The First Sister "Meet & Greet"
When the time came for the two girls to meet (16 hours after Emma was born) Abby was very timid. Mainly because of the hospital experience… the machines, how mommy and daddy had been gone awhile, the UV on my arm, hospital bed, and Emma. Especially Emma.
To be honest, it did sink ours heart a bit to see that Abby was not interested in holding Emma at first and equally surprised! Which if you follow me on Instagram, you know how obsessed Abby’s been over my belly bump. Constantly giving it kisses and asked me about 25x a day, “if baby sis was going to come out now?” So, we decided to start the bonding with a little gift giving to help her see that Emma loves her. And “thought of her.”
Emma gave Abby a wooden pretend doctors kit which you can see all the creative fun things inside it here. I choose to go with BPA and chemical free kit since the idea of Emma’s gift was to encourage Abby to “play” with her. Which I’m SO glad I did because she started to immediately open up the doctor’s kit right there in the hospital.
As for Abby’s gift to Emma, I pulled together a few things that had been “her favorite items” from her first year (pink blanket, pink binkie & pacifier clip) and let the card say just that. They are all items Abby already has and so it was great for her to see that Emma now gets to enjoy these things too.
I then decided to gift both girls these cuddle and kind puppy dogs because A) Dog stuff animals are Abby’s favorite (hence her Birthday PAWTY theme) and B) I loved that I could get her AND Emma something to physically show and demonstrate to Abby that she’s officially a BIG SIS by giving her the “big” doggy. Abby LOVED this idea!
I could tell because she immediately walked over to Emma with her little dog and gave it to her. Then asked if she and the little dog could give baby sis a kiss. Oh, my tired exhausted heart! It was so, so, SO sweet and exactly the kind of interaction all of parents hope to see between our kids.
So yes, I would highly recommend doing something for the sibling’s (if you can swing it) because it really helped set the tone that Abby is included, thought of, and important. And to be honest yes, I did have had my doubts before going into labor that maybe a sibling AND parent gift was too much?? However, I’m so glad I did both! It really helped them interact and get Abby excited about being a big sis.
However, if you don’t see that sweet interaction in the hospital I would say don’t worry! It’s important that I add in here, Abby was with my dad for 2 hours going in and out of our hospital room which included lunch at Starbucks and play time on the playground across the street. It took a full week for Abby to warm up to Emma and learn "how to interact" with her newborn baby sis.
Once we were all back at home in an environment Abby knew and loved she REALLY warmed up to interacting with Emma Plus, I get it from a 3 year old’s perspective…hospitals can be a scary place! And like all relationships, bonding takes time. That was my big take away from the experience as a parent! That and a few gifts can help with that bond. : )
As always, let me know if you have questions!
Warmly, Steph
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