How To Be a Big Sister
AMH preparation course prepares siblings for the new arrival
By Linda Ober
Contributing Editor
Four-and-a-half-year-old Ella Varga comes to class dressed for the occasion, proudly wearing a long-sleeved brown shirt that announces her new role come April 20: "Big Sister."
The minute Ella walks into the classroom in the Auburn Memorial Hospital Maternity Unit, her shyness disappears, and she gravitates toward the baby doll resting on the table.
"She's a good big sister already. Look at that – she knows," Registered Nurse Debra Oliveras says as Ella gently picks up the doll and cradles it in her tiny arms.
Oliveras has taught the sibling preparation course at AMH for the last decade.
Parents Irene and Luke Varga, of Auburn, wanted Ella to take the class because their daughter hasn't had exposure to newborns, and because they noticed that Ella had started acting out at times due to her anxiety with having a younger brother or sister (the sex will be a surprise when Irene undergoes a C-section at AMH).
The idea behind the program is to offer siblings-to-be a sneak peak of what the new baby will and won't do and how the older child can be helpful to both the baby and the parents.
"(It's) just so that they're not surprised when the baby comes, and that they don't resent the baby," Oliveras says.
The class, which is free to those delivering at AMH, also focuses on safety. In one activity, Oliveras asks Ella to pull various items out of a plastic container and determine whether or not they would be a safe toy for her new sibling.
A small, soft duck stuffed animal?
"This would be OK," Ella says matter-of-factly.
"What do you think about that?" Oliveras asks, holding up a deflated red balloon.
"No!" Ella replies seriously.
"Boy, you are good at this," Oliveras says in her soft-spoken manner. "I can't stump you at all."
The main event of the one-hour class is a project in which the child decorates a photo of himself or herself. This craft will then be hung in the newborn's crib.
"The baby can't see, but they don't know that," Oliveras says with a laugh. "It makes them [the older sibling] feel important."
Armed with a purple marker, Ella carefully pens E-l-l-a, the latter letter backwards.
"I'll write my name so that the baby knows who it's from," she says.
Placing music-note stickers on her photo, she explains that she's "singing to the baby" and breaks out into an original version of "Rockabye Baby."
Oliveras then takes the Varga family on a tour of the maternity unit. There are no newborns on this day, and Ella has an all-access pass to the nursery.
After asking questions about the machines and taking a look at the scale, she sits in the same rocking chair that her father held her in as a newborn just four years ago.
"She's a very loving little girl," Luke says of his daughter.
After the class, Oliveras presents Ella with a certificate of graduation. "Congratulations Ella," it reads. "You are ready to be a big sister."
Irene believes this is true.
"She likes to help, so if we play on that aspect of it…then I think she'll do OK," Irene says of Ella's older sibling duties.
One thing she won't be allowed to do, however, is name the newborn. Ella is convinced that Mom is having another girl, and Ella's got the name all picked out.
Princess Pretty.
AMH preparation course prepares siblings for the new arrival
By Linda Ober
Contributing Editor
Four-and-a-half-year-old Ella Varga comes to class dressed for the occasion, proudly wearing a long-sleeved brown shirt that announces her new role come April 20: "Big Sister."
The minute Ella walks into the classroom in the Auburn Memorial Hospital Maternity Unit, her shyness disappears, and she gravitates toward the baby doll resting on the table.
"She's a good big sister already. Look at that – she knows," Registered Nurse Debra Oliveras says as Ella gently picks up the doll and cradles it in her tiny arms.
Oliveras has taught the sibling preparation course at AMH for the last decade.
Parents Irene and Luke Varga, of Auburn, wanted Ella to take the class because their daughter hasn't had exposure to newborns, and because they noticed that Ella had started acting out at times due to her anxiety with having a younger brother or sister (the sex will be a surprise when Irene undergoes a C-section at AMH).
The idea behind the program is to offer siblings-to-be a sneak peak of what the new baby will and won't do and how the older child can be helpful to both the baby and the parents.
"(It's) just so that they're not surprised when the baby comes, and that they don't resent the baby," Oliveras says.
The class, which is free to those delivering at AMH, also focuses on safety. In one activity, Oliveras asks Ella to pull various items out of a plastic container and determine whether or not they would be a safe toy for her new sibling.
A small, soft duck stuffed animal?
"This would be OK," Ella says matter-of-factly.
"What do you think about that?" Oliveras asks, holding up a deflated red balloon.
"No!" Ella replies seriously.
"Boy, you are good at this," Oliveras says in her soft-spoken manner. "I can't stump you at all."
The main event of the one-hour class is a project in which the child decorates a photo of himself or herself. This craft will then be hung in the newborn's crib.
"The baby can't see, but they don't know that," Oliveras says with a laugh. "It makes them [the older sibling] feel important."
Armed with a purple marker, Ella carefully pens E-l-l-a, the latter letter backwards.
"I'll write my name so that the baby knows who it's from," she says.
Placing music-note stickers on her photo, she explains that she's "singing to the baby" and breaks out into an original version of "Rockabye Baby."
Oliveras then takes the Varga family on a tour of the maternity unit. There are no newborns on this day, and Ella has an all-access pass to the nursery.
After asking questions about the machines and taking a look at the scale, she sits in the same rocking chair that her father held her in as a newborn just four years ago.
"She's a very loving little girl," Luke says of his daughter.
After the class, Oliveras presents Ella with a certificate of graduation. "Congratulations Ella," it reads. "You are ready to be a big sister."
Irene believes this is true.
"She likes to help, so if we play on that aspect of it…then I think she'll do OK," Irene says of Ella's older sibling duties.
One thing she won't be allowed to do, however, is name the newborn. Ella is convinced that Mom is having another girl, and Ella's got the name all picked out.
Princess Pretty.
5 comments:
39 months pregnant? Is that a record?
I bet it just feels that way :-)
Ohhhh, she beat me to it! I know you feel 39 months pregnant at this point :)
O.k. maybe a little over exagerrated. I am only 38 1/2 months pregant.
Elephants are the largest land animals.[2] The elephant's gestation period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 120 kilograms (260 lb).
are you sure you are 38 1/2 M-O-N-T-H-S pregnant??
This baby (by elephant standards) will weigh over 300 pounds!!!! I am not sure it is humanly possible to pass something like that with out it hurting :-)
Well I am having a c-secion and that would explain the weight gain that I have had.
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