Jani Penttinen

As I'm writing this, you've been a big brother to your little sister Yuer for two and half days now! You don't really understand it yet as Yuer has been in the hospital with mom until now. Tomorrow it's all going to change though, as they're coming home!

We've had a few false alarms over the past few weeks. The first time was not too late in the night so you and I joined your mom to the hospital and you absolutely loved it there. Our hospital is quite small, located in a very beautiful town called Uznach. We were the only people at the maternity ward so you were able to run around and explore all the new and interesting things... however, nothing happened at that time (fortunately, as it was way too early) so we all returned home.

The next couple of times you were already asleep so mom took a taxi by herself, and returned back in the morning with no baby... you probably didn't even notice she was gone!

Last Friday, you somehow sensed that something is about to happen. You were excited and just coudn't calm down to sleep. Even after you calmed down and stayed in the bed, you just didn't sleep. Every time I checked on you, there was this smiling face looking back. It seems as if you knew before anyone else that we won't be sleeping much that night!

Your mom started having quite strong contractions around 9 or 10 in the evening so we decided to go to the hospital. The baby was due to be born any day now, so it seemed like this would not be a false alarm anymore. Since you couldn't sleep we decided everybody will go. It was past 10pm so I was totally sure you would fall asleep during the half-hour taxi drive...

However, you showed no sign of being tired even after we arrived at the hospital! You were getting quite worried about mom when the contractions were getting more painful, so I put you down to the stroller and went for a walk outside. And then you finally fell asleep. I think it was past midnight already.

The night was long. You didn't sleep well as there was no other place to sleep than the stroller, which is already getting too small for you. Every 30 minutes or so you'd get a little unhappy and then around 6am you woke up. Your mom had epidural so she wasn't in pain anymore so we hung around her for a while, until it was time to deliver. You and I went to the next door for a few minutes, and then, at 7.11 am on Saturday morning, Yuer was born!

Your first reaction to the baby was quite uncertain. She was crying a little, and you took a quick look and then turned away, trying to ignore the situation. Even over the past couple of days when we've visited the hospital, you haven't really paid any attention to her. I think you don't consider her very important as she's out there in the hospital, but all of that might change when she arrives home.

You've really enjoyed the visits to the hospital though. They have a lot of toys, and interesting places to check out. The only problem is that you're being very very loud all the time! Yuer is trying to sleep most of the time, and you seem unable to control yourself. You sing loudly, open and close any closet or door you can reach, bang objects together, etc... anything that makes noise! And telling you to quite down is like asking you to pump up the volume...

So, we've mostly stayed home with you, while your mom and Yuer have been at the hospital. This has given us some nice dad-son time together, which has been great. But it's really nice to get the family back together tomorrow!