When I had my first baby, ​It probably shouldn't have surprised me that the attention of friends and family swung immediately from my pregnant state to my new bundle of joy. After all, I felt he was clearly the best baby ever produced. Oddly, though, people's affirmations of my son's perfection didn't stop me from feeling a bit shoved-into-the-background at a time when I looked for -- no, craved -- the "how are you feeling-s" and "hey, you look great-s" that made pregnant me feel pretty special. I clearly remember feeling invisible as enamored visitors showered compliments on my son and thinking,  "Hey, I had a pretty big role in this production! Give me some credit (AKA, attention) here!"  I actually looked forward to my followup OB-GYN visit. For those thirty minutes, with my baby napping at home, I was restored as the star attraction. It felt really good! 

Were my thoughts silly and self-centered? Of course, and I knew it. I also knew I was madly in love with this wondrous little person and that he completely deserved the adoration that was coming his way. Visitors' effusive words and praise pretty much mirrored what I told my son when we were alone. Even so, all the self-scolding in the world didn't stop me from being jealous of my own baby!

This feeling of displacement didn't last very long. Day-to-day life with a newborn, who showed more personality and less desire to nap with each passing day, quickly turned concentration on myself to a focus on the two of us. We were a team, one member of which was completely reliant on me, and I absolutely loved that feeling. It was easy to make motherhood the priority that my pregnancy had been. As the years passed, I'd sometimes think back on my new-mom conflict over the attention of friends and family and smile. Because, whether you chalk it up to raging hormones, lack of sleep, or post-pregnancy letdown, my experience was much more common (and far less petty) than I realized. 

Yes, babies do completely take over the limelight. And in no time at all, you're going to learn how gratifying that can be.