the pain of breastfeeding.