Mommy’s Corner is a weekly series exploring our journey in becoming parents, our love for our ShuGar baby, and general topics related to mommyhood.
Dear Camden,
Six weeks ago, you entered our world. Ever since then, we have been madly in love with you. Many years from now, I want you to read this letter so you can learn all about how we loved you as an infant.
Do you want to know what we felt when we first met you?
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From Your Mama: When my doctor told me you were being born, I was in awe. I had waited for this moment for nine months (actually longer than that) and soon you would be mine to love.
When you first appeared, you came out crying and you had your arms stretched out towards me! You knew I was your mama and you immediately wanted to be held by me. In that moment, I too cried like a baby. I couldn’t stop sobbing because finally I could hug you. I pulled you from the arms of my doctor and put you on my chest. The doctor immediately told me to be careful because you were still attached to the umbilical cord!
From that point forward, you stopped crying and so did I. I held you so tight and I never wanted to let you go. It was our special skin-to-skin moment and I will never, ever forget it. I whispered in your ear, “Camden, I love you.” I knew then my life had changed forever because I finally had my heart in my hands.
From Your Daddy: “Wow! What a beautiful site. Amazing! Incredible! To see your full body come out and materialize was miraculous. I was also relieved for your mama and proud of her for all that she had gone. I was so amazed at how you reached out to your mother when you were born. We sang songs to you, read books to you, and grew more and more in love with you even before you go here so when you got here it culminated in feelings of overjoy when I met you finally. Happiest moment of my life, besides marrying your mom.
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These first six weeks, your daddy and I have stayed home with you getting to know you better. It’s been a special bonding time with just the three of us, plus your Abuelita (grandmother) and Abuelito have been here to help as well. Each week is filled with me feeding you, us changing your diapers, us giving you baths, and all three of us loving each other. We are now a family of three and this is a true blessing. We have learned to slowly understand your language. We know your hunger cry and your cry asking us to change your diaper.
By the way, you really don’t like that changing table, right? You always yell at the top of your lungs every time we clean your little bum.
Your mama loves to kiss you all over. You can say it’s my favorite thing to do. I shower you with kisses all day long. I adore kissing your feet and your chubby cheeks. One of the things I love to do wit you is have you sleep on my chest. You wrap your arms around me and we are both in heaven.
Your daddy has been working very hard to take care of our family. Even though he is gone all day, you and I are in his heart. Do you know what he does the second he gets home? He rushes to you and gives you a kiss and whispers in your ear, “Hello, my son. How are you today?” Every night, he puts you on your belly to have fun playing tummy time. He has you look at your favorite toy, Mr. Butterfly, and together you and your daddy have a great time.
As a family, we enjoy taking you on walks around our neighborhood. You like to stare at the plants and eventually fall asleep in your stroller. Your daddy and I push you in your stroller while we both hold hands.
Do you know who else spends lots of time with you? Your abuelita does. She was there the day you were born and has helped take care of you almost every day thereafter. Your abuelita loves to hold you every night to rock you to sleep. She speaks to you in Spanish and takes naps with you. She has made many sacrifices to help take care of you. She absolutely adores you and your daddy and I are very grateful to have her with us.
Guess who else loves you? Your G-Pa (grandfather) does. He wants you to call him this name when you can talk one day. Your G-Pa comes weekly to visit you and says you’ve grown so much. G-Pa likes carrying you and you are very relaxed in his arms. He says he can’t wait to teach you about his garden. Your G-Pa is crazy about you.
Do you know you have even more family in Michigan, the state where you daddy is from? They all love you lots and can’t wait to meet you. Although they are not close, they love you dearly from afar. They see you in pictures and on the internet and this makes them very happy.
Have your parents ever told you any stories about when you were first born? What are they?
Photo credit: Carmen Garcia-Shushtari
