It's official: Being a mom changes you

I just got home from dinner out with Lindsey and Rachel. We went to a new "night club" restaurant called Tre that is owned by the same person who runs 33rd Street Bistro and Bistro 33 (confusing, I know.) The past couple of hours have made me realize a few things about myself as a new mother...

1. I am changed physically. From the moment Lindsey suggested dinner earlier this morning I agonized over what to wear. It's as if I have completely forgotten how to dress myself for social situations (assuming I ever new how to in the first place.) Even after I donned an outfit I found to be suitable, once I got to Lindsey's house and saw myself in the mirror I discovered I was not at all dressed appropriately. Not that my outfit was inappropriate for the evening's events but that it was inappropriate for my body. I actually have love-handles. Okay, they're small, but they're there. It's as if I've been given an entirely new body with thicker thighs, a flabby mid-section, and a larger chest that I need to get used to dressing. And boy am I now motivated to get in shape!
2. I'm changed emotionally. Even before leaving the house I was looking forward to coming back home. Mason was in the very capable hands of his grandmother and I was completely fine with that (thanks again Mom!) Still, I hadn't even walked out the front door and I looked forward to walking back through it. What a significant change from the days when I didn't think twice about leaving... and on occasion wouldn't come home until the next day. I didn't think there would come a day when I would rather stay home and do nothing than be out with the girls having fun.
3. I'm changed socially. We're sitting there enjoying wine, good conversation, and reviewing this new restaurant and there I am checking my cell phone in case my mom needs something. What she could possibly need in the hour since I had left the house, I don't know. Just knowing I wasn't being summoned was comforting. The dinner conversation hovered around travel (Lindsey) and career (Rachel) and then to motherhood (me.) I had little else to talk about except for how I'm constantly changing diapers and very closely resemble a dairy. How far from the conversations of only a year ago surrounding work, future plans, and reminiscing.

Whether I like it or not, the simple act of being a mother has changed me without my knowledge or consent. I have no doubt this is the first of many changes, many realizations, and adaptations and, well, I'm okay with that. Bring it on motherhood!