by Trina L. Grant

Created on: October 01, 2009   Last Updated: October 03, 2009

She may not realize it until she feels that first tiny flutter of life within her, but any woman who chooses to have a baby is about to find her life drastically changed forever. No more sleeping until noon after a girls' night out. No more stocking the refrigerator with cream cheese, a peach and skim milk for coffee. When a woman becomes a mother, her life is no longer her own. Until her death, and perhaps even beyond, she will forevermore feel an invisible thread linking her to another life.

Women are often anxious about how their life will change after their baby is born. But, for all the horror stories about blind bottle-warming at three in the morning, a child's introduction into a woman's life is often the grounding force that brings her full-scope in her life. Motherhood forces her to grow up, and act responsibly, and care about someone other than herself.

Motherhood also gives a woman the opportunity only mothers will ever understand: the opportunity to give her heart so completely and fully the act of giving it away hurts, yet doing so knowing the little one will break it time and again. The rare pearl of a mother's love is the ability to freely give anything and everything to another human being simply because they exist. Different from romantic love, which can end or be torn apart, or simply fade away, a mother's love for her child will endure through unimaginable trials and tribulations.

Motherhood causes a woman to understand selflessness, and humility. The high-stepping fashion plate of yesterday becomes the frumpy housewife cooing to her baby as she idles through the supermarket, unaware of anything but the extension of her life that looks back at her. The hard-charging career woman with killer suits becomes the soft-spoken bruise-kisser wears the same t-shirt twice a week.

The passing of seasons becomes a more powerful force for a woman as she realizes time passes too quickly. Bittersweet Halloween memories with fat, cherubic pumpkins and snaggle-tooth witches with milk mustaches replace pictures of all the girls dressed up for a night out . New Year's Eve becomes a night to have some cautious fun, with fireworks and fun finger foods. The days of champagne at midnight fade into fond memories of the glory days.

Motherhood brings a miasma of new experiences to a woman's life, ones she could never before had imagined. Having the knowledge she has carried life inside her body, and watching that life slowly take shape and blossom and grow, is far more priceless and awe-inspiring than anything short of a religious experience. She has waited nearly a year of her life. When she finally hears that first indignant wail...ah! Life has begun.

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