CTV Toronto reporter Naomi Parness has signed off the air and has moved on to her next assignment: motherhood. While on her maternity leave, she will be filing occasional columns on the experience of this whole new responsibility. Here's her latest: 

Mother. It's a term I still have a hard time equating with myself. But there is no better indication that my life has changed dramatically than this column. It took forever to find the time to write it! I contemplated doing it for the last three weeks ... but every time I sat down to write, this new little man in my life somehow found a way to distract me.

So yes ... I am a mom. My son (it's still so weird to say that) Benjamin Harrison was born on March 26th and came into the world with quite a story. They say when it comes to labour expect the unexpected. Well I certainly didn't expect what happened with Ben! To make the long story short, I ended up having an emergency C-section after 13 hours of labour. Thankfully Ben is okay and he's happy and healthy ... but it was a very scary experience. And to top it off, I had to go under to have surgery the next day to remove a growth that had developed in my nose as a result of the pregnancy. So the first week was a challenge, but now we are both doing great.

And now the story is really all about him. He IS my life. I went from being a busy reporter always on the go ... to being chained to my chair, mainly housebound, and ready and available whenever my son needs to feed. I am trying the breastfeeding thing (they say breast is best), and after a bit of a rocky start because of all the surgeries, I am doing well and Ben is gaining lots of weight. But I will be honest -- it does get frustrating. I miss being able to do things for myself and I literally feel like all I do is feed. (Because it is actually all I do.) I know every mom will remember the feeling. You feed. Then you burp them, change a diaper, calm them ... they sleep and if you are lucky you get an hour to yourself. You then have to decide how to use the hour. Will you shower ... eat ... or sleep? People call and ask what I did today. That's about it folks. And from what I hear it will be this way for a few weeks.

Now thankfully, we have had a lot of help. Because of the C-section I couldn't do much the first few weeks, so I had a lot of help from my family and my husband Jon. Many people say we don't look like new parents, but that's because we have a secret. We have help at night a few nights a week. We hired a night nurse to help us so we can sleep ... it's the best money we have ever spent. And she has taught us so much. But we still have had our fair share of nights -- trust me.

Ben may only be about three weeks old but he's quite a character ... and he has had those fussy nights every new parent dreads, when you try everything to calm them. The dryer ... running water ... his car seat ... the car ... different positions ... lights on ... lights off ... singing ... everything and anything to put them to sleep. I have fallen asleep while he is breastfeeding and I have wondered if daylight would ever come. But it does come and I find with each new day it gets easier.

The key I have found -- is laughter. If you can laugh at the situation and laugh at yourself you are doing okay. My husband and I will turn to each other wishing there was a manual on how to be parents ... and we just laugh because in some situations we really have no idea what to do with our new little man (Google is very helpful at 2 a.m. when you need answers). We laugh at his faces, we laughed when he pooed all over my husband and himself and his change table. We laughed after he cried for hours and we just couldn't figure out what the heck to do to calm him. Although things don't always seem funny at the time ... laughter is really the best remedy. And so is Ben. I never thought I could love something as much as I do my son ... and he's only three weeks old. I know there will be even more to love as he grows up.

He is so precious and so sweet and I love learning more about him each day as he grows. Now there are some moments when I don't like the change ... because too much has changed. The life I had just a few weeks ago is gone ... and at times it's hard to let go of it. I have no control anymore ... my life is now ruled by Ben. And that can be hard. But I know the first few weeks are a rollercoaster of emotions ... and everytime I miss my old life, I look at Ben and look forward to all the new things to come.

So ... I am now a member of this exclusive club ... I am now a parent. And out of every club or organization I have ever been a part of, I have to say, this truly is the best.

P.S. I have started to receive emails from people about parenting and different videos or books or organizations. Please continue to send! In the next few months I hope to use this column to provide options and ideas for moms and dads. So keep the ideas coming!!!

Read Naomi's previous columns: