10 Things I Learned from Pregnancy and Child Birth

1. I love and trust my body. As someone who has had body issues her entire life, I was happy to discover I loved my body during pregnancy. I may have felt huge toward the end, but I never felt fat. I knew my body was doing what it needed to do to help grow my baby.

2. The best advice comes from friends not "experts" on the Web or in magazines. Magazines and Web sites have their usefulness, but nothing compared to the advice my good friends gave me. The best piece of advice: Don't believe everything you read.

3. My family and friends are the absolute best. From presents to food to a baby shower with an awesome cake, my friends and family have gone above and beyond what I thought possible. I never believed myself deserving of such attention and affection.

4. Bonding really does begin in utero. The minute I saw Milo, I knew him. We had so many conversations before he was born -- some just me telling him to stop with all the wiggling, some deep and full of emotion -- I didn't have any trouble feeling connected to him after his birth.

5. The best laid plans of mice and men often go askew. It was great to have an idea of how I wanted my baby's birth to go, but Milo had his own idea of how to enter the world. And as I said before, it didn't matter how he got here, he got here.

6. I am no less a mother or woman for having a C-Section. One woman I talked to before Milo was born told me she had a scheduled C-Section and never truly felt she was a mother because of it. I feel for her and wish she didn't believe that. I think any woman who has carried a child and/or given birth in any manner should truly feel like a mother. And any woman who has taken in someone else's child for whatever reason should truly feel like a mother. And any woman who hasn't had or raised a child shouldn't feel any less like a woman because of that. I think the Mommy Club attitude should be abolished.

7. The sleepless nights of pregnancy prepared me for the sleepless nights of new motherhood. Milo is a good baby most nights and lets the S.O. and me sleep for two to three hour stretches between feedings. I'm actually sleeping better now than during my third trimester. (Don't tell Milo I said that!)

8. The S.O. is my biggest supporter. While that doesn't come as a surprise to me, I want to say that he has been a bigger help than I thought possible -- from anyone. Not because he's ever been unwilling to help me with things but because I had no idea how hard a C-Section would be. He does most of the diaper duty (heh, doody) and gets up with me in the middle of the night when I feed Milo. He even gave him a bottle the other night so I could sleep a little longer. He has also fallen completely head over heels in love with his son. He is the epitome of the doting father.

9. Pregnancy is the easy part. For all the morning sickness, restless nights, achy joints, etc., pregnancy is still a hundred time easier than actually having and raising a baby. Still, looking back, I enjoyed pregnancy. That said, I don't think I'll be doing it again.

10. I can love another person with an intensity that borders on scary. I love this little man so much it's impossible to describe. I love pizza. I love the S.O. I love my dog. But nothing compares to the love I feel for my child. Even with the highs and lows of my post-partum hormones, even with the frustrations of every-hour-on-the-hour feedings and diaper blow-outs, I love him so much. I never knew I could love someone like this. But take a look at that picture above and tell me how it would be possible for me not to love him like mad.