Our Last Baby and Other Poems
BY JACQUELINE HERNANDEZ LEWIS
Our Last Baby?
Unsure whether he’s our last baby
I’ve treated him as such
Trying to be at peace
With whatever our decision might be
Trying my best to take it all in
His every movement
Every milestone
Every touch
While at the same time
Juggling so much
Wondering whether I’m doing enough
Knowing I am more than enough
And still, feeling like I’ve got so much more love
Maybe we really aren’t done?
Growing is a Bittersweet Gift
Growing taller
Inch by inch
They grow
Growing wiser
More and more
They know
Growing up
Less and less
They need us
Growing gray
We too
Age
Growing emotional
With dampened eyes
I realize
Growing older
Is a bittersweet
Gift indeed
Cut Me Open and Sew Me Shut
Carried by hope and joy,
I am wheeled away
So that I can birth my baby
In my body's natural way.
Even though I am afraid,
I try not to let fear cloud our special day.
So, cut me open and sew me shut
But please take great care.
I want to birth safely
And I want my baby, too, to be okay.
This is our beautifully unique birth story,
No matter what others may call it or say.
JACQUELINE HERNANDEZ LEWIS is a former attorney turned work-from-home communications leader. She has dedicated her career thus far to working in public service. She is also a lifestyle and parenting writer, as well as the founder and owner of Moments of Musing, a creative communications brand focused on womanhood and motherhood. Of all her roles, being a wife and a mom to her three children are her favorite.