Mama’s Girl

It’s hard to believe that there was ever a time when I worried about bonding with my babies right from the start. When I thought that the bond with my babies was threatened when they were taken to the NICU and I was down the hall in another room. When I thought not being able to nurse them would affect our love for one another.

All my girls were Mama’s Girls when they were babies. It is easy to see why. I am the one that spends the better part of 24/7 with them in their first few months of life. Piper and her Daddy, however, shared a bond very early on. Even in her first year of life, there were times she would refuse me and reach for him. To this day, she and her Daddy are close.

Davilyn always preferred me. It’s just how she was. Only I could comfort her. If she knew I was around, she wanted no one else. There were nights when I was out and Craig would rock with her forever to get her to sleep. One night, when he didn’t know what else to do, he called me to see if I would be home soon. She just had a harder time settling down for him. Now, she often calls for Daddy. She looks for him in the morning when she wakes and says, “When Daddy home?” She often asks that he be the one to put her to bed.

Quinn has taken this Mama’s Girl to even another level. I did not think this was possible. She would much rather, I put her to sleep at night. There have been times when Craig has been able to, but most nights she wants me. She will cry and cry and cry in Craig’s arms while he shushes her and sways back and forth. As soon as I walk in the room and she sees me or she hears me, she stops crying and turns her head to me. I take her from Craig’s arms and within minutes she is sleeping in her crib.

The other night, when Craig could not get her to settle, he brought her to me and she laid in bed beside me while I read. She laid there swaddled with her soother in her mouth and just stared at me. She just watched me. For over an hour. Despite the fact that she was tired. She just took me in, like she could not get enough of me.

Then finally when she could fight it no longer, sleep took over. She closed those eyelids and sighed the biggest, most content sigh I have heard from her.

Mama’s Girl, that’s my Quinn.