T minus 15 days until Baby Cunningham #2 is scheduled for eviction from his comfy home... and just like his brother, he has made himself exceptionally comfortable in there and at this point has no intentions to willingly leave. Type A Personality mama is more than okay with this as we have a scheduled C-Section and I like for things to follow "my plan". Originally we were expecting for this lil boy to be about as big as his brother (who was 10lb 2oz 20.5" at birth) but the estimate now is looking closer to 8.5lbs at delivery (39 weeks vs. Shane's 41 weeks). We'll see though... as long as he comes out and is healthy I'll be extremely great with it. My hope is that the estimate is right (in the 8lb range) because once the baby is over 9lb they get whisked away because they automatically have a higher chance of having diabetes (so they're tested immediately) and there's also a greater chance of lung infection (which is already an increased risk due to being a C-Section).
There's a lot I do and a lot I don't remember about Shane's birth... but I remember a lot how taken back I was that it took so long for me to "meet" him and hold him. I remember asking when I'd get to hold him and the nurse telling me that I would get to when I was out of recovery... Evidently I had a great deal of blood loss and so I was in recovery for a very long time (from 10:00pm'ish until about 2:00am) and when I finally got to my room, Brad was excited that they'd be "done with Shane's chest X-Rays" (Which I had NO idea he was having) around 2:30. He didn't make it to my room until 4:30am... 7 hours after his birth. That's the first time I was offered the opportunity to nurse him. Well between that, the fact that they gave him sucrose to console him, and the fact that he was (is) tongue tied... nursing obviously was a battle with him from the start. But as a big boy, he was hungry and sure did try hard. But I have a hard time believing that his Jaundice would have been either less "severe" or a non-issue all together if he had been given a chance to eat in the first several hours of his life... Eventually they told me that he needed his billi level to go down in order to go home with me (day 3) and that the best way to do that besides the lights is to "flush his system"... I gave him formula and that was kind of that with the Jaundice (he was at exactly the right level to come home with me).
Now as a second time mom, I know what questions to ask and what things to self-advocate for. I've already expressed to my doctor (and mom, husband, mother-in-law, and sister) to make sure that they know I'm a "nursing mom" and my doctor has assured me that even with blood loss and X-Rays, as long as nobody has an infection I should be allowed to hold and feed my child within the first 2 hours (sure beats 7). Even if infection is an issue, they should still be able to take me to at least see my child. I'll be pretty assertive about that.
I don't know if intuitively Shane understands that he's about to have to share the spotlight or if it's his age (18 months is age appropriate for "clinginess" to begin), but Shane has been extra snuggly and needing a lot of mom and dad time lately. I'm selfishly very happy about this... but I also am starting to feel kind of guilty that he's going to have to share us right now. I know we'll be sure to pay extra amazing attention to him while he adjusts though. The only thing that I really am even more upset about is that I know I'll be restricted from lifting and holding him until my incision heals... That breaks my heart because he'll need some extra hugs from his mother in the weeks to come. Hopefully we'll have a harder time adjusting than he does and that the "worst" will hit us and not him... We'll see about what's to come there too. I know though, that with as loving and sweet he is that he'll be an incredible big brother and I look forward to the years that come with Shane and Baby Cunningham being so close in age (18.5 mo apart).... the awesome things that they'll get to share (besides a room haha).
Here's to hoping that I make it until June 5th (scheduled D-Day!!).
MB
Shane's new room pictures to follow!!!!
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