Earlier in August I’d signed him up for a sibling class that the hospital I’ll deliver at provides for free to big brothers and sister to be. I wasn’t really too sure what to expect because it was only an hour long from noon to 1:00 pm on Saturday, September 1st. It’s really for 3+ year olds but being that my son is so intellectually advanced they said it would be ok. (kidding, I think they thought in their head, well he’ll be 3 in five months anyway and if he acts stupid then you are with him to take him away)
We were to bring a doll. Ikes ok, I only have monster trucks and dinosaurs so I ordered a doll online – it’s a present for Hill to give Reid for when she gets here. I’m sure Reid wouldn’t mind if we gently used her doll to prepare her big bro for her arrival. It’s precious. It has her name monogrammed on the dress and it was my first step into girl-toy-dom.
We arrived at 11:45 and sat in the lobby with another family that had 2 girls, a boy and another girl on the way. The girls had their American Girl Dolls and the dolls hair and outfits matched the girls’ hair and outfits. I was frightened. Their mom and dad assured me that this is a gift that grandmothers buy at Christmas when they get older because they are expensive but they do have generic clothes available to fit doll and kid. I was still scared of all these options on a doll and to clone them like my child. I’m sure Reid will have an American Girl Clone, I mean Doll, but I won’t lie – it was weird how much they looked like these kids. For now, I’ll stick with my monogrammed name on dress doll, which was a huge step for me.
When we got to the classroom a little girl and her mom were there waiting on us. They are expecting a baby boy. These kids were older than Hill, by a couple years or so. They understood more of what was going on, but didn’t have as much to say about it as Hill did…of course, he is my son, so he talks a lot and asks a lot of questions and makes too many statements out loud. First things first, Hill got a t-shirt that said he was a Super Big Brother and had a Superman logo on it. Are you kidding me? My kid was so worried about that shirt the whole time. He couldn’t figure out if he wanted to just stare at its’ awesomeness or wear it - so on and off on and off the shirt went during the whole classroom presentation.
In the classroom the nurse familiarized the kids with items they may see while they are visiting mommy at the hospital and what they do to the baby when he/she gets here. Showed them the footprint cards, their hat, blanket, bed, eye drops, booger sucker, stickers, ID arm bands all the while assuring them that their baby and mommy are being very well taken care of. We looked at pictures of how they used all of these items on a new baby and Hill asked me if those were pictures of Reid. (sweet noggin’) I told him that Reid was still in my tummy but that was a picture of another new baby.
Then it was time to utilize the doll and learn to put on a diaper. I have to say that Hill did a remarkable job at putting on the diaper. We can totally build on this and make him an official diaper changer. I was proud.
The nurse went on to explain other things and then asked if there were any questions or if anyone had anything to say. I asked Hill if he had any questions and he said no. I asked Hill if he had anything to say. Yes, yes he did. He said really loud (as he gets that from his mother too) “My mommy has a baby in her tummy!” The sweet nurse humored him and said, “Wow! Is it a girl baby or a boy baby?” Hill said, “It’s a girl her name is Weed Cath-win.” I’m sorry it just melts my heart EVERY TIME I hear him say that.
That was a way for the other kids to interact, that silly Hill the ice breaker. The nurse asked the other kids if they were having a brother or sister and if they had names. No one had names for their babies yet. I will never understand how people aren’t as OCD as I am. I guess the lady about to birth her 4th I can understand, I don’t think I would have any brain cells left to know my own dang name by that point, she was awesome though. She said that when she had her son it took the hospital coming in and saying, “Ok you’ve been here 3 days, we can’t let you leave without naming this baby.” So they named him Jackson. Great name, I just wonder if they felt like they had to ‘settle’ on a name or felt rushed. Anyway, moving on.
Next we got to tour the hospital. The kids got to see the brand new babies in the nursery window and relate all the items they saw in the classroom onto real live babies. We got to tour the labor and delivery room and also the regular rooms. The nurse said that this is where mommy will lay and this is the uncomfortable couch daddy will sleep on. We take good care of everyone here. When you come to visit mommy you can sit with her, but don’t jump or sit on her tummy because it might be sore. Very basic but important things that I realized really benefited Hill and his little inquisitive brain.
I’m so glad we went. It made the hospital a more familiar not so scary place and that way when Hill is there for the birth and visiting he won’t be as intimidated and worried because he’s been there before. Brilliant idea, so glad we went. Hill loves his Superman big brother shirt; he got colors and a coloring book too. Hill is a certified big brother now! We've totally got this big bro thing down.
1 comment:
That is so adorable. He seems so happy about her and ready to take on his duties! He's a sweetheart :)
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