Life Update: The Birth of my Second Baby

By Lauren Rose Correa, January 26, 2026

If you’ve been following along, you may recall that this month my baby boy was due on January 13. January 13 came and went, and this baby showed zero signs of moving out anytime soon. I had some Braxton Hicks contractions, but that was about it.

On January 20, we scheduled an induction to evacuate baby Manny – Manuel Anthony is his full name. At 11am, we went to my scheduled Maternal Fetal Medicine appointment, and they sent us right to the hospital to be induced.

I wasn’t sure what to expect – with the birth of my firstborn daughter Lexi, we started induction on a Wednesday morning and she was born the following Thursday night – so basically it was about two full days before she arrived.

Fortunately, it would seem that Lexi paved the way for Manny to arrive much more easily. By 6pm the same day, I was ready to push, and after ten minutes of pushing, he arrived safe and sound, weighing 9lbs 4oz – almost exactly the same weight as Lexi was.

Holding him for the first time was a beautiful moment for me. Since the induction process took significantly less time, I felt I was more energetic and able to savor that first contact with my boy. With Alexa, I was tired and hadn’t eaten in two days, so I wasn’t really able to process my joy until a bit later.

We were in the hospital for the entire next day, a Wednesday, and were discharged on Thursday morning, the 22^nd. We were so blessed and so excited to bring home a healthy baby boy.

On Wednesday, the day after Manny was born, my husband brought Lexi to the hospital to meet her new brother. She was ecstatic. She showed no signs of jealousy or fear, only happiness that her brother, whom we had been talking to in the belly for months, was finally here. She was also happy to see me and her daddy, as she had woken up in the middle of the night crying to Grandmom that we weren’t there.

She spent a few hours in the hospital room with us, enjoying her little brother. When her grandmom took her home, she burst into tears leaving us again. But the next morning after we got sent home, we settled into our house as a family of four.

This weekend we were hit with a snowstorm, and it was so cozy to be inside the house with both of my kids and my husband on paternity leave. I have been healing much more quickly than I did with my first pregnancy, and have already been able to make dinner, go shopping, and organize around the house. I do need lots of rest still, but overall, I feel better now than I did when I was pregnant.

I have been making an effort to give Lexi moments of undivided attention, which is much easier with my husband around. We have spent some time making and decorating cupcakes together. I always include her when I’m taking care of her brother and let her watch what I’m doing.

Lexi and I have a bedtime ritual where we cuddle in bed together while watching an episode of Little Bear. I have kept up with this ritual, passing the baby off to my husband so that I can cuddle with just Lexi.

The other night Manny’s feed happened to cut into the beginning of our Little Bear episode. I held Lexi’s hand, and she waited patiently for Manny to finish. Then she said, “Okay, can Daddy take Manny now?” I passed Manny to his dad, and Lexi and I resumed cuddling. I was proud of her for being able to wait until he was finished before asking for what she wanted.

Overall, the past week has been incredible. I am so grateful for all of the answered prayers and sweet moments with both of my children.

I do plan to continue with this blog over the next few months. I originally planned to post once a week, but it may be a little inconsistent over the next few weeks, depending on how much time I have. I want to spend as much time with my family as possible, especially during my husband’s paternity leave. However, I do miss writing, and I don’t plan to stop doing that anytime soon.

If you haven’t read it, I wrote a blog post about waiting on God’s timing while I was waiting for baby boy to arrive. Give it a read if you’re interested in hearing more details about how God is working in my life lately.