A mother is born.    
Client Area Pronunciation Vocabulary Grammar Dialogues Quizzes Readings
               
         
     
         
    A mother is born.    
                   
    My first child, a daughter, was born on July 27th, 2000, and I found I was completely unprepared. I thought I was ready for her birth. I had read my books and articles on childbirth and baby care, I had bought everything on my shopping checklist, the nursery was ready for use, and my husband and I were anxiously awaiting her arrival. I was prepared for wakeful nights, endless diapers, sore nipples, crying (both hers and mine), and the feeling that I can't get anything done.    
                               
       
                               
        Her first child was a boy or a girl?    
        A boy.      
        A girl.      
                       
        Did she read books about babies?      
        Yes.          
        No.          
                               
         
     
 
 
 
     
         
    What I wasn't prepared for was how the entire world looked differently at me the minute she was born. I wasn't prepared for the fact that the sheer weight of my love for her would reduce me to tears on a daily basis. I didn't know that I wouldn't be able to get through my first lullaby to her because I wouldn't be able to sing through my tears. I didn't know that the world would suddenly become unbelievably beautiful and yet infinitely scarier. I didn't know that it would seem as if a new place had been created inside of me, just to hold this incredible love.
    
         
       
             
        Was she prepaired to have kids?    
        Yes.          
        No.          
                       
        Did she cry often?      
        Yes.          
        No.          
                               
         
     
 
 
 
     
         
    I had no idea what it would feel like when the nurse wheeled my daughter in to me saying, "she's looking for you" and the way the image of her deep blue eyes looking right at me would be seared in my heart forever. I didn't know that I could love someone so much it literally hurts, that a trip to WalMart would make me feel like a protective mother bear guarding her cub or that my first trip to the grocery store without her would break my heart.    
         
       
             
        Did she love her daughter?    
        Yes      
        No      
                       
        What color were the baby's eyes?      
        Green          
        Black          
        Blue          
        Brown          
         
         
     
 
 
 
     
         
    I didn't know that she would forever change the way my husband and I look at each other, or that the process of giving birth to her and breast feeding her would give me a whole new respect for my body. No one told me that I would no longer be able to watch the evening news because every story about child abuse would make me think of my daughter's face.    
         
       
             
        Could she watch the evening news?    
        Yes      
        No      
                       
               
                     
                             
                             
     
 
 
 
     
         
    Why didn't anyone warn me about these things? I am overwhelmed by it all. Will I ever be able to leave her and think of anything but her, or see a crust in her eye or spot on her skin that doesn't make me nervous? Will I ever be able to show her and express to her just how deep my love for her is? Will I ever be able to be the mother I so desperately want her to have?
I have heard it said, and I now know that it is true, that when a woman gives birth to her first child, there are two births. The first is the birth of the child. The second is the birth of the mother. Perhaps that is the birth that is impossible to prepare for.
   
         
       
             
        Did she know about those changes?    
        Yes      
        No      
                       
        Was she worried about the child's health?      
        Yes          
        No          
         
         
     
 
 
 
     
         
    Vocabulary.    
                   
    Use the following words to create sentences.    
         
    Nursery.    
       
         
    Tears.    
       
         
    Lullaby.    
       
         
    Desperately.    
       
         
    Anxiously .    
       
         
     
 
 
 
     
         
    Error correction.    
                   
    Each of the following sentences have one single mistake, write the correct sentence.    
         
    I have buy everything on my shopping checklist.    
       
       
         
    I didn't knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep.    
       
       
         
    I has no idea what it would feel like.    
       
       
         
    I didn't know that I could love someone so many.    
       
       
         
    Why didn't anyone warned me about this things?    
       
           
             
     
 
 
 
     
         
    Writing exercise.    
                   
    Write what did you feel with your first child (if you have one) or what do you think you would feel (if you do not have one yet).