In my previous post, I talked about how having your first baby can be utterly world rocking. Now I’m almost 2 months postpartum with my second baby girl. In my experience thus far, having your second baby is overall a much easier transition than going from 0-1.
What’s Been Easier After Having My Second Baby
- I have already built up my “mom muscles”.
- I’ve already settled into my identity as a mother after having my first baby.
- I have tips and tricks and tools up my sleeve now to better soothe a fussy baby and insure better sleep for all of us!
- Becoming a nurse has helped me be even better at multitasking.
- Our family was already in an established routine that worked well for us before having baby #2. Thankfully I’ve been able to get her into a routine that fits right in perfectly!
- I’m already on an SSRI for anxiety and therefore I don’t have the huge added struggle of being as chemically imbalanced as I was with my first baby.
- My husband and I are already used to being in our roles as parents and working together as a team, so this transition hasn’t been hard on our marriage at all.
- I have more confidence with breastfeeding due to how well my journey went with my first daughter.
- I also have quite a bit more lactation knowledge now from being an RN on a Mother/Baby unit and working with lactation consultants more.
- The fact that I’ve already kept one tiny human alive and raised her the last 2.5 years gives me much more confidence with baby #2. And she’s turned out to be a sweet, healthy, happy, super smart little girl too so that’s such an added bonus!
- I’m not as sleep deprived with this baby because:
- 1. I have more knowledge now about how much sleep a baby needs at each stage and how long their wake windows need to be.
- 2. I now know the importance of getting in FULL FEEDS during the day and how to make sure that’s happening.
- 3. I’ve mastered the art of swaddling.
- 4. I set a healthy sleep foundation for her from day 1.
- 5. I have more peace of mind with now having the owlet sock monitor.
- I’ve done some more pumping and bottles this time around which has given me more of a sense of freedom and helps ensure she’s taking full feeds and that my milk supply is where it needs to be. Having a hands free pump really helps with this!
- I know that when things are hard, it’s temporary. And that hard isn’t the same as bad. The newborn phase is still hard, but I see how there’s so much good.
- I also know how fast this time goes and that my babies get older every single day. So I’ve really made it a priority to try to enjoy each day and live it to the fullest as much as possible.
- I’ve adopted an attitude of gratitude. I try to start each day by thinking of at least 5 things I’m grateful for. That has been a game changer and puts me in a good mindset to start the day.
- I made a postpartum plan while I was pregnant and have really tried to be consistent with implementing it.
- I’ve made self care more of a priority.
- I ask for and accept help more.
- Seeing my toddler love on the new baby is so sweet!
- I’ve gotten much better at baby wearing and wear my second baby a lot more than I did my first. I finally found a style of wrap that I love! More on that in a later post.
- I already know what baby products are my favorite. We’ve either still had several of them from my first daughter, or have been able to upgrade to the newest versions of things. There’s a few things this baby has liked or been different with than the first, but for the most part I’ve felt like we’ve had all the baby products we’ve needed. Having the right newborn essentials has been so helpful during the newborn phase!
- I’ve been able to get them to nap at the same time most days! This has allowed me the freedom to be able to shower and get ready, get some cleaning done, take a nap myself if I need one, and now even start a blog!
- I’ve gotten very clear on what my boundaries are during this phase and have been more confident in setting those boundaries with people than when I had my first daughter. I also don’t let guilt eat at me as much if those boundaries upset anyone. I have to prioritize my mental health and what works best for our little family.
What’s Been Harder
- Simply having to juggle taking care of 2 tiny humans under the age of 2.5.
- Having 2 in diapers at the same time.
- Dealing with toddler regressions with sleep and behavior since bringing the baby home.
- Losing my patience with my toddler at the end of the day when I’ve been caring for both all day and all the things that come along with that. When I get to this point is when my husband and I recognize I need a break and we try to make that happen.
- Trying to go places. I pretty much just don’t do it much at all. And definitely not with both babies unless my husband is home. I know I could, and it’d be fine, but I just haven’t even had the desire with it being winter and still being in the middle of Covid.
- Trying to get both ready for bed at the same time. My husband and I are pretty good about tag teaming it though.
- The constant balancing act of handling them both needing me at the same time. For instance, when I’m nursing the baby and the toddler is whining for food. Or if they are both crying or have poopy diapers at the same time. It does sometimes feel like I have twins. I realize the age gap has a lot to do with that though.
- Not being able to ask for more help due to Covid. I’m basically at home alone with both babies the majority of the time. We are all happier when Daddy is home!
So as you can probably gather from this post, yes we of course still have our struggles and difficult days. That’s just a part of life and motherhood. But overall this transition has just gone so much smoother than after having my first baby. And for that I am so very grateful!
In several future posts, I plan to go into much more detail about several of the topics mentioned here, so stay tuned for that! Thank you so much for stopping by the blog!