Boy did the question about fears that come along with motherhood resonate with me. I am an older mother so I elected to get the Harmony test for genetic abnormalities around the end of my first trimester and I remember thinking to myself that once I heard that everything was okay genetically, I could just relax and enjoy the rest of the ride. Man, was I wrong! There always seems to be something to worry about- will my baby be hurt during birth (I chose to deliver with a midwife in a birth center, and got some pushback about this from my mother who succeeded in planting some fears in me around this choice)? Am I doing everything I can to prevent SIDS? Will I remember how to do CPR correctly if I need to do it? Don’t even get me started about things to worry about during childhood and adolescence! And it won’t even end at adulthood…I remember seeing the video that the mother of one of the journalists taken hostage by ISIS released, begging for them to spare her son, and it made me physically sick. This would have bothered me before I became a parent but now it is emotionally overwhelming. Having said that, for me, dealing with the fear is absolutely worth the pure joy I get from my little guy. I try to not allow the fear to take over, and to just enjoy every minute we get together.

On a lighter note, it is so funny that both Elizabeth and Alexis hate laundry- I love it! We live in an apartment complex with shared laundry facilities so I have to leave the apartment to do it and, aside from the gym and showering, laundry time is really my only time to myself. I bring my phone, listen to podcasts, and happily fold away. Incidentally, this has also made going to the gym more enjoyable too!