Source: photoxyz.com 

But more than any other subject I became a reader of birth stories.

They fascinated me- the home births and water births. The overseas adoptions. The scheduled C-sections and inductions. The epidurals and unmedicated deliveries. The babies born in the caul or breech or sunny side up.

During my pregnancies I sought these stories out- on birth boards and mommy blogs. But also in the words of my friends who were mothers.

I listened. Was pulled into the drama of 2 am contractions. This is it, they told their husbands, It's Time.

I wonder what it is about the birth story that compels me still.

Perhaps it is this: the story of birth is where the motherhood narrative begins.

It's the shotgun start to a lifetime of MOMents.

It's the fear, the anticipation, the love and the realization of little-girl dreams all wrapped up together.

In hospital sheets and IV drips, in darkened living rooms surrounded by women, in courtrooms where it was declared that the child in arms was now a part of your heart.

In that place we go to in our minds that says Remember this. This, today, is what it means to be alive.

Mary Lauren Weimer is a social worker turned mother turned blogger. She's pursuing a career as a freelance writer, and her work has been published in Sleet Magazine and featured on many popular websites. Her blog, My 3 Little Birds, focuses on the small reflections - MOMents - in each day that make life beautiful. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook!