Flashback
April 27, 2006
Okay, so I promise you this website is NOT becoming a glorified camera-phone-moblog thing, but...
Jason was going through his photos last night and found this one:
This is the very first time I held Noah. The very first time we actually looked at each other in the eyes and said, "Hello, strange, puffy person. You are stuck with me now, bwa ha ha."
Okay, what I actually said was: "Oh my God. Hi. Oh my God. I'm your mom. Hi." And then I cried.
And Noah just kind of squawked and looked vaguely alarmed.
I was wrecked. Tired. Shellshocked. Terrified out of my flipping mind, and I don't think my hair and skin have ever looked worse. I hadn't seen Noah since the rushed and baffling first attempt at breastfeeding in the recovery room and had been sitting in my room by myself for an hour while Noah was bathed and checked over and for some reason I completely blamed our separation on the c-section and by the time Jason returned I'd worked myself into full-on hysterics because I hadn't bonded with my child yet and therefore I was totally doomed forever because the baby was NOT GOING TO LIKE ME.
Then the nurse wheeled him in and Jason placed him in my arms. And I decided that maybe this was actually turning out to be an okay day after all.
I took these this morning. Yep, another pretty okay day all around.
I think it's a beautiful picture.
Seeing you holding Noah for the first time got me all teary as I remembered the first time I held mine. And I was sooo terrified to bring my son home because I had no clue what to do with my own baby. He's 9 now and it was awesome.
Wow. I can't believe that this is what I have to look forward to in a few months. A beautiful picture.
So amazing. Thanks to you, I can't wait to be a mom someday.
Who is this little man? Gosh, Amy, he's turning out so beautiful! I just love the drool. Miss Pea is breaking her molars through right now, so we are awash in drool here in Arizona too.
God, I love how you write. Great photos, too. You look so scared and tentative in the first one. There ain't nuthin' better.
Thank you for sharing.
I love the first photo. I had c-sections with both of my kids, and my first photo is surprisingly like yours, all puffy and bloated and what is up with my hair and skin and why do I look like I am twelve? Those first moments of "actual motherhood" when you finally get to hold the little guy you've waited for so long are just priceless.
And Noah? totally looks like he is traumatized because he didn't get to be with you right after birth. I mean, look at him. Can't you just see the whole "I am gonna tell Oprah all about this in 10 years" thing he's got going on? The show will be called, "I Was a Naked, Drooling, Neglected Turtle". ;)
I love, love, love that picture of you and Noah. You're all "hey, good to FINALLY meet you, babalah," and he's all "wassup, Mamalah?"
Aside from the lovely pictures, I can see exactly why you fall down the stairs sometimes. Lady, is that an obstacle course?
I felt the same way after my c-section. Sometimes I remember that fondly when my son sits on my foot holding my leg and making me drag his 40 lb butt around the kitchen. Oh, yeah. We've bonded alright.
I love the puffy new turtle picture! Ya'll both just needed some kisses to make it better.
It was my understanding that newborns' vision isn't so swell, but he is totally figuring you out in the first picture.
p.s. I broke down and bought The Foundation Brush today. Sephora should be sending you kickbacks.
You look pretty damned good for a woman who has just given birth to a United States citizen. Really, its just all in how you look at it.
Look at his shiney little neck! Awww...
I have a drooly 2 year old and she always looks very, um, freshly shellacked. LOL
So cute to see Tiny New Noah grow into Big Baby Noah. Just wait to see how sweet it is when you're posting his senior picture and comparing it to that first time you saw his little face!
Geez - there's an awful lotta crappe on the stairs back there.
Aren't you scared of the hate mail?
We keep hockey gear piled on our stairs (sharp skates, without the guards on of course, sticks 'n' pucks) so your stairs look pristine by comparison. And a little safer. Ha! Love the pix of beautiful you and beautiful Noah-Turtle.
I have a photo of me holding Riley in which I now see exactly how drugged and out of it I was at the time. I love it for its frozen moment of me and my newborn, but it makes me kind of sad, too, because when was the photo taken, exactly? I can't even remember it.
Hey you use the stairs the same way we used to - until the baby learned to climb them ...
maybe it is something i don't understand because i am not a mom, but why on earth is Noah sucking on your nose?
Not to do the "OMIGOD, ME TOO!" thing" but okay. Why not?... I just posted a little today about the whole "whisking away the baby for 2 hours" thing and it brought back ALL those freaky memories. What struck me the oddest was this dreamy, surreal feeling that I SHOULD be feeling all weirded out that my kid wasn't there, but that I DIDN'T feel all weirded out. I remember telling myself that it was going to be all okay, and that I should concentrate on getting myself together and cleaned up and that the RTs knew what they were doing and that Arun would be FINE. Maybe it helped that I was on drugs and that my dad is an RT himself......who knows. Still, it WAS odd to have given birth, then have the kid scooted right away outta the room.
Anyway - what a cutie that Noah is! How are you gonna get any work done at home with THAT sweet little mug smiling at you all the time? :-)
What a snugglebunny!!
Thanks for sharing him (and yourself) with us! xoxo
Thank you for sharing. :) I can't wait for that moment, where my hair and skin are wrecked and I feel like crud and meeting my dear dear baby for the first time. :) I'm wagering it'll be up there as one of the best days of my life.
I had two c-sections (for two children not for the SAME child). And right away the whisked him off and I was left alone in recovery itchy and nauseous. And then? 1 hr later? They brought him back and said that he was discharged from the nursery and would be rooming with me . Which I was ok with except I was still numb from the waist down AND I had a catheter (can't spell). Umm hello? Hubby will not be spending the night as we have a SIX year old to care for. So how do you purpose I get to this child when he needs to eat tonight?
Eventually the next shift of nurses and come and went...uh...gimme that child. And Noah spent his first night behind the desk at the nurses station.
nice. (and Mama was stoned)
I cannot express how cut Noah is. I am a newly pregnant mom (with twins) and I can't wait for the first time I get to say hi to my little ones. :)
I don't think I've ever met anyone who appreciates being a mom as much as you do. And I think that's just about the most refreshing thing ever.
Gee...that's exactly what I said the first time I held my son!
Ahhhhh! tiny baby pictures... aaaahhhh... and I must say, he actually does look very, very cute in that first one. (I can say that objectively, so I thought I should - he was just BORN cute as a baby turtle!) Of course, those bottom two, all drool-y and happy are bitable as well - but I've rarely seen such a cute newborn. Yeah babalah!
I can't get over how much Noah looks like your childhood photo up there on the left. So cute!
You look gorgeous. You both do.
Oh my goodness, between you and Noah and the two-year-old next door that I played with all evening, I'm so looking forward to being a mom. The boyfriend better look out, my ovaries have been kicked into high gear. Man, that is the cutest kid.
I remember that feeling when they handed me my 1st baby and I thought "Holy shit! Look what I'm stuck with for 18 years! I've made a BIG mistake!"
Turns out I was wrong.
He's got the sweetest face.
For some reason I couldn't comment on the entry below. Don't have anything earth shattering to say, really except what I wanted to write:
I truly love the way your mind works.
(Goes better with post below.)
And if only MY mind worked properly and READ before I said such stupid things like, "I can't comment on the post below". I see now why because you have so helpfully informed us that "Comments remain open on the most current entry only."
I'm quick like that, you see.
It's so refreshing to know I'm not the only mother post-delivery who was a bit puffy. I just don't get the people who look like they just had hair and make-up people visit their rooms right after giving birth. I looked like I had been through hell. At least you have the guts to post your pics. I'll NEVER share mine. For the record though, I think you look beautiful. Giving birth is going through something major; you should look the part. I didn't have a C-section but I did it natural, 15 hours of natural hell.
awww...look at that mommy all in awe and in love and wondering what the HELL she's doing. i love it! ;) you never could have imagined, right?
Hmmm. This is the story as *my* mom tells it after she had *her* c-section:
"They showed you to me, and I sort of said" [eyes barely open] "Yeah, alright."
He looks so happy in those bottom pictures! So cute. He just keeps getting cuter every time you post pictures.
The first picture of my daughter and me...hmmm.
Well, I look like I've been sucking on a crap-covered lemon and she's thinking, "This!?! This is my mom? No. I don't think so."
I looked like utter shit for the first two days after having Tacy (c-section after 30 hours of unsuccessful induction). Neither of us were particularly happy for the next several weeks either.
Second time around, with a scheduled c-section (because my doc and I agreed not to even antagonize my titanium cervix), I was literally laughing (at the anesthesiologist's jokes) as CJ was born. And Kyle took a picture of us a couple hours later that was good enough that I even sent it to all my co-workers.
my sons are 25 and 22, and this post made me cry, because i still remember the wonder of their respective births and/or early childhood. not sure if i should thank you, or smack you for reminding me how wonderful motherhood can be....okay, guess i'll just say thank you--'cuz even tho' my kids are "old", i still have a few of "those" days!
lovely post. : )
I think you should put a caption up there by your photo in your sidebar that says something to the effect of: "Yes, I know! He looks like me! It's like he's my child, or something!"
Ehhhh I don't think anyone ever looks really stunning when they have a baby.. or surgery :)
But look at you two now! All not-red and stunning :)
Good to know about the teeth - my nose is a favorite chew toy of Will's...
I had the same thing happen after my 3rd was born (and 3rd C-section ugh) He was gone for almost 2 hours since he came out so heavy they ran tests on him for GD. Didn't Noah come out at almost 10 lbs too? I can't remember but I was thinking he did. I was bawling and yelling at the nurses to bring him to me so we could bond.
He looks like he's such a happy boy in the last 2 pics.
The office has decided that Noah wins the cutest baby award. Hands down.
See, we WAHMs have time to clean the stairs each day. Along with dressing the children in cute outfits, cleaning the floors, doing the laundry and having dinner on the table at 6. All while cranking out 10 hours of work on demanding projects and taking conference calls while answering e-mails and IMs.
See what you have to look forward to!
Hey y'all. I have seen the cutest picture of Noah ever on another website. He's naked, wearing a chef's hat, and in a big stockpot surrounded by lobsters. Unfortunately, the picture was teeny tiny and there was no way to zoom in on it. Maybe if we ask REALLY nicely Amy will post it here?