Oliver meets Emily for the first time
A few hours after Emily was born, Alex brought an unaware Oliver to the hospital. I had read it’s better not to hold the baby when the older child arrives, but Emily and I were still naked under the blanket and in the same position we had left the delivery room, Emily was sleeping on my chest and it felt natural to keep her there.
And I’m glad I did! It was one of the most emotional moments of my entire life. Oliver ran to me with his arms open saying “mamma”, Alex lifted him up on the bed, he hugged and kissed me, and when he saw Emily he looked at her quietly for a second. I told him it was Emily, and right away he said ”Ellie” (he calls her Ellie or Ellilli, because he can’t say Emily), as to let us know he recognised that name.
He then started pointing at her face and telling us all the different parts, nose, eyes, mouth (each word in a different language, by the way… so sweet!). He caressed her head, held her hand, and then wanted to see under the blanket what else she was hiding… he loved her feet! My eyes filled with tears, it was the sweetest thing I had ever seen!
This is our first picture all together.
And this is an extremely sweet video we took moments before… Oliver was fascinated by her facial anatomy. It made me so emotional, one of those priceless moments in life!
But soon the moment was over… he saw some crackers on the table and his mind switched to food! He then started playing with some toys on the hospital floor, and once in a while he’d ask to come on the bed and see Ellie: a gentle caress, a soft kiss on the head, and back to playing :-D
When we took her home the next day, Oliver didn’t seem surprised at all to see her there, he “petted” her head, kissed her, and then went to the kitchen looking for food (all this big brother love must make him hungry :-D).
Honestly, I would have loved him to understand the importance of these moments, being able to talk to him about his feelings, about what it means to have a little sister (it’s for life!)… Can’t wait to show him these pictures in a few years and tell him all about that beautiful day when he met his little sister.
