When I had my baby girl, I thought that I would never go out anywhere ever again. I had seen moms with babies at the grocery store, or at Target or elsewhere trying desperately to calm and soothe their screeching babies. I did not want that to be me, and I had no plans to do so. I was going to be cooped up in my apartment 24/7. Well, I had a lot to learn. Of course, when you first have a baby, you don’t go out a lot because their little immune systems are too weak to handle the germs of the world. But, you also stay home because you are learning to adjust to your new life with baby, and you are learning about your baby. Of course it makes sense to stay home for those first few weeks.

However, you will go crazy if you never leave. The first time we left and took our baby somewhere was an hour away in a town called Island Park. My husband’s family had a Yellowstone vacation planned when my daughter was three weeks old. My daughter came late, and because she was so small, we did not dare take her to Yellowstone. However, we did take her up to the cabin in Island Park my husband’s family had rented. This was a very clean place, and I didn’t really need to worry. The car rides were not always fun as she did not like being in the car, and I still wasn’t totally sure what I was doing as a first time mom with a three week old. However, we did enjoy our time with his family, even though there was some travel involved.

When my daughter was five weeks old, my grandmother passed away, and we decided to fly down to California to spend time with my family during this trial in our lives. Taking her on the plane was terrifying to me, because we had not done that before and I had no idea how she would react. To my surprise, she did excellent on both flights, and while we went to different places near my hometown. We had a wonderful time with our family.

Since then, I feel totally comfortable taking her out. It does make things harder of course. My grocery trips are always planned out, and even when we are with friends, our baby’s needs come first. But I don’t feel that I have stopped living my life because of my daughter. She gives me life. Showing her the new sights as we’ve travelled, or even seeing her eyes wide with wonder in a Walmart, she is my joy. To any mom who thinks her life is over when she has a baby, it is far from it. Your life is evolving, but it is not over. It is just the beginning.