Answering the Call of Motherhood

If you're seeing this post, I'm either at the hospital with Kim or recovering from the birth process of our son Aidan Robert Haggerty.

Today's guest post is brought to you by the person who made it possible for me to even be here: My mom! She's the mother of seven kids, and the source of my sarcasm. I'm proud to be making her a grandmother for the fourth time!


Enjoy!

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As far back as I can remember (12 years old) the only thing I wanted to be was a mother. It never changed. I wanted to get married and have babies…lots of babies.

I didn’t want to be a teacher, doctor, nurse, dentist or anything else. I wanted to be a mommy! I longed to hold my child in my arms and love him, rock him, kiss him and just take care of him.

Not having a good childhood myself, I wanted my child’s formative years to be perfect. I thought about all the things that I would not do and all the wonderful things that I would do. I wanted more for my child in the way of love and kindness than I had known. I grew up feeling insecure, unloved and uncared for…and it followed me into my adulthood. I didn’t know who I was or what I was supposed to be.

I got married at almost 26, and my hubby and I decided we both wanted six children. We also wanted to get started right away!

About three months later, I was pregnant. I was ecstatic! I went right out and bought a cute little yellow teddy bear with a chime inside. I could not wait! Hubby was excited too, but this is my story.

We immediately decided on a boy name…Kevin Robert. We weren’t so sure about a girl’s name. I had morning sickness for about…let me think…nine months.

But I didn’t care. 

Soon, I began to feel him moving inside of me. First, just flutters…then as he grew, I could really feel him kicking. One day I could actually see the outline of his little foot pressed against my side. Totally blew me away.

Then, one night (January 1st, 1980), my contractions started. I was nervous…I had never done this before. I was excited.

I was finally going to meet our baby. 

We called the doctor and headed out for the hospital. We arrived, got checked in and settled in to some hard labor. We had decided to go natural…no drugs.

I went through the night and into the next day. Time to push. At 2pm on January 2nd, 1980, they placed Kevin Robert Haggerty onto my stomach. My heart melted…at that instant I knew a love that I had never known before or even imagined I could know.

"Beautiful," is all I could say. I cried…his dad cried. It was a magical moment. One I cannot describe. A moment you cannot possibly comprehend if you are not a parent! All I wanted to do was hold him, look at him, touch his tiny fingers and toes. I was in love!

From that moment on, I felt sure of who I was. Never doubted myself again! I was a mommy! Finally, my heart’s desire had come true.

God is good!