Sitting here at my dining table with a warm cup of tea on a weekday morning feels nostalgically familiar. I remember days like this long ago–peaceful mornings, which were rare even back then, but at least they did exist.
Then one day they were gone. Just like that. With a snap of the finger just as soon as my first was born.
It always seems to happen that way... Because there is no easing into parenthood. When you enter it, you get all of it, all at once. Like a floodgate that’s suddenly opened, you barely know what hit you. Your entire world is flipped upside down and everything changes the moment you lay eyes on that precious child. It’s the wildest, most amazing thing. Instantly, this new life swells your heart with a love you never knew you had. You feel like you might just explode! But very quickly you realize it’s also the hardest thing ever, and if you didn’t know grit then, you know you better find it now.
The feeds, the diapers, the burps, the rocking, the bouncing, the crying, the cooing, the smiling, the wonder, the confusion, the joy, the fatigue—oh the fatigue…
But, oh the JOY.
All those still small moments that make everything worth it. Their first smile and every smile thereafter each time you enter the room. They take their first wobbly steps—towards you!—and there’s a wild sparkle in both your eyes. They sing a song in the bathtub, mispronouncing every other word, and you wouldn’t change it for the world. They close their eyes, falling asleep peacefully, and no matter what happened that day, they become nothing short of the most beautiful angels on earth. You are absolutely enamored and you feel like this is just the best thing ever.
Yes, I remember those days all too well. Eleven years have gone by and I have since then birthed #2, 3, and adopted #4. I nursed them, wiped their bottoms, tied their shoes, and homeschooled them just up until the beginning of this year. Now they are all in school, and here I sit again, with tea in hand, staring out my window, in my quiet, new home.
Hi, my name is Irene Kim and I welcome you to my world. Thanks for coming by! I am a wife and mother of 4, and I have been doing birthwork as a doula and childbirth educator for the greater part of the last decade. Our family just moved to Frederick, and we are starting fresh in many ways with great excitement and anticipation.
As I sit in this new season of my quieter-than-usual life, starting in a new community with my new branded company, Kindled Life Doula Services, I smile. I smile thinking about every expecting parent I have met on my journey as a birthworker and all the ones I still have yet to meet, just beginning their wild season of parenthood! I smile thinking of all the beautiful babies who were born before my eyes and the ones soon to be born. I smile knowing that although it may be so incredibly challenging at times, you will also see (if you haven’t already) that becoming a parent is truly the best thing ever, that you can have the support that you need, and that you will find your way through it all.
So, whatever season you are in as a new parent, whether knee deep in diapers, newly pregnant and preparing for the birth of your first child, or just thinking about the possibility and curious to learn more, I am here rooting for you. Let’s connect!
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