After two and half months of maternity leave, I have returned to my keyboard, and my byline will be appearing in High Plains Journal once again. My first child, a little boy we named Eli, came into the world exactly one month early. The month of May was a blur, but everyone is happy and healthy, and he is reaching new milestones almost every day.
Since returning to work, I’ve been mulling over some of my thoughts on motherhood and childbirth. Everyone told me things would change after I held my baby for the first time, and I have to say they were right.
The sight of a calf bawling for its mother during the weaning process hits a little differently for me now, and I’m even more heartbroken when I hear about cases of child abuse and neglect. Additionally, I’ve accepted the fact that I will be wearing some sort of baby bodily fluid on my clothing every day, and most of the time there’s no point in changing. I’ve just decided to own it as a fashion statement.
Before I was a mother, I struggled with falling asleep at night, but now I’m out as soon as my head hits the pillow. Additionally, the old anecdote that a mother can use “hysterical strength” to lift a car off her trapped child always seemed a little far-fetched to me, but I believe it now. We will do anything for our babies.
Furthermore, I’m still in awe of the incredible feats the female body can accomplish during a pregnancy. By seven to 10 days after conception, a woman’s body is already growing a new organ, the placenta, to support the fetus. By four weeks, the four chambers of a baby’s heart are already developed and, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, a baby’s heart has already beat almost 15 million times by 15 weeks. There’s really nothing else that can compare to a mother growing a baby inside her womb. As a woman, I feel privileged to be in the group that God chose for such an important task, and I don’t take it lightly.
We hear the term “the miracle of childbirth” often, but did you know it’s not just an expression? A human being born alive really is a miracle, and so many tiny details have to fall in place for a baby to be conceived and make it to his or her mother’s arms. In fact, the probability of a human being born is one in 400 trillion. In comparison, the probability of a person being struck by lightning is less than one in a million, and the odds of a human being attacked by a shark is one in 11.5 million.
We’ve all beat the odds by birth, and even though there are 8 billion people on the planet right now, each of us is a miracle. Furthermore, every child is rare, extraordinary and worthy of love. This season of my life has underscored just how precious life is and reminded me to slow down and take it all in. Babies are only little for a short while, but as I’ve learned over the last three months, the immense love mothers have for their children only grows with each day.
Lacey Vilhauer can be reached at 620-227-1871 or [email protected]
PHOTO: Silhouette of mother with her baby (iStock – NexTser)
