Since becoming pregnant and reaching the “safe zone” there has been a lot of excitement for this baby. Mainly from other family members and Molly. Not so much Liam and I, purely because a pregnancy after a loss is primarily full of anxiety and fear. However, the further along in the pregnancy we’ve got, the more excited we have all become.
One of the things that has constantly been on my mind is if Molly understands that shes going to be a big sister. That in less than 10 weeks, a tiny, new human is going to come into our lives and change everything. She’s only a baby herself at 2 years old, or at least in my eyes she is.
“Getting her to be involved as much as possible”
If we ask her where the baby is, she will point to my stomach. She interacts with the baby, be it lifting up my top to rub my belly or give baby a kiss, rest her head on my stomach ( and then receive a swift kick, which she giggles at every time ) and sometimes she gets a little too rough and jumps onto my stomach. Toddlers eh?! We don’t know the gender of the baby, however Molly seem’s to think it’s a boy and says “no” every time we say it might be a girl.
I have taken Molly to every scan I have been to, apart from the two I had when in hospital. She has heard the heartbeat and seen the baby moving around on the screen. At home we have been getting things ready ( possible early arrival which you can read about here ) and involving her in it all. She put’s the baby’s tiny cloth nappies on her teddies and wraps them up in a blanket. It’s so cute to watch, and it makes my heart burst at how gentle she is. I want her to feel like shes helping and not feel left out once the baby arrives – hopefully these little things will help.
Waiting for Baby
Whilst we were out in town, we came across a book in the charity shop called “Waiting for baby”. Now, I have seen this book floating around social media ever since finding out I was pregnant. It goes through the things that most likely happen during a mothers pregnancy, but from a child’s point of view. I am so glad I got it, because at the moment it is Molly’s favourite book and we read it multiple times a day. She will point to the mum’s tummy and say “baby” and then turn and say the same to me. There are worse things to spend 50p on!
There area few other things we have planned to ensure she is as involved as possible. We are going to let her pick an outfit for the baby to wear, as well as a soft toy for the baby to have that she can give to them when they arrive. When we set up the crib, we are going to get her to help choose which bedding to put on, and help set up the nappy basket for the bedroom. Hopefully these little things will help the transition slightly.
Part of me is thinking, shes got this. She knows there’s a baby in my stomach. But then I realise that I don’t actually think she fully understands, and won’t really until the baby is here with us. I am hoping we are taking the right approach with preparing her and involving her as much as we can. She has the kindest soul, and is so gentle when she sees smaller babies at soft play – We just now she is going to be the best big sister to this little one.
