Highs and lows of motherhood

I guess I'm not really fit to talk about the highs and lows of motherhood especially when I have been a mum for only a grand total of 3 months! But hey, imagine that I've only started and it's already quite a ride! =)

First, the highs.

1. Seeing baby smile back at you after a satisfying feeding session or when you coo and talk to her, and *drum roll* she SMILES back. (Hey, it's a big deal considering newborns spend half the time looking puzzled, blurr or just plain surprised. The other half is spent crying, pooping, peeing and sleeping.)

2. Seeing her grow and grow and grow and grow each day.

3. Seeing how much she wants you to hug and hold her (e.g., when someone else is carrying her, her head turns in your direction when she hears your voice).

4. Hugging her in your arms and she falls asleep as if your arms are the most comfortable things in the world.

5. She falling asleep to my singing (esp. when I put her to bed at night).

6. Watching her 'talk' and coo to her toys or the various tissue boxes with Tom & Jerry/Winnie the Pooh designs.

7. This is going to sound sadist, but my daughter is actually quite hilarious sometimes when she cries. Especially when she's crying to attract attention. Love the way she looks when she pouts, and when she stops and peeps at you to see how you're reacting to her crying.

8. Smoothing out her tufts of hair after her morning bath.

9. She touching my face with her hand when I lie down next to her, as if she's saying, "I love you too, Mummy..." It's especially cute because she's wearing mittens and she cannot control her hands very well yet. Sometimes, I accidentally get punched.

10. She sleeping next to me on the bed or mattress. Especially when she has a bad dream, opens her eyes, sees me next to her, and falls right back to sleep, as if relieved that mummy is there.

And there are many more moments which qualify as 'highs'. But being a mother is never a bed of roses. So here are some demoralising moments:

1. Waking up in the wee hours of the morning to a screaming baby who wants to be fed pronto. And you can barely open your eyes.

2. Trying to wash off huge poo stains from her clothes and yours after what I call poo disasters. (And I still wonder why breastfed babies have such yellow poo.) And oh, changing diapers again immediately after changing one, because she pooped. Again.

3. She's crying non-stop and obviously in pain but nothing you do seems to soothe her.

4. You do something bad to hurt or potentially hurt her. Like cut her fingernails too deep. Like accidentally nick her hand with the buckle when you're strapping her into the rocker. Like forget to turn off a fan in the room when you're bathing her.

5. When she wants you to carry her, but all you want to do is to collapse into a pile on the bed.

6. When you're sick and drowsy from medication but still have to take care of her.

Again, there are probably more 'low moments' but these rank top for me.

Highs and lows, I embrace them all. I love my daughter like I've never loved another person in this world. So every waking and sleeping moment with her in my life is a blessing to me. =) So yes, I love being a mummy!