![\"Newborn](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/livingwithlady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Newborn-Blog-571.jpg?resize=494%2C330\")
<\/p>\nI found something the other day that made my\u00a0eyes well.<\/p>\n
It was one of Franklin’s unused newborn diapers and about the size of my hand. I couldn’t\u00a0believe how small it was. Did my baby really once fit that teeny tiny little diaper? I found myself in a daze thinking of\u00a0the times when our baby fit that diaper. Easily nestled on my chest, full of coos and grunts, and smelling that perfect newborn smell, he was completely dependent on me for everything.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So very tiny.<\/p>\n
It then got me thinking about my time before kids. The time when I would imagine how many kids I might have one day. What genders they might be. What my favorite names were. What they would look like.<\/p>\n
Fast-forward to after my wedding day and the window to have a baby\u00a0was now open. A time I had always thought about, wondering what it would feel like to grow a baby in my tummy. A thought I just couldn’t fathom.<\/p>\n
Our first pregnancy was full of excitement as we experienced each stage with our baby girl. Feeling the nausea, the first baby flutters, the hiccups,\u00a0the full-blown jabs to the ribs; while not always pleasant, each phase was appreciated.<\/p>\n
And our second pregnancy, not too long after the first, was equally exciting knowing we were having a little boy and I felt all the feels once again.<\/p>\n
And then came the third and final pregnancy, this time not finding out the gender. This one was full of emotion knowing it was our last. And when our little baby boy came, he started growing so quickly as we lived our busy lives.<\/p>\n
And now his second birthday is approaching and he’s saying all the words, running everywhere he goes and getting into everything that opens, spills, drops or breaks.<\/p>\n
He is no longer a baby.<\/p>\n
My baby is no longer a baby.<\/p>\n
I have no more babies. No REAL babies.<\/p>\n
And I will never have another baby.<\/p>\n
![\"SONY](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/livingwithlady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/DSC03884.jpg?resize=505%2C335\")
<\/p>\n
Just like that, the phase of my life that I had spent all of those years pondering and dreaming about is now over.<\/p>\n
Never will I grow another baby inside my tummy.<\/p>\n
Never will I nourish a baby with my body.<\/p>\n
Never will I fall asleep on the couch with my baby nestled in my neck.<\/p>\n
And this thought makes my eyes water and my nose sting. Because just like that, it has ended.<\/p>\n
We are now a unit and moving onto the next phase of our lives as a family of five. For this, I am incredibly thankful and I am excited for what is to come next. I really am.<\/p>\n
And yes, my children will always be my babies. I still call each of them “baby” from time-to-time, too, and will continue to do so until asked not to.<\/p>\n
But there’s still that part of me that can’t believe the baby phase is forever gone.<\/p>\n
![\"Newborn](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/livingwithlady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Newborn-Blog-38.jpg?resize=365%2C548\")
It all happened so fast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I found something the other day that made my\u00a0eyes well. It was one of Franklin’s unused newborn diapers and about the size of my hand. I couldn’t\u00a0believe how small it was. Did my baby really once fit that teeny tiny little diaper? I found myself in a daze thinking of\u00a0the times when our baby fit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n