Finding out you're expecting is one of those moments where you're filled with sheer excitement and love.
And when your newborn comes along, your heart is full, eyes welled, and you encompass that feeling of falling in love all over again.
As a mum you cherish every single finger and toe, vowing to always love your baby - unconditionally.
Rasha Rushdy, was on the receiving end of that unconditional love recently though, and the mum-of-two didn't know what to do.
The writer at The Tuna Chronicles, had woken up with her toddler daughter, who was suffering from a stomach bug in the early hours of the morning.
Following a drink of water and some attention from mum, her little one was ready to go back into her snuggly bed, but not before she told her mum she loved her.
"I tossed and turned, unable to go back to sleep. I was in my own bed, but could still feel the light touch of her little hands as she'd said those words lingering on my face."
"I felt the same energy in that touch when she was a newborn."
It was then the mum realised, our children can tell us they love us, long before they learn the words.
"I love you is that cry when they experience their very first separation from you as oxygen floods their lungs for the first time."
"I love you is their protest when they won’t let you put them back down in that cot, because your closeness, your heartbeat, and the sound of your voice is all they need."
"I love you is that sweet, gummy smile."
Because our kids have been showing us how much they really care through everyday situations; immitation, clinging and even meltdowns.
"When they’re kicking, and screaming, and totally unreasonable, and showing you every single shade of emotion they’re feeling, hard as it may be for you to maintain your composure, stand by and let them feel it, because they’d hesitate to unleash it all in front of someone whose love they doubted."
They love you unconditionally, just as much as you love them unconditionally.
Rasha reasons: "Because we can see each other at our worst - the child throwing a tantrum of unparalleled proportions, or the parent that has completely snapped - and still love with everything we’ve got."
"They've been saying 'I love you' right from the very start."
So the next time you feel defeated, or your child is testing your patience - just remember Rasha's words, because that love you share, it's unconditional.
