letter to myself

Dear you, All 28 years of you, fresh-faced from grad school, ready to take on the world. All 35 extra pounds of you, waddling around with an aching back and a bulging belly. All 37 weeks of you, still counting down days till the due date, still full of wonder and waiting and expectation. You have no idea how life's about to change. Oh sure, you think you know. You've read the books, taken the classes, scoured the websites, questioned friends and family and frankly any unsuspecting stranger in the Target baby aisle who even looks like she might be a mother. You want to know exactly what it's going to be like - labor, birth, nursing, newborns - because you're sure it's a life-altering change, this leap you're about to take, this transition nature's about to induce. But the depth of this transformation? You're clueless, kiddo. As a microcosm of how mothering will continually defy your expectations, the big birth day you're anticipating? It'll look nothing like you … [Read more...] about to the woman i was three years ago tonight