Last Day of Pregnancy!
Tomorrow I go in to the hospital at 10 for my c-section. Of course I am nervous, but mostly excited to see what this little guy is like. I really feel like I have no sense of whether he will be 6 lbs or 10 lbs and I'm really curious! This is about a week and a half later than I've had other c-sections and the last few weeks have been rough. Last night I kept waking up with bad cramps (contractions?) but then once the sunlight hits, they are gone.
This experience being pregnant has been different from the others in a really sweet way--the kids are really aware of what is happening and have bonded with the baby just as I have. With other pregnancies the oldest child was 2 or 4 and didn't really get what was going on. I want to record some of the experiences we've had waiting for baby McKay to arrive. This baby is so loved and isn't even born yet!
You can tell that Max is a little confused about what it happening. For the last 6 months or so, every few days he asks me "is baby McKay big enough to come out yet?" and when I say no, he tries to guess with his hands how big he is. There have been moments of really funny jealousy. A few weeks ago he said "how big are baby McKay's feet?" and I showed him with my fingers. He said with evident pride "oh, my feet are much bigger." When he has a calm moment he will kiss my belly and say "awww, I love you baby McKay." Probably the cutest thing was that a few months ago, Max brought me a stick from the backyard and said "this is a walking stick for McKay--make sure you don't lose it." I think he thinks McKay will come out ready to play with him! Yesterday I told him just 2 more days until the baby comes out and he said "where are your doctor tools?" I was confused and as we talked I realized he thought that I was the doctor that was going to take the baby out of my own tummy. I can't wait to see his reaction to his baby brother tomorrow. I'm sure there will be lots of jealousy, but I also think Max will enjoy being a big brother.
Myles is BY FAR the most excited about this baby and also the most tender towards it. About a month ago he decided he wanted to make a paper chain countdown to the birth date, looked in my ipad for how many days until Halloween (we told them he would come around Halloween), and on his own cut and stapled together a paper countdown. We've had to adjust it a little, but every day he comes down for breakfast and counts how many more days. Maybe the most special thing this pregnancy has been Myles' nightly lullabies to the baby. When I lie down with him at night, Myles rubs my tummy and sings one of his "original" McKay songs. He has 5 that he cycles through and they all are about the same: "oh baby McKay, I love you so much, you are the best baby ever, I can't wait to meet you, we are going to be best friends, I will take care of you, I love you so much." Truthfully I am a little sad at tonight being the last night of this routine.
Mason has had very mixed feelings about this baby since we first told them we were expecting. In fact, when we first told them, Mason started crying and ran away furious. We had some good talks about his fears--that the baby would get more attention than him, that Myles would hurt the baby, that he was too busy to train another brother (to be a ninja), and that his friends would just care about the new baby and not him. For months he prayed "please help me be excited about this baby" and then over time his prayers changed to "I'm so thankful for baby McKay, please help him be healthy". He's also been so helpful and protective of me. The last few weeks he has helped me with the laundry with such a good attitude, and whenever he sees me start to bend over for something he jumps in and stops me and does it for me. Now he is as excited as the other kids, but just like his mom also full of anxiety. When I told him that I would go to the hospital to have the baby and would be there for 5 days he got really upset. He wanted to know exactly what time I would be in surgery so that he could stop and say a prayer for me and the baby. He asked how often moms or babies die in the hospital, and made us promise that as soon as he got home from school he could come see us. BUT. . .the last 3 days he's had a fever between 101-104 with a cough, and his doctor said he shouldn't be exposed to the baby until he has been without a fever for 12 hours. So we are trying to figure out a way that he could see the baby through the glass in the nursery or maybe through the window to know that everything is okay.
This experience being pregnant has been different from the others in a really sweet way--the kids are really aware of what is happening and have bonded with the baby just as I have. With other pregnancies the oldest child was 2 or 4 and didn't really get what was going on. I want to record some of the experiences we've had waiting for baby McKay to arrive. This baby is so loved and isn't even born yet!
You can tell that Max is a little confused about what it happening. For the last 6 months or so, every few days he asks me "is baby McKay big enough to come out yet?" and when I say no, he tries to guess with his hands how big he is. There have been moments of really funny jealousy. A few weeks ago he said "how big are baby McKay's feet?" and I showed him with my fingers. He said with evident pride "oh, my feet are much bigger." When he has a calm moment he will kiss my belly and say "awww, I love you baby McKay." Probably the cutest thing was that a few months ago, Max brought me a stick from the backyard and said "this is a walking stick for McKay--make sure you don't lose it." I think he thinks McKay will come out ready to play with him! Yesterday I told him just 2 more days until the baby comes out and he said "where are your doctor tools?" I was confused and as we talked I realized he thought that I was the doctor that was going to take the baby out of my own tummy. I can't wait to see his reaction to his baby brother tomorrow. I'm sure there will be lots of jealousy, but I also think Max will enjoy being a big brother.
Myles is BY FAR the most excited about this baby and also the most tender towards it. About a month ago he decided he wanted to make a paper chain countdown to the birth date, looked in my ipad for how many days until Halloween (we told them he would come around Halloween), and on his own cut and stapled together a paper countdown. We've had to adjust it a little, but every day he comes down for breakfast and counts how many more days. Maybe the most special thing this pregnancy has been Myles' nightly lullabies to the baby. When I lie down with him at night, Myles rubs my tummy and sings one of his "original" McKay songs. He has 5 that he cycles through and they all are about the same: "oh baby McKay, I love you so much, you are the best baby ever, I can't wait to meet you, we are going to be best friends, I will take care of you, I love you so much." Truthfully I am a little sad at tonight being the last night of this routine.
Mason has had very mixed feelings about this baby since we first told them we were expecting. In fact, when we first told them, Mason started crying and ran away furious. We had some good talks about his fears--that the baby would get more attention than him, that Myles would hurt the baby, that he was too busy to train another brother (to be a ninja), and that his friends would just care about the new baby and not him. For months he prayed "please help me be excited about this baby" and then over time his prayers changed to "I'm so thankful for baby McKay, please help him be healthy". He's also been so helpful and protective of me. The last few weeks he has helped me with the laundry with such a good attitude, and whenever he sees me start to bend over for something he jumps in and stops me and does it for me. Now he is as excited as the other kids, but just like his mom also full of anxiety. When I told him that I would go to the hospital to have the baby and would be there for 5 days he got really upset. He wanted to know exactly what time I would be in surgery so that he could stop and say a prayer for me and the baby. He asked how often moms or babies die in the hospital, and made us promise that as soon as he got home from school he could come see us. BUT. . .the last 3 days he's had a fever between 101-104 with a cough, and his doctor said he shouldn't be exposed to the baby until he has been without a fever for 12 hours. So we are trying to figure out a way that he could see the baby through the glass in the nursery or maybe through the window to know that everything is okay.
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