In my humble and honest opinion, going from no babies to one baby was extremely hard; whereas adding another baby into the mix and moving from a family of three to a family of four wasn’t quite as difficult. Sure, there are moments of being overwhelmed but the issues that overwhelm me are different and somewhat lesser the second time around.
Top 4 Reasons You’re Prepared for Baby No. 2
You Know You’ll Be Sleepy
For starters, my husband and I were already aware of just how tired we would be when we brought baby #2 home. We expected feedings every two hours at night, pumping sessions in the wee hour of the morning to boost supply, spontaneous blowouts, and more. A tiny human was dictating when I ate, slept, showered and peed and I had already made my peace with that. It was still hard, but it wasn’t as much of a pill to swallow because we knew what we were getting into. We had become immune.
You Know You’ll Have Anxiety
Or maybe you won’t but I did. I remember asking a pediatrician, “well how much exactly does he need to eat?” Only to be met with the words, “each baby is different.” The second baby, even though we had our own latching issues, I had a pretty good idea that she was full and I could tell when she was starving. Clearly those leg rolls mean she needed more sustenance.
You’ll Know What To Do When They Get Sick (cold, the flu, RSV, HFM, etc.)
Truth: I never put a Nose-Frida on my baby registry list. If I had received one, I would’ve returned it. Sucking snot out of my little ones nose with the only barrier being a foot of plastic tubing and a tiny blue sponge. No thanks. And then he got sick.
You better believe me when I say that was the first thing I ran to Target for. Double whammy when we found out it was RSV and there was absolutely nothing he could take but steam and auctioning out his nose. Steam? Really? So there we sat, him in his Bumbo seat and I in a bathrobe steaming it out in the shower. After the steam, we sprayed a generous amount of saline up his teeny tiny nose then I Nose-Frida’d that little boy. Because when the little person you love most in the world can’t blow his own nose, you do it for him again, and again and again.
Anyways, what I’m trying to say is we had no idea what we were doing. We were at the ER for RSV on a Sunday because I didn’t know what I was doing. If our daughter (second baby) came down with a nasty virus I know now about same-day sick visits and not “waiting it out the weekend” but to just go on Friday. I know about teething and the dosage of Motrin for when oils and massaging the gums and every other voodoo trick in the mommy book fails. I know a snotty baby is most likely at risk for ear infections.
You’ll Remember How Much Love You’re Capable Of
The hardest part of going from 1 baby to 2 babies was my extreme sense of love for that first born which put the mom guilt on me….HARD.
I think it’s how you know you’re a good mother. So if you are a pregnant mother right now, nearing that last leg of you pregnancy, maybe I can help ease the worry. Because I have been there, right where you’re standing, thinking exactly what you’re thinking.
“Will I love this baby the same as I love my first born?”
“Will my first born feel neglected or unloved because my time will be split between them both now?”
“How the heck do I get two babies in and out of the car?”
You’ll figure it out. And when you meet your new baby, bring her (or him) home, the love consumes you. And then the older one will make the new baby giggle and once again you’ll think back to the time you wondered if this love would even be possible. You’ll smile and know. You’ll know that it was always there, just waiting to be uncovered. And when they begin to play, you just feel it, that in this crazy scary beautiful world, you’ve added greatness and you’re doing a good job. And in raising these little beings together, you have started the most beautiful friendship.
You’ve got this momma. God speed and good luck!
This one made my heart sing?❤️