Baby June is Coming Soon!

Today we took the boys to the sibling class at Mercy Hospital where each of our babies have been born. They got to learn about how to hold a baby, and even practiced diapering and swaddling the baby dolls. We got to see the birthing room, and peek in the nursery where the nurses held up some newborns for the children to look at. At first the boys were hesitant to even go to the class, but I think they did enjoy it and learned something from it. Overall, I don't think anything will really prepare them for the baby's arrival, it will just happen suddenly and then all the adjusting will need to take place. Especially since they have experienced having a baby that they didn't get to take home, I think they will be taken by surprise by the whole experience.

I'm really looking forward to seeing them interact with their little brother. Both of them have said they want to help, and Jayden (3 1/2)assures me every now and then that he will share his toys with the baby, and I explain that at first the baby won't be able to play with anything. Caedmon (5 1/2) remembers when Jayden was a baby and he would always bring me a diaper or the paci, so he's looking forward to doing those things again. He also wants to help give the baby a bath, so it looks like I will have some eager volunteers for all of the baby's care. I've been worried about how I will spend enough time with each child, but I think we'll just all have to interact together, and my time with the older ones will often involve including them in what I do with the baby. Of course we'll still make time for reading books and some of their other favorite activities.

I can't believe he will be here so soon! My due-date is only 23 days away, and there's a good chance he will come sooner. Thursday at my appointment I was 2-3 cm and the Dr. could feel his head. She said "Looks like this baby wants to come soon!" Unfortunately soon is a relative word, which can seem much longer from the patient's perspective! There is really no guarantee that he'll come early, but I was excited to know that I'm progressing, and have really kicked it into high gear checking things off our long to-do list just in case. It would be nice if he would come early because at my ultrasound at 35 weeks they estimated that he was already just over 7 lbs. At that rate he will be huge by 40 weeks!!

As close as we're getting, it still seems unreal for the most part. I don't think it will really hit me until I'm holding him in my arms. I remember when I first found out I was pregnant, June seemed an eternity away, and now here we are!

In all of this, we are missing Eliana, and remembering the time we spent in the hospital with her. Those few fleeting moments we saw her face, and felt the weight of her in our arms. If she was with us now, she would be crawling everywhere and probably pulling up on the furniture, keeping us very busy and our hands would be so full with another baby about to be born! How sweet it would be...
Wishing we could have them both, but so happy to have our little boy soon!