Since Wednesday morning when I went into labor, Andrew has gone through a life change. At first, even while I was in early labor, he didn't want to have anything to do with me, sensing something was different, and anyway, Joy (my sister) was there to play with. Then I disappeared for a few hours, and when he saw me next, I had this tiny, red, squishy little person in my arms.
For the next 24 hours, Andrew didn't really even want look at me. I made it a point to hand Elijah off to someone else whenever I would come downstairs from a nap or something, or anytime Andrew would come into the room. Also, I kept pointing out that this was Andrew's Baby. Eventually, he decided to break the "Mommy-fast", came running over to me shouting "MOMMY!", and hugged me for a long time, even bestowing a kiss.
Since then, he has gotten used to the idea of having a baby around, and seems to be settling in to the role of Big Brother. Yesterday Andrew introduced Elijah to his monster truck collection, and today he showed him a ball. Also, he's asked to hold him a few times now, and is very gentle and tender, which relieves me to no end.
A note of (possible) interest to some: Elijah's umbilical cord stump fell off today, on day 4. This is very early -- usually it happens in 10-14 days. The reason (for those still interested enough to still be reading) is that we had him hooked up to the placenta for about an hour or so after his birth, and then some powdered Golden Seal (a healing, drying herb) was sprinkled on it several times at diaper changes. I'm so glad that I don't have to diaper around it anymore. Also, it's kind of gross, and you have to be so careful that you're not tugging on it while you're waiting for it to fall off, so I'm glad that's all done. =)
Two parents, four children, and our adventures in food, music and travel.
