Yeah, I am a mom!

I’ve been a mother now for three months (or 12, if you count the 9 months I carried Reed around), but I don’t think I truly felt like “a mom” until Thursday, July 9th. That was the day of the fall.

Sweet little thumb sucker

Reed, Adam and I had gotten to Chicago a few hours earlier. It was a combo-visit: we got to see Adam’s family and I got to attend ALA (with a very limited schedule so I could be with my little man). We were walking down Lake Shore Drive on the way to Lincoln Park. I had Reed in the Ergo Carrier on my front and I tripped over badly uneven pavement. I tried to regain my balance, but couldn’t with the extra weight on my front. So we fell. All I could think of in that moment was Reed. It was truly the scariest moment of my life. Luckily, I had just enough time to turn my body to the right as I was falling so my arm bore the brunt of the fall. Reed got a tiny bump on his forehead (which was gone within an hour) and got a small scratch on his forehead (which was healed before we even got back to VT). Still, we took him to the hospital and got him x-rayed to make sure everything was hunky dory. And it was.

I didn’t fare quite as well. I ended up with a badly sprained shoulder, a banged up knee and lots of road rash on my arm and leg. More than a week later and I still can’t carry Reed or change his diaper. Thank goodness we already had bottles and a breast pump, since there is no way I can nurse him now. It really sucks — I miss bouncing him and being able to just grab him and take him from place to place. It’s also incredibly inconvenient. Adam has had to pick up a lot of the slack. Thank goodness my parents had been planning a three-week visit that started on Friday (they’re renting a house locally), so Adam doesn’t have to do everything around here. For a few days, Adam even had to do my hair, which made me grateful that we had a son! I went to physical therapy on Friday and the exercises they recommended seem to be helping bit by bit. But I still can’t do a lot of motions with my right (dominant) arm and carrying any weight in that hand is impossible.

In spite of the pain I was feeling, all that mattered to me was that Reed was ok, and I couldn’t think about my own injuries until I knew that he was. And I felt so proud of myself for having that mother instinct to put myself into harm’s way to protect him. It was just a few seconds, hardly enough time to think, but I did the right thing for Reed. It made me feel like a real mom (even if I was one before).

Reed and his cousins Maddy and Max

Other than that, the Chicago trip was a lot of fun! Reed met his cousins for the first time, spent time with his grandparents, and met a whole bunch of my librarian friends at ALA. He started rolling from his back onto his side while we were there and has nearly gotten all the way over to his stomach. He is SO determined! While I’d never want to live in a city, I wish we had a wonderful park like Lincoln Park to take Reed to around here. It’s such a great, kid-friendly, beautiful space. Reed did a fantastic job on his first big trip! He behaved really well on the plane and was a perfect gentleman at O’Hare in spite of flight delays. We are amazingly lucky to have such a mellow little guy — he’s a gem!

I’d sprain my shoulder a thousand times over to keep him happy and healthy. It’s an awful injury to have, but he’s worth it.