Just another week until I finally meet my new OB! Names are still up for discussion, but I think we are settling into one more than another now. I've stopped obsessively reading my baby name books and the Internet for ideas and alternatives.
Every once in a while Baby will kick while Anna is up and around so I ask her if she wants to put her hand on my belly and feel Baby Sister. She snaps her hand over very quickly but doesn't seem to pay much attention to Baby's kicks or just doesn't notice them. Surely she doesn't "get" it, but I really think she's going to be an adoring older sister (with some jealousy at first for sure when Baby is demanding all of my attention).
Anita has her tickets to come out about a week before the due date so hoepfully she & Anna will have a good chance to bond before Baby arrives and suddenly Anna & Anita are new best friends! Of course I plan to set aside time to spend with Anna alone but I know it is going to be a great help having Nana here and then Grandma after that.
The current plan is that Anita will come for a month (that is set!--no turning back, now, Anita!) and then my mom will come for a month (with a week in between to give us a break from someone else in the house). The rest of that plan is that Anna, Baby Girl, and I will fly back with my mom to Colorado and stay there for a month (spending half our time with my family, the other half with Craig's). Craig will come for part of that trip and fly back with me and the kids (this way I don't have to do either flight alone with the girls).
I am feeling some anxiety (dread?) about both traveling with a 2-year-old and an (approximately) 8 week old and living out of suitcases for a month. However, I don't think we would plan to come out again until next summer if we don't come this summer so it seems to be the only thing to do even if it is exhausting and stressful. It will be really hot when we get back to Doha in August so it's not like we're really going to "escape the heat" but I can't help but wonder if it's just a bad idea. I know I really wasn't thrilled about traveling with Anna until she was about one year old so I'm a little worried that it will be the same only worse with two kids to think about.
I'm trying to tell myself Anna should be easy (once she's over the jet lag) because she'll have just spent the last two months bonding with Nana & Grandma so she'll be fine hanging out with them again. Baby Girl won't have to worry about jet lag since she'll still be up in the night (and so will I). And, of course I want to see my neice and nephews and for Anna to see her cousins again. (And yes, we want to see aunts & uncles, too!) I know I'll really want Opa & my grandma to have the chance to meet Baby Girl right away, too.
I guess I know making the trip is the "right" thing to do even if it's not all fun. Hopefully I'm imagining worse than reality will dish out and, in the end, I'm sure I'll be glad we made the trip.
Looking back on the 36 hour long trip that we took to South Korea with a 6 month old and a 2 1/2 yo, I have nothing but fond memories and am sooo glad that we did it! It IS stressful and challenging though. I think that the baby will probably sleep a lot. You will all do GREAT!!
Yes, Corrine, but you are not as high-strung as I am; of course you have nothing but fond memories! You are right though, Baby will still be sleeping a lot and that is part of what is making me think we'll survive. :)