My daughter, Anastasia Mae, was born Thursday, making me the proudest mama in the world. Maybe there are a few moms out there who would challenge me for the title but at this point, with my sweet baby girl sleeping happily on her daddy’s chest, I feel I have a pretty good handle on it.
One of the few things that went as planned is that the whole experience really was beyond words. In fact, the only word that seems to come remotely close is “wow” — and if we’re talking about the whole experience, I might put a little emphasis on the “ow” part of “wow.”
Really though, it went wonderfully. Baby Anastasia is perfectly healthy and as her dad says, “much cuter than normal, and that’s without being biased.” It’s cute how he thinks he’s capable of being unbiased when it comes to her. I just nodded along with him, though, because I can’t help but agree.
Now that we’re home and the reality of having a newborn is kicking in, it just seems to keep getting better. In fact, you may have already noticed the slightly more scatter-brained than usual style of this column. That’s partially due to the fact that I’m distracted by jealousy because Josh is holding the baby and I’m not — only because I haven’t quite yet mastered how to hold a newborn and type at the same time — and partially due to a serious lack of sleep.
No, my baby doesn’t stay up all night trying out her new lungs. In fact, she’s quite a lot like her daddy in that she prefers sleep to just about anything else in life, but I can’t seem to stop looking at her, so I just stay up and watch her. I’m hoping that will pass in time because I imagine I’ll need the energy, but for now I just can’t get over how incredible it is to finally be a mom and to finally know this kind of love.
Welcome to the world, Anastasia. Your daddy and I brought you into this crazy military life and we promise to help you through every bit of it.