Quietly Extraordinary

As anyone who follows this blog will know, Abby has been very pregnant for quite some time and last night - the baby boy arrived!  I won't give you any specifics (I'll leave it to Abby to fill you in), but with the birth on the horizon I've been thinking a little, recently, about childbirth and the incredible mothers in my life who have brought children into the world.

I have four sisters, a mother and many friends who've been down or are going doing this road (I have not, yet!), and I don't think I've really thought too much about the whole childbirth thing before - I mean, I've heard about the births in great detail, and been vitally interested and invested etc, but I don't think I've really stopped to think about just how huge a thing it is.  It's huge to me, that these remarkable women knowingly put themselves through such a physically and mentally traumatic experience with such determination.  Most of them are somewhere on the scale between nervous and terrified, but it's rarely acknowledged and there's no question in their minds that this is what they're willing to do in order to bring these beautiful babies into the world.

And that's huge, to me. It's a sacrifice that's often taken for granted because it's so common.  But it's no less extraordinary.  What an example of selfless love and service. 

So this is my ode to mothers everyone - You guys amaze me, and I think you're absolutely, fantastically, wonderful.

xo Tammy