Having a Baby Changes Everything

Wow!  I started this post back at the beginning of March.  I guess it's about time I finish it and publish it.

I'm not sure if it is a national ad or just a local one, but we have a series of public service announcements on television around here and the tag line is "Having a baby changes everything".  Here is one of the commercials from the series:






I always thought, "Duh?! Of course, having a baby will changes everything."  Now that I have a baby of my own, I really understand what they were trying to say.  Having a baby really does change everything!

Now that I have Jack, my heart no long resides in my chest.  It is it's own living breathing organism in the form of Jack.  Everything that he experiences, I experience.  Everything that he feels, I feel.  It's hard to describe, but I bet if you have a child you will understand.  I never knew I could love someone as much as I do Jack.

My relationships have also changed.  People that I was super close with and considered some of my best friends I hardly ever hear from anymore.  I never thought that would happen.  I thought, if anything, I would be closer to those who knew me before Jack-I thought they would love Jack as much as I do.  On the other hand, people that I wasn't terribly close with before I had Jack have become some of my closest friends now.  I guess we have new things to talk about.

Oh, and the things I talk about now were never a part of my dialog before I had Jack.  Dave and I discuss diapers (and their contents), cheer for farts and burps and thoroughly appreciate nap time (even though it's not ours anymore).

I originally thought the commercials were warning teens that having a baby changes everything, but now I think it's a warning for everyone.  I love Jack more than anything in the world, but I am amazed daily by how much he has changed my life.  Before I do or even consider doing anything, I think about how that decision will effect Jack.  There is no more running out to dinner because I don't feel like cooking, there's no more going out for drinks after work (mostly because I don't have a job) and there are certainly no more quick weekend get-aways.  Nothing is quick with Jack along for the ride- things take twice as long now (hence why this blog is being published 3 months after I started writing it) and I wouldn't have it any other way!