Second Baby, full of firsts!!

So, on Friday, we welcomed our new son Sullivan into the world. He is our second child, yet after having a very sick preemie the first time around, we got to experience many firsts that we didn't have with Sebastian. So, as I recover (and it hasn't been that pretty so far), I want to marvel at the new experiences we got to enjoy with Sullivan.

-going to the hospital to have him on his agenda (well sort of, it was a scheduled c-section), rather than because the baby was in distress and might not make it if he didn't get delivered ASAP

-hearing him cry when he was delivered. This also made me cry. It was almost unreal to me that a whole new person suddenly existed and we could hear him squawk, and wow, he has quite the set of lungs on him too!!

-getting to see the baby right away after he was born. Jeremy got to get him and hold him and bring him over for me to see straight away. With Sebastian, the nurse stopped for a brief moment to hold him up as he was whisked off to the NICU (and only because Jeremy asked them to at least let me see him)

-getting to cuddle with the baby in the recovery room. After the very rough ride (not a fan of nausea), Jeremy brought our son into the recovery room and we just got to hang out as a family

-getting a private room and taking our son with us to the room. That was a nice bonus, especially appreciated since I was quite sick afterwards

-having the baby in the room with me. Last time, the baby wasn't even on the same unit and all I had was a polaroid picture to look at

-didn't have to pump right away, but rather the baby got to breastfeed right away. 

-leaving the hospital with the baby. I know, that seems like a silly one, but as the mom of a preemie, I was discharged way before Sebastian ever was, so it was rather unreal to pack up myself and the baby and leave at the same time!!

So, those were just some of the things that have come to mind. I know there are more. It's been neat being home with Sullivan and watching Sebastian's curiosity about his little brother. Yesterday, he asked to hold him for the first time. We'd made this offer to him previously, but he wasn't interested, yet yesterday, he was ready, and it was so sweet to watch him!! 

I have to say, I'm glad we had the kids in the order that we did. Having a baby in the NICU isn't easy, but it certainly would have been much harder if the second baby needed to stay in the hospital trying to juggle a toddler at home. As well, we learned a lot having Sebastian, and the protocols for letting you take your child home are a lot stricter from NICU. We had to watch videos, and show the nurses all the skills they were teaching us. And, getting breastfeeding going with a preemie is a challenge, however, having gone through all that once, I knew when I was running into roadblocks this time around and was able to fix things right away. Very neat!! 

So, I will continue in recovery mode for a few more days. Need to get well so I can do more with Sebastian when the baby is sleeping.