I always knew I wanted more than one child. I am an only child, and Chris has a brother that was a teenager when he was born. They are close now but growing up there was really no sibling bond.
When we found out we were expecting our second baby, we knew we had to prepare Hayden as much as possible. He was the only grandchild on both sides and was pretty content with having all the attention to himself.
I worried about a lot of things:
Would my bond with him change?
Would I love them equally?
Would he be jealous?
As my belly grew, we talked about the future more and more. He knew a baby was coming, but I don’t think he really understood what it meant.
I woke up at 4am, the day before my due date. It was happening. I was in labor. I called my mom (she would be watching Hayden) and she headed over. Chris was at work and it would be about an hour and a half before he could get home. I thought that was fine after my 21 hour labor the first time. (LOL) ... 25 minutes later my mom arrived.. and we immediately had to wake up Hayden and go! There was no waiting on Chris. Hayden knew momma was hurting and was a little scared, but handled it so well. We arrived at the hospital just before 5am and checked in. My first words to my nurse were “I want an epidural for this birth, so lets do whatever we need to make sure that happens!” ( SPOILER ALERT: it didn’t happen)
Chris headed home to get the rest of our things and arrived at the hospital at 7, and mom and Hayden went home. Brynn made her grand entrance at 7:58am ( the anesthesiologist walked in at 7:59. While they were sewing up my vag. Asshole.)
8.8 lbs of my little babe
My mom and Hayden came back. I had been thinking about the moment he met her for 9 months.
He walked in and said “Where’s my baby at?”
He wanted to touch her and love her and kiss her and right then I knew it would all be fine.
Hayden never left the hospital. He was supposed to stay at my mom‘s but when they tried to leave, he refused. Honestly, I felt really good after her delivery and didn’t mind him being there.
And I think it was good for us all.
We spent the next two days cuddling and doing nothing. It was perfect.
This was our first night at the hospital. This photo still gets me because I remember taking it and feeling like my heart really may explode!
My bond with Hayden did change.
It gets stronger every time I see him help his sister.
I quickly realized: yes, I could love another human as much as I love Hayden.
He sometimes does get jealous. Not often. He always lets me know when he needs some lovin'!
I can’t wait to see their bond grow and change. This is a good life.