I think there are different levels of love but to be honest I didn't love LO at the highest level til she was 3-4 months. PPD probably delayed it a bit and I was really sad that I didn't get to have that right at birth instantaneous head over heels feeling for her. But once I got help and I got to know her a little and she showed her personality, that's when I reeeeally started to love her.
What about you? Instant or gradual? How long did it take?
cantaloupe / 6630 posts
I was very lucky and really did love her the second I laid eyes on her. It just grew throughout the day and by her first night I couldn't believe how much I loved this tiny little girl.
bananas / 9973 posts
I know it will be different on an entirely higher level, but I already love my little in-utero girl SO much! We tell her everyday too! 
GOLD / wonderful pea / 17697 posts
For me it was the first time he locked eyes with me (about half an hour after he was born). It was...like an instant recognition...like "Oh THERE you are, I've been waiting my whole life for you!" but with a massive amount of intensity behind it. It's so weird though...I love him all of the time, but I have these random moments where I will feel this total body rush when I look at him and think "I cannot possibly love anything in the whole world more than I love you right this second". It's a little bit overwhelming, actually. In a good way!
bananas / 9357 posts
It was gradual for me. I mean I LOVED him since the moment I found out I was pregnant, but I didn't feel a deep connection until starting around 4 weeks. It just seemed to build up more and more as the weeks go on. He's now 4 months and I couldn't imagine my life with out him. I can truly say that my heart has never been filled with so much love before. I can't say I felt like that when he was first born.
GOLD / pomelo / 5737 posts
@mrskc That's how I was too! 
I loved her when I was pregnant, talked to her all the time. In the beginning I loved her just for being our baby, but it wasn't until I felt I "knew" her that I felt the overwhelming "I-would-do-absolutely-anything-for-you" love. Sometimes I still wake up thinking "I can't do this" but now I know that's the PPD talking and I just wait for it to pass.
pear / 1769 posts
I think about this a lot. LO is only 11 weeks and I'm still working on it all feeling real. Like, I have a kid, what?! I remember when she was 5 weeks old thinking I really started to like her. Now that she is starting to have more of a personality and interact she is much more a person.
GOLD / squash / 13464 posts
I loved her from the moment I laid eyes on her. I started really liking her around three weeks when my hormones settled and we got used to life with a newborn.
nectarine / 2504 posts
@mrskc: Ditto! It was also very gradual for me. I struggled with PPD and didn't really bond/start loving LO until he was 3-4 months old. It really, really helped when he started smiling and cooing.
GOLD / pomelo / 5737 posts
@rawrasaur I had trouble thinking of her as a person in the beginning. I said it to a friend and she said "well if she's not a person what is she?" and even though I know she meant to help it was soooo not helpful! People do lots of things newborns don't!!! The smiles, coos, etc... just getting some feedback from her was all it took to get this relationship started.
coconut / 8681 posts
I loved him when I was pregnant with him and I REALLY loved him when he was born but for awhile it was still accompanied with a feeling of disbelief that he was really mine to love. Once he started being more smiley and interactive and we were able to see his little personality he became my very favorite person. I'd do anything for him and I get really overwhelmed by how much I love him a lot of the time.
bananas / 9357 posts
@keiki_mama: @googly-eyes: When I think back to those early weeks, I wonder if I suffered from slight PPD or a really bad case of baby blues and that' s what hindered my connection to him at the beginning. I was a crying mess for the first 4 weeks. And sometimes would get so angry at DS for things that weren't his fault! I wish I could go back to those early weeks and enjoy them more. Around 4-6 weeks things started getting much easier and I started really connecting with him. I think when he started smiling at 6 weeks really helped a ton.
pineapple / 12234 posts
I loved him while I was pregnant, but I didn't know how much I could love him until he was born! For my daughter, the night she was born, I sang "you are my sunshine" and I fell in love with her then more than I had while I was pregnant.
GOLD / pomelo / 5737 posts
@mrskc Probably! The first few weeks I passed it off as baby blues and then it actually subsided and then suddenly got really really bad, especially the anxiety! But needless to say those things (coupled with the trying newborn phase!) definitely screw up the bonding experience...
pear / 1946 posts
It wasn't until about 3-4 months that I REALLY loved her. She was colicky and I was hit hard by PPD. The first 2-3 months she was just this thing that screamed and cried 24/7 that I was responsible for.
I had a long labor ending in a csection where I was so tired I kept falling asleep on the table. When she came out I was like "oh, interesting. Can I go to sleep now?" I think that whole ordeal Definitely affected our initial bonding.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
It was immediate. Absolutely one of the most defining moments in my life.
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
I loved my kids immediately.
My love for my son (2nd born) was a lot more intense though. Maybe because I was more alert and had an easier and quicker labor..?
cherry / 188 posts
I love my babies from conception and probably before, but due to bad ppd I probably didn't show it right away. I went through the motions of taking care of her, but it wasn't until my hormones were back that I gushed over her.
pomegranate / 3706 posts
I loved my girl the moment I knew I was pregnant and it intensified the moment I laid eyes on her. She is the best thing I've ever done in my life, and my absolute favorite person. Even through the first 5 colicky months and PPD, I felt a very strong connection to her from the start, which I now know I was lucky to experience.
grapefruit / 4006 posts
@mrskc: this was me exactly. my ob-gyn said that i might have ppd and to talk to someone, but i never did. i just thought it was a bad case of the baby blues and me having trouble adjusting to my new life. i was also embarrassed about it...anyway, now i love her a little more each day and i miss her when i haven't held her in an hour! its weird how things can change, when i thought i'd never bond with the baby.
squash / 13764 posts
I would say around 8 wks...I don't think I had ppd (but maybe I did?) but my troubles with breastfeeding left me in so much pain and feeling so resentful that it hindered my ability to bond with Lo. Now at 4 months I love him to pieces.
clementine / 828 posts
@FutureMrsMcK: those random feelings of intense love describes exactly how I feel about about my DS. I remember holding him while in the recovery room and looking at his face thinking "I would kill a person to protect you". It was the weirdest thought because I am the most non-violent person but in that moment I could understand how someone could kill for their child.
pomelo / 5093 posts
I loved her the first day or so, but I felt like I needed to get to know her. I had this very primal urge to protect her and care for her, but she felt . . . not like a stranger, but like I didn't yet know her. The love I had for her then was all hormonal - it doesn't really compare to what I feel for her now, knowing her.
honeydew / 7303 posts
Mine was gradual. I loved her immediately, but I really bonded with her, missed her and intensely loved her after a couple of months. Now it is crazy the amount of love I have for her!!!
pomegranate / 3314 posts
Because of PPD and the fact that my husband's work schedule was so insane and I felt so alone/exhausted, I think around 3-4 months is when it started to hit me. Now I am fully, deeply in love with her.
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