Thanks to everyone for their comments and emails about the new baby. Both Marathon Girl and Brennan are home and doing very well. From my point of view, even though it’s been just over two years since our previous child was born, it’s amazing how much I’ve forgotten about how much attention a baby needs.
Like getting up 2-3 times a night. After my third trip to retrieve the baby for Marathon Girl last night, I realized our other kids cried just as much during all hours of the night and we both had to get up just as much with them as we did with the new one. There’s probably a good reason those memories got pushed to the side when we decided to have another kid.
Other things I forgot: Babies need constant changing and care. They spit up a lot. And unlike our other kids, they can’t tell you what’s bothering them. There’s a lot of guesswork trying to figure it out why he’s crying.
But there are a lot of positive things too that also skipped my mind. Like taking a screaming baby into your arms and having him instantly calm down. That’s very rewarding. And being able to just hold him without all the wiggling or squirming. Having him open his eyes and sort of give a half smile and then go back to sleep. Seeing his brothers and sister become excited at the prospect of holding him.
All good stuff.
All worth it.
Now I just need to catch up on my sleep.