Big Brother Sean

Thank you all so much for continued support, comments, emails, phone calls, positive thoughts, sticky vibes and prayers!

I am spending the day relaxing on my living room couch, thanks to my parents who are spending the day with us and caring for Sean. As I write this they and Sean are at the movie theater seeing “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” Sean LOVES to go to the movies and eat popcorn, so I am sure they and he are having a great time! I am typing this on the laptop computer that Bob and I gave each other as our early Christmas present last month, which has turned out to make this time on bed rest more bearable for me.

In an effort to remain positive during this time of waiting and uncertainty, I decided to go ahead and share about when we told Sean on Friday that he is going to be a big brother! Though unfortunately we may ultimately have to share that his baby brother or sister may have gone to Heaven early, in the meantime, until we know differently, he is still a big brother and though we are not encouraging discussion about the baby since our ultrasound yesterday and have not told Sean that anything might be wrong with our baby, if and when Sean brings him/her up, we do talk about it with him.

After last Wednesday’s ultrasound, Bob and I felt the most confident that we have during this entire pregnancy and thus believed that we were ready and that it was time to tell Sean our big news…

When Bob got home from work on Friday, he joined Sean and I in the living room. We told Sean that we wanted to talk with him and had something very special to tell him. He came over and sat down next to me on the couch and Bob was sitting in a chair next to the couch. I said to Sean something to the effect of “guess what’s in mommy’s tummy?” And he very quickly and excitedly replied “a baby?!”

Sean was so happy and kept saying “that’s so fun you have a baby in your tummy!” He also said a few times “I’m going to be a baby brother!” at which point we would remind him that he is actually going to be a “big brother!”

Soon after we told him our news he said “we have to find that crib!” He also said that he wanted to call two of his good friends from our neighborhood, a boy and a girl that he has known from our playgroup since he was three months old. We helped Sean call his two friends and their conversations, in which Sean shared that there was “something special in Mommy’s tummy… a baby!” were precious. His friend that’s a boy replied with “that’s good Sean!” His girlfriend said to him “I love you Sean, bye!” after he told her and then her younger brother (who is two) got on the phone, as he wanted to talk with Sean too. When Sean told him the news, the little boy repeated happily “baby!” Too cute!

Sean also told us that he would like to help us decide what to name the baby and we said that would be great! We asked him if he guessed it would be a boy or girl and he didn’t seem to have an opinion or guess at the time. Later he commented that he would like a baby brother.

We showed him the ultrasound picture that I posted here after our scan on Wednesday and he seemed to be impressed. He asked if he could come to the doctor sometime with us to see the baby and we said “probably, but we’ll see.”

Then we gave him the three gifts that we had gotten for him in celebration of his new status of going to be a big brother… I had wrapped them earlier in the day, as he loves to unwrap presents, as much as getting what’s inside! First he opened the ornament that had a pregnant mama bear, papa bear and child bear on it. The mama’s belly had “baby” with a down pointing arrow on it and then below the bears it read “Mommy…Daddy…Sean” He really liked it and immediately wanted to hang it on our Christmas tree! Then he opened his “I’m Going to Be a Big Brother” t-shirt, that I posted a picture of here awhile back, which he also seemed to be happy about. Finally, he opened the book we got him called “What to Expect When Mommy’s Having a Baby.” He was very excited about the book and wanted me to read it to him right away, which I did!

Next Bob, Sean and I headed out for a celebratory dinner at one of Sean’s favorite local restaurants called “Snackville Junction,” where your meal is delivered to you on the back of a model freight train! We had a great time together at dinner and the entire evening was very special for all of us. No matter what the outcome of this pregnancy, I will always have special memories of the night we told Sean that he is going to be a big brother!

On Sunday Bob took my 12 week belly shots in my fun red and green plaid Christmas PJs! I hadn’t posted them yet, as I felt weird about it, in light of the events of the last few days… But, in a continued effort to be optimistic about our baby’s viability, I will post them here shortly. So though it is possible they will be my last belly pictures for this pregnancy, I hope and pray the 16 week ones will not be far behind, if our little miracle fights it’s way back to having a strong heart rate.

I also keep forgetting to mention, that I think I actually started feeling our baby move this past weekend and have continued to feel what could be him or her wiggling around as recently as this afternoon! Though I know it is early to be feeling it, I felt Sean around 14 weeks and they say with your second you can often recognize the feeling sooner and are more able to distinguish it from gas. 😉 So I also find that to be encouraging, though not a guarantee that things could turn out alright for our “overachieving embryo (now fetus).”

Please keep your positive thoughts and prayers coming our way, they mean so much to us and we do believe that can make a difference!