I have some very exciting news!
Monday morning at 5:10 a.m. my husband and I received a phone call from my daughter. She was going to have her baby.
We rushed over to her house. Her 3-year-old son was still sound asleep, so we assured my daughter and her husband that we could take good care of him while they were busy at the hospital. They left, and we sat on the couch and twiddled our thumbs for a while.
Five in the morning is NOT my normal time to wake up. So after about 30 minutes of thumb-twiddling my husband volunteered to run out to Starbucks for a cup of perk-me-up. I was tired of fighting with my eyelids to stay open, so I agreed.
He was only gone about 10 minutes when the 3-year-old decided it was time to start his day. As soon as the little sweetie saw me peeking into his room he burst into tears.
“I want my mommy and daddy!” he cried, throwing himself dramatically down on the bed. (If you’ve never been around small children you’ve probably never experienced real, true drama. They do it very well because for them, everything is very, very important.)
“Your mommy and daddy have gone to the hospital. They’ll be back a little later.” I kept my voice calm.
“I want my mommy and daddy!” he cried, tears streaming down his little face.
I reassured him again. And again. And again. I spent about 5 minutes reassuring until I finally realized that it wasn’t working. He was just too worried about the changes he knew were coming. A new baby sister is a very big thing.
So I switched tactics. I asked him if he remembered how big his mommy’s stomach had grown. He tearfully nodded that he did. I then asked if he remembered before his mommy’s stomach had gotten big. He thought a moment, but then nodded yes.
I could tell I now had his interest. He wondered where I was going with this.
I then pretended that I was his baby sister, growing, kicking, and stretching in the confined space of her mommy’s tummy.
He smiled.
I knocked on the pretend tummy and asked in a silly voice, “Hello, I’m ready. Can I come out now? Hello, I’m ready to meet my brother.”
He laughed.
The rest of the day went well, with no further tears.
The baby was born around 7:30 p.m., but my husband and I didn’t get to return home until closer to 11.
It was a very long day, but very worth it!
Welcome, little one!