It’s Topic Day at New Jersey Moms Blog and today we’re sharing birth and adoption stories. I love the picture they slapped on my submission – big baby belly, sexy bra and string bikini panties. Ha. Yup, that’s me alright. My birth story compares my first time vs. my second birth experience. Everyone say it with me: please, go check it out. If not for the story, for the picture of me.
Postsecret.com. It’s raw and real, making it one of my favorite blogs. Everyday folk revealing their most intimate secrets on a postcard for all the Net to read.
As a Christian, home schooling mom, my world can be so limited it’s easy to forget how people today suffer, especially the teen-aged unbeliever. Postsecret helps me feel connected to those that are hurting, crying out for understanding.
Just so you know, some of you may find the content on Postsecret offensive (two naughty words on the site today). I hope you can look past that; I like to think Jesus doesn’t mind it. Being that they are the lost he loves and wants to heal.
Anyway, all that backstory to say: As mothers we have power to lift up or tear down, to bless or to condemn. Click over to Postsecret to read all the testimonies (good or bad) regarding the power you hold, Mom.
Pay special attention to the last postcard, the one if you scroll over flips to the picture of Pooh and Piglet walking hand-in-hand. I hope the mother of the teen who wrote it sees it, and is encouraged today. I know it reminds me of the power I have as a mom.
Nope, I’m not a soccer mom. I’m talking babies. With two boys and two girls, it’s decided. No more babies in the Brand house.
This mama is done with baby making. No more huge belly like I’ve got a basketball stuffed under my shirt. Seriously, that’s exactly what I looked like. Freaky. Swollen ankles, heartburn, maternity clothes – goodbye.
Lucy, our youngest, is a big kid now at three. No more diapers. Naps a thing of the past. Sippy cups went into the recycling bin. She even stopped sucking her thumb on her own.
I loved pregnancy. I never got sick, had plenty of energy until those last few weeks. Feeling the baby kick was the best. And that basketball belly proved to be the great conversation starter. And everyone knows what a talker I am.
Even so. I’m ready to move onto that next stage of motherhood. I’m not there yet, but I see it approaching on the horizon. The ability to be on one side of the house while all four of the kids are occupied elsewhere. I’m looking forward to not having to worry a toddler is playing with steak knives or escaping naked out the door to run into the street.
I’ll bet there is a mother reading this right now laughing at me. She knows something I don’t yet. You exchange one set of mothering concerns for a new bunch. The toddler with the knife grows into the preteen with an attitude. I have one of those pre-teens too. A Tween. Mine will be 10 in three months.
So it’s been ten years of mothering.
For the first time since starting my family, I’ve come to a place where I confidently can say I don’t want a baby. After attending a girlfriend’s baby shower a few months ago, I had a flash of baby fever. Didn’t last. And I’m glad my husband didn’t listen to my baby-crazy idea that night (Ha. That right there might be the closest I get to blogging about s*x.)
For the first time, I can say with confidence: no more babies for me.
What about you? Do you get a pang of baby fever even though you are done adding to your family? Does that feeling ever really go away for us women? Please share.