I started this blog when Miss M was 9 months old, so I didn't write anything about my pregnancy or her early days, weeks and months... so this time around it's nice to keep a record and share what's going on. I've got 3 "Preparing for Baby #2" post ideas my the good old drafts folder, and in particular I'm writing about what's different this time around.
Most parents are a tad more relaxed when it comes to second and subsequent pregnancies/babies, as we've been through it all before. Still a very exciting time - but different in so many ways. For me this time around, I'm still working at 34 weeks, when with Miss M (simply due to the school year and her due date being early March) I finished work/school at 28 weeks and had 12 weeks of absolutely luxury before she arrived - I watched the ENTIRE series of Greys Anatomy, went swimming regularly, took our dog Archer for daily walks, went shopping all the time and was always getting new baby girl outfits... A friend said to me "enjoy this time because you will never have it again!" and boy was she right.
So this brings me to the point of todays post - what will I (correction - we) will do differently with our second baby compared to Miss M. There's nothing too major, in general we're really happy with the parenting choices we made, I quickly learnt to ignore all the books and conflicting baby advice and followed my mummy intuition and do what we felt best for her and our family. But there's always such a thing as hindsight, so here are some things we think we'll do differently this time around.
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Most parents are a tad more relaxed when it comes to second and subsequent pregnancies/babies, as we've been through it all before. Still a very exciting time - but different in so many ways. For me this time around, I'm still working at 34 weeks, when with Miss M (simply due to the school year and her due date being early March) I finished work/school at 28 weeks and had 12 weeks of absolutely luxury before she arrived - I watched the ENTIRE series of Greys Anatomy, went swimming regularly, took our dog Archer for daily walks, went shopping all the time and was always getting new baby girl outfits... A friend said to me "enjoy this time because you will never have it again!" and boy was she right.
So this brings me to the point of todays post - what will I (correction - we) will do differently with our second baby compared to Miss M. There's nothing too major, in general we're really happy with the parenting choices we made, I quickly learnt to ignore all the books and conflicting baby advice and followed my mummy intuition and do what we felt best for her and our family. But there's always such a thing as hindsight, so here are some things we think we'll do differently this time around.
Use a Capsule
With a toddler and a newborn a capsule just makes good sense to me (especially if it fits onto your pram). We just used a rear facing car seat with Miss M, and I could never get the car - cot transfer to happen, so quite often I would stay in the car to let her sleep once we got home, or hold her while she completed her nap. Don't think that's easy to achieve with a toddler in tow. The pram we used with Miss M didn't have a capsule either, just the bassinet attachment. So this time we've gone with the Steelcraft Agile + capsule we borrowed from my sister in law. Miss M hasn't liked or used a pram in quite sometime, so we're not going with the double, but thought the little skateboard attachment might be handy!
Choose a Child Care Centre closer to home
This is a tricky one we're deliberating with at the moment. When Miss M started Child Care, it was all a bit last minute due to my mum getting sick, so we just needed to get her in somewhere, and a colleague highly recommended the centre near school (30 mins from home). I've been so so happy with it, the high level or care and professionalism, how the staff take a genuine interest in Miss M and their learning programmes. I just can't spending a total of 2 hours driving there for her to keep going one or two days a week (I should also mention many friends with 2 kids have recommended keeping the older child in Child Care when the younger one comes along - it benefits everyone!). So now we are looking at a different centre closer to home (found one - walking distance, the most beautiful outdoor play area I have ever seen), but this means another change and transition for Miss M. Wish we had of had her in this centre from the beginning...
Embrace Online Shopping
I've tried online shopping before, but think that I'll give it another go when James goes back to work after we have the baby. Just another way to (hopefully) make our lives easier. Don't get me wrong, I still want to be able to get out of the house with the littlies, but I'm sure there are more exciting outings we can do other than the grocery shopping.
Don't skim/skip the Chapter about Caesareans in the baby books
I made this mistake last time. I think in the back of our minds, first time expecting mother's know that a caesarean may just be how it all turns out in the end, but I didn't really study the books to know what to expect if this was the case (which it was). Thankfully, at the antenatal classes we had to 'act out' the whole caesarean operation - eg which medical people would be there, where they would be standing around you, what they may say to you and what you might hear. This certainly helped! I only wish someone had warned me about the agonising pain when you laugh post op!
Make the most of drive through coffee
The day Maccas announced that their Mc Cafe coffee was coming to drive throughs it made my day. If I can grab my coffee on the go without getting both kids out of the car = winning! And there's so many of these popping up around the place - aside from Maccas and On the Run servos.
Stress Less
Overall I think this is the main one. Second time parents have been through it all before, and even though all babies are different, you at least have some idea of what you're doing and it's not as scary and overwhelming. As I mentioned in my intro, I quickly learnt that the baby books weren't really helping me - and then when I read this article about all the conflicting advice from baby books and parenting experts (which I wish I had read before having her!) it really hit home!
Another awesome article about Baby #1 vs Baby #2 is from my friend Hayley over at Adelady. Good for a laugh and so true!
And in this article I came across - a mum shares why she won't keep a list of things she'll do differently with baby number two. A different take on my post, but still a good read.
So whether you're a first time mum looking for advice, a second time mum getting ready like me I hope you've found this post useful. If you're a mum who's finished having kids and you have any advice about the change from one child to two - I'd love to hear!
Lauren x