What a week! It really began on Monday when Marcy started noticing some contractions. Jude must have sensed something was going on because he was very loving and easy for Marcy all day Monday. Then on Monday night (the last night Jude would be an only child) he didn't want Marcy to stop reading books which was unusual. Then as Marcy was closing the door, he said "Goodbye Mommy", something he had never said before. On some level he knew something was going on and that his relationship with Marcy was changing.
Marcy and I went to the hospital around 4:30am and our babysitter Charlotte, came over and spent the entire morning with Jude. Anna was born at 8:34am on Tuesday morning - if you want to read details about the birth you can read about it on the New Dad Blog 2.
Anna was born at 8:34am and I was home reading with Jude by 12:30pm relieving Charlotte of her babysitting duties. It was quite surreal going through the intensity of Anna's birth and then being back with Jude reading his books and putting him down for a nap as if nothing had happened. Jude had a good three hour nap and after that I took him down to the hospital to meet his sister Anna for the first time.
Jude was a little uncertain about everything at first. Marcy looked a bit different having gone through the intensity of the birth earlier in the day and she was in this unusual setting with a tiny baby. After a couple of minutes Jude said, "Home! Sharkey! Fred!", but Marcy had anticipated this and out came a couple of presents for Jude. First there was a baby doll, so that Jude could have his own baby just like Mommy. He wasn't all that into the doll, but his other present he loved. Marcy bought him these rubber stamps with ink of a fire truck, airplane, police car, and other favorite vehicles and these were a big hit. Marcy put these stamps on his hands and arms which he thought was very cool (he now asks for his stamps regularly at home). After about 20 minutes I took Jude out for a break to see some construction equipment and then we came back to say goodbye and I took Jude home for the night.
Charlotte had Jude again the next morning so I could go to the hospital by myself to be with Marcy and Anna. Then I took Jude back in the afternoon again, and this time he was not as uncomfortable. We went to the playground afterwards for Jude to run off some energy. He actually slept great when it was just the two of us at home, which was a relief. He had a 3 hour nap each day and around 11 hours each night.
Thursday morning Jude and I went to bring Marcy and Anna home from the hospital. One of the first things Jude said after we got home when he was checking out his new sister was "Anna so tiny!" which we thought was hilarious. I think Jude was relieved to get everyone back home but he was a little unsure around Marcy. For the first couple of days back home he asked for Daddy more than Mommy which he rarely does, but by today he was back bonded with Marcy again.
But Jude is definitely struggling a bit with this transition. He is having regular meltdowns throughout the day over the smallest thing. Whenever we get a bottle out for Anna he always asks "bite", as in he wants some, and after the first couple of meltdowns we now give Jude milk with a little cocoa and call it his special treat. Most of the time he is his normal sweet self but if he doesn't get what he wants then he can have huge reactions.
He has been taking comfort in his many familiar things. His favorite "toy" right now would have to be our black vacuum cleaner. You can see him here working hard on the stairs (you may notice it isn't plugged in, though). Some kids have blankets, Jude has a vacuum cleaner. It is always a very sad affair now, usually with lots of tears, when we put it away for the night.
This has been a big week for Jude, probably the biggest change he has had in his life since being born. Overall he is adjusting quite well, he has shown his love for Anna as you can see below. We expect it is going to take some time before he really gets used to having her around, and in the meantime we are just trying to do everything we can to make him feel loved and comforted.