No one prepares you

 No one prepares you for the day you realize you are holding your last newborn.

You don’t know it’s the last time you’ll smell that fresh baby scent on their head and feel their tiny chest rise and fall against yours. You don’t know it’s the last time you’ll rock in the dark at 3 a.m., just the two of you in your own little world. You don’t know it’s the last time you’ll pack away newborn clothes, thinking, “Maybe we’ll use them again.”

Until one day, you know.
You know you’re done having babies.

And it hits you. The newborn stage you once wished away in your exhaustion is suddenly something you’d give anything to experience one more time. The sound of those little newborn cries. The way their entire hand fit around your one finger. The way you were their whole world.

It’s bittersweet. Because while you’re ready for this next chapter, part of your heart will always ache for the one you just closed.

And maybe that’s the thing about motherhood every chapter you finish leaves you a little fuller, but also a little more tender.