Sunday afternoon we headed to the Hospital where we will be having baby#2 for the hospital tour. Being that this hospital is not in the main downtown area of Charlotte, they hold these tours only once a month or so. This was the one time we would be able to attend without me being super uncomfortable.
What was on the agenda? Just touring the maternity ward and taking a look at the facility; getting instructions on where to come in depending on what time a day the little dude decides it is time to make an appearance; and what to expect in terms of medical care during the time we are there.
It wasn’t until we were touring the maternity suite that it hit me. Holy mother! We are really doing this in less than 2 months, and I am going to be in a whole lot of pain. I started remembering all the things that happened during Megan’s delivery. It was a long labor; 26 hours since the first contraction woke me up at 2 am. I remember being told by the hospital that I should not come in until my contractions were evenly “spaced” every 5 minutes or so; and thinking “screw this, I am in pain; I am going in NOW”. Turns out that my labor was NOT text book; my contractions never got evenly spaced out and they certainly did not last the normal one to 2 minutes. I had some suckers that lasted 6 minutes! And that was painful. So if I was to wait until I had my contractions evenly spaced, I would have had Megan at home.
I remember having back labor, using the birthing ball, being in the bathtub with the handheld shower head aimed at my lower back at all times (to relieve back labor pain); and counting down the minutes until I could get the epidural. You see, I had made up my mind from the get go, that I wanted to have the shot. Now, I can withstand a fair amount of pain; but I am in no way dumb. I wanted to enjoy my birthing experience, and being in pain I knew was not for me. So as soon as I was allowed I asked for the anesthesia. And it made a whole world of difference. My delivery was not exactly “pleasant”; but it was not horrible either. It did not make my shy away from wanting to have another child down the road.
The tour was informative, we got all our questions answered (not that we had many); and left the place with a sense of “tranquility”. Seeing the little bassinet, the identification bracelets and the little white hat that Baby will be wearing made everything that much more real. We will be a family of four; soon.
About an hour after we were done with our tour, Megan was signed up to take a siblings class; where she was to learn about babies (what they do, what they can’t do); as well as take a mini tour of the delivery suite so she would know where Mommy and Daddy would be staying once our little person comes out. She was SO excited to get to see everything, practice changing a diaper and learning how to properly hold baby.
I think one of my biggest concerns is making sure Megan does not feel left out once Baby is here. She has been an only child for a long time and I am sure that it will be a big adjustment for her to realize that even though we still love her to pieces, we will not always have time to play with her; and that taking care of baby will sometimes take precedence over anything else our family might decide to do. So we have been trying to include her in every choice we make regarding her little brother as it pertains to non medical things. She chose the first outfit we bought him; she helped picked toys, and I made sure to explain to her as many things as I could about what will go on, when she will be able to hold him, feed him and even help us change his diapers (“As long as they are not poopy ones”) Still, I am nervous about how she will take it.
The lady that taught the siblings class had a very interesting point. She said that being a mother of five, she thought that making the older sibling “pitty” the baby approach was much better that making them envy the newborn. What did she mean by this? Basically, pointing out to the older child how “boring” being a baby can be sometimes… For example: baby can only drink milk, he can’t have any of the good stuff like chocolate or ice cream, he can’t go to the movies, he can’t ride a bike, etc. And knowing Megan I think this will be a good approach to take with her. This helped ease some of my concerns.
Sometimes all it takes is a little outside perspective…
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