A Natural With Babies

I've been told most of my life that I'll be a natural when it comes to babies because I grew up in a big family.
Maybe you were told this too.

I'm starting to think this is really not true. I had severe anxiety taking care of one little baby on Sunday evening at church. Actually, it was more like 2 or 3 babies at times, but all the trauma was with the one. haha.
The mother, leaving the nursery says over her shoulder, " Just feed him this bottle and give him a quick diaper change before you lay him on his stomach to sleep"
Easy! Simple! I've fed babies before, I've changed diapers before, I've put babies to bed before. I was changing diapers from the time I was 7 years old. I was carting babies around on my hip from the time I could walk. I was mistaken for my little brothers mother about a hundred times.

Well, holding a baby and a bottle at the same time is impossible. So is sitting yourself down with a baby who had a couple spit up blankets around him with the bottle on the floor. So is sitting down with just the baby while he spits up on you. twice.
Eventually I got settled, and he was SO cute while I fed him. just staring at me, smiling occasionally. I felt a bit better for awhile. haha
The diaper change...ok, so this little baby has an older brother who is still in diapers. Yes, I put the big diaper on the little baby. But I changed it once I figured out what happened. I was embarassed just thinking about his mom undressing him later and laughing at me.
So, baby is fed, changed, still happy, maybe a bit droopy eyed, so I went to lay him down in one of those crazy nursery cribs. I was thinking how awkward it was to lay a baby on it's stomach at shoulder height. You'd get serious muscle having a child, because as they grow your muscles grow.Have you ever thought about that? Anyway, I was also thinking that I remember being told never to lay a baby on it's stomach because they could smother. Not a calming thought, especially as he right at that moment decided to flop his head down and make little gasping sounds. I said, " What! are you choking!?" and he lifts his head and looks at me and oh man... you know the look of a baby on its stomach lifting it's head? it's funny. make sure you see it sometime.
Eventually he was settled, and didn't cry that much...and I think it all worked out in the end. I left the nursery thinking I wasn't going to be trying that again anytime soon.

But I kind of miss it already.