I've been a mother of two for nine weeks. I'm no expert, but for those of you in the consideration phase, I wanted to share some thoughts!
The Good:
- You know everything this time around....instead of my nearly daily calls to the nurses' line for my first, I'm only calling about once a week.
- Your body seems to heal faster. I don't have the sensation that my uterus is going to fall out of my body...even when I run. And I'm running...that in itself is a minor miracle.
- You know the rules are meant to be broken. I used baby powder the other day, which all my books swear against. But you know what, it was the only thing that healed my son's horrible, blistered diaper rash. Let's just hope I'm not giving him asthma (so I guess some of those neuroses remain!).
- Precious sibling moments happen nearly every day. Even smelly little toddler boys are hardwired to gently kiss little heads. And they're so happy to have a playmate (see picture).
- The enjoyment is even greater - without the stress and nerves of a first time mom, you can fully indulge in tiny toes, tiny fingers, and the all their little "ah goos."
- Leaving the house with two requires a few hours of strategizing and a comprehensive plan of attack. I consistently bribe my child with a Matchbox car if he'll leave Target quietly.
- The bizarre regressions of the older children. My three year old son wore a 12 month onesie to bed last night. The crotch snaps (undone), hit him about mid-belly. Granted, this was an improvement after sleeping in his fleece footed pajamas for a (80 degree) week, since they had "feet" just like the ones his nine week old brother was wearing.
- Husband, what husband? With two, you can still play man-on-man defense, but that means you rarely ever see your other defender.
- Breastfeeding, running, forgoing sweets, and the weight remains. When I lay on my side, my belly takes on a slug like appearance and slides away from me on it's own.
- Toddler poops look bigger than ever...downright gigantic.
I only have one of my own, but I nanny for two little girls and bring my own baby to work, which means I function day to day with three. Makes me VERY happy when I go home with just the one!
ReplyDeleteMy second is only three weeks old, but I can definitely second a lot of these already (especially the comment on the size of toddler poops! Also the size of the toddler from whence they came). We just started putting #2 to bed right after #1 and it has helped a lot on the feeling like our marriage was a functional partnership rather than a relationship, as we actually have a couple of hours together with no kid-wrangling required. And we try to build some family time for all four of us (even if the baby gets nothing out of a trip to the park or the zoo) into every weekend.
ReplyDeleteMy #2 is now 10 mos. I still get to just enjoy her more because I'm not stressed or worried. My 3 yo's weird regressions continue. He often crawls around and puts things in his mouth pretending he's a baby too. But the tender moments are still precious. One thing that is so much harder, now that my baby is mobile, is baby proofing. The first time around it was easy for my husband and I not to leave tiny objects around, but with a 3 year old, who has 3 year old toys? Ugh! We taught our son that the baby can't play with anything that fits through a toilet roll. He is vigilant about and always rushes to yank (not necessarily at all gently) any small objects out of the baby's hands. But the best part, the absolute best, is that they now play together. The baby is thrilled with my son's presence and my son loves making her laugh.
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