What to expect when you are expecting another

adding to your family, what to expect with second child, another baby on the way, baby number two, second pregnancy

Once you’ve been baptised into the world of motherhood, you think nothing can ever be as terrifying again. This is partly true, except for when you decide to add to your brood!

A tiny baby and a demanding toddler is what we would call a parenting baptism of fire.

Here’s what to expect when you are expecting another.
  1. Being a parent means you feel a wave of emotions daily; tired, happy, love, guilt, responsibility, well, you can add being overwhelmed to your daily rollercoaster of emotions. Don’t worry, it won’t last forever, before you know it being extremely overwhelmed to the point were you want to run and hide, will be replaced with an amazing sense of achievement.
  2. Having free time with one child is hard enough, with two you can basically kiss goodbye to ever be alone again. But hey, time flys when you’re having fun and your kids won’t need you for everything forever so we say, embrace it while it lasts and make as many fond memories as possible.
  3. You will spend a lot of your second pregnancy encouraging your first born to love their baby or brother and worrying about how he/she will cope when baby arrives. Typical mum always worrying about others! If your child is old enough to understand more than likely he will have been demanding a baby brother or sister for a while and you have absolutely no reason to worry. If you have a small toddler it’s harder for them to comprehend but eventually they will understand they now to share mum and spending one-on-one time with your first born will have to be factored in, you’ll get used to being a balancing act!
  4. Get ready to have constant cabin fever because leaving the house is a rare occasion unless your armed with adult help! Again, this is a learning curve, go with it, you’ll soon find your way.
  5. Now this one is definitely difficult but it will happen like all of the time – you’ll have to entertain your eldest child while you do anything with baby. Ever thought you’d be singing ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ with the biggest smile while changing a shitty nappy, can you picture yourself breastfeeding and building lego at the same time? #dailyoccurence
  6. Food glorious food – more like pain in the a**. Coming up with three different healthy options that your children will actually eat becomes one of your most hated everyday struggles.
  7. Tidying, hmmm where do we start? Tidying is definitely a better word to use than clean. You will attempt to tidy as you go but no sooner have you tidied when someone will puke, poo, wee, spill, break – you catch our drift. This is where you become a doctor of patience.
  8. Babysitters are few and far between when you add to your brood and very few people will have much sympathy for you afterall it was your decision to have another, deal with it, (that’s what you imagine people saying to themselves when you ask)! But when you do have some time away it becomes so special, you and partner will cherish every moment that is if you choose not to use the time to sleep.
  9. Capturing beautiful moments is near impossible – someone is upset (probably you), someone is picking their nose, everyone is refusing to smile and no-one stays still. Ahh family life, suck it up!
  10. Finally, if there is one thing you must master before all others, it’s co-ordinating nap times. We know this sounds impossible but listening to crying/screaming for a little longer in exchange for a full hour to yourself is worth every second.
maternity & infant

Originally posted 2016-01-06 15:40:13.