It’s amazing how I can barely remember the newborn days, which really weren’t that long ago. As moms, our minds must block out the tough times and only allow us to remember the tender moments so we want to do this again.
I’m pregnant with my second and due a week before my son’s second birthday. Yup, that means I’ll have two children under two!
As first-time-parents we learned so much; some of which we’ll repeat and others things we’ll try differently this time (assuming Baby is willing to go along with the plan—ha!). Here are my thoughts for round two…
Sleep: I will try my best to not nurse this baby to sleep and put him/her asleep in the crib while still awake. My intent is to help this child learn to self-soothe sooner so we can all get more, much needed, sleep from the beginning.
Bottles: Even though I’m not working full time with this baby, I’ll still pump and introduce the bottle early on. Doing this with my son was the smartest thing I did, and I didn’t even know it. It allowed my husband and other people to feed him and allowed me much needed space, time, and sleep, which helped me be more successful with breastfeeding.
Babysitter: My son is 18 months old, and we have yet to have anyone besides our family watch him. This has made date nights too few and far between. I know now that my children won’t die in the care of a stranger for a couple hours, so I need to find a sitter: like yesterday.
Relationship FIRST: I had been with my husband for 12 years before we had our first child, yet our relationship was still rocked: in good ways and bad. This time, I’m going to make a conscious effort to put my marriage before the baby. Children naturally become your main focus, because they depend on you for their survival and it’s so hard to find the time (or energy!) for your spouse. I plan on scheduling bi-weekly date nights to give us the time that we need to ‘check in’ on one another and our relationship. That’s where the whole ‘needing to find a babysitter’ thing will come in handy.
Diaper Bag: I will pack less. Blanket, diaper and wipes for the baby. Granted, I will be packing for two, but I will pack more efficiently this time rather than bringing the medicine cabinet and kitchen everywhere I go. There are stores that sell everything I need in case of an emergency; I guess that didn’t cross my mind before.
Pacifier: I am going to bring pacifiers to the hospital this time. The hospital wouldn’t allow me to give my son a pacifier and scared me silly about ‘nipple confusion.’ The day I finally gave in and gave my son a pacifier was the most peaceful day of my new-mom life.
The Baby Gear: This goes back to my diaper bag theory…I will buy what I need when I need it (toys, feeding devices, travel/car accessories, etc.). I learned quickly that babies are pretty simple and they don’t need everything that is sold to us when we’re pregnant. Not to mention, every baby is different, and you don’t know what this child will like.
Milestones: I will do my best to enjoy the baby this time and not rush each milestone. Every stage is so exciting, but now I know how quickly it goes, despite my rushing, and that I will miss each stage as soon as it’s gone.
Thinking back and writing this makes me look forward to doing it all again…I guess I can say this because I now look forward to welcoming our second set of little feet as a more relaxed and confident Mom!
By Taylor Engle