Sisters: Charlotte + Portia

The number one question I've received these last three weeks has not been, "How are you feeling?" or "How's Portia?"

The question I've heard over and over is, "How's Charlotte with her?" So, I'm here to let you know what mothering two little ladies has been like these first three weeks.

First of all, their initial meeting was nothing like I had planned. In my mind, moments after Portia's birth, Charlotte would walk in with the other family members that had been out of the room, and our family of four would sit together on the hospital bed and marvel together at Portia's tiny toes. As you can see above, there is a reasonable obsession with the tiny toes, but, unfortunately, their introduction was delayed.

Charlotte had been asleep in the hospital room, while I labored through the night. She'd had a cold/cough, and when she woke up (between the epidural and the pushing), she was coughing. You know how your cough is worst when you're first waking up? Well, the doctor was quick to inform us that she could not stay in the ward with a cough like that, we could not take Portia out of the ward, and I was not allowed to leave the ward. Triple whammy.

So, basically it translated into, "Your daughters can't meet, and you can't see Charlotte again until you're discharged." For a hormonal mama, that was the worst.

But, in the big picture, it was only 24 hours, and we had family all around us. Matt was allowed to come and go, Charlotte got tons of attention, and so I was the only one struggling with it (there were definite tears, and I'm not an emotional mama).

When they did meet, in the hospital lobby the morning after Portia's birth, Charlotte was the sweetest. She started singing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" immediately to Portia, unprompted. All the mommy feelings. She's been kind and sweet to Portia every interaction since, but she also spends most of every day ignoring her, which is also pretty great. They're bound to be the best of friends eventually, and I'm in no hurry.

On the flip side, I can remember the jealousy I experienced as a twelve-year-old when my baby sister was born, and everyone thought she was the greatest thing, so we've been careful to be purposeful with Charlotte's heart.