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This may be an unpopular opinion – but goodness, I love those newborn days. I love them so much I don’t even care about the postpartum part of it all. I know, its crazy. My body is wrecked, I haven’t slept, I may or may not have showered recently – but the gentle weight of that newborn body on my chest and the coos and grunts from this little helpless person who loves me to the moon are just my favorite.

Maybe it’s because I really hate the final days of pregnancy. Those are the days where my character flaws seem to be on full display. I’m not by nature a patient person and it really shows when I hit around 36 weeks. I don’t like not knowing when the baby will come or how long the labor will take or if it will be a convenient time of day or who will be watching the kids. My anxiety mounts and I’m just really… grumpy. I’m so grumpy before the baby comes that it seems to make me a little ball of energy once the baby is here. My husband and I have a tradition of grabbing a beer and a burger on the way home from the hospital (a real treat after having Gestational Diabetes).  I’m usually ready for an outing in the first few days and I kind of feel great. I love having visitors and letting people get their baby fix. Of course, I have the normal discomforts, but my adrenaline mounts when I get to hold that sweet baby in my arms and all is well in the world in those newborn days.

Our schedule is generally pretty chaotic and I’m usually running around a lot. I wouldn’t say I’m a “high energy” person because I’m not particularly peppy while I’m keeping our day-to-day schedule, but I stay busy, and I seldom take much time for sitting or quiet reflection. So, I’m sure that’s part of why I love these newborn days so much too. I love that it’s my job to sit and rest and be with this little human, I love that our days slow down.

But I think the thing I love most about those newborn days is the reminder that God loves me like I love this baby. He loves me not because of what I can do or how hard I worked today, but because I am. 

Of course, we strive to love all our children at any age in this way, but there are behavioral expectations that develop as we try to instill order and decorum as our children come of age. This is where we learn about God’s mercy and patience and there’s joy in that journey as well. 

But in those newborn days it’s so easy to remember that He loves me because He called me into existence and my value to him doesn’t change because of what I did or didn’t do – He just loves me. My life has the same inherent value and dignity as the life of this baby I just welcomed into the world, even though all he can do is sleep and eat. 

This is what I remember in those newborn days as I lay with the baby on my chest. I think about how much I love this little person and I remember that God’s love for me is just like that. I don’t need to prove myself; I don’t need to work for it or earn it - I just need to rest in His love.

That reminder is the very best part of those newborn days.