Family of four

He’s here.

Labor and delivery were once again quick, but felt much less chaotic than the first time around. The midwife’s name was Zen, and she definitely brought an air of that to the whole experience. Baby boy was born in a birthing tub (which, as a testament to how fast things moved, was filled just in time for me to start pushing) one day past my due date. He was the same length but over a pound heavier than his big sister. Baby boy and I stayed in the hospital for about 24 hours (Hubby was not allowed to stay overnight but returned in the morning), after which my friend who had hosted a sleepover for Missy brought her to our room to meet her baby brother for the first time before we headed home as a family of four.

A midwife has already made her first visit and declared us all healthy and healing well. I am still very sore. That includes my nipples, which we are keeping an extra close eye on as my milk comes in because just like his sister, baby boy has a tongue tie. This time, though, if we end up needing to have his clipped, it’s a two-hour bus ride away. So we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that the two of us can figure this out without medical intervention.

Missy loves her brother and has been very sweet and gentle with him. But she is also clearly conflicted and having a bit of a hard time with the reality of no longer having my undivided attention. I’m trying to play and snuggle with her as much as possible when I don’t literally have my hands full with the baby, but it’s difficult when I am also so exhausted. I’m sure we’ll find our way into a new routine (and hopefully soon because Hubby has a conference in Estonia in three weeks, during which time I will be solo parenting two). On the plus side, unlike when Missy was born, despite not having family around, we do have a network of friends we can rely on. Which makes all of this feel so much less overwhelming.

Advertisement