Argh. It's 4:30am and I am wide awake. This has been my fate for the last week or so... I'm dealing with some insomnia, restless legs, and just the inability to get comfortable at night. This would not be so bad if my mind wasn't constantly racing with the thought of "Oh boy, how am I going to keep up with James tomorrow, and not lose my patience?!". When I'm tired, the first thing I lose is my ability to keep my patience - it just flies straight out the window. So I'm hoping that if I kill a bit of time tonight, I might at least catch another few hours of sleep before that beautiful little voice wrestles me out of my bed. If anyone has any really good suggestions for this, I'm all ears!<--- Photo of James wearing some Bomber slippers that we actually received for Baby Banana. They easily fit James, so I think we'll let him wear them in for his sibling.
There certainly are a lot of differences being pregnant with baby number two, versus baby number one! The time is not just flying, it's passing at light speed! I'm so busy with James, that I really forget how far along I am until I see my ticker, or notice my next appointment coming up on the calendar. It's quite amazing actually! I also haven't been gaining weight like I did with my pregnancy with James. When I was pregnant with him, I'm fairly certain I gained 20lbs in the first three months. I'm not too diligent in weighing myself, but I don't think I've gained more than 10lbs with this pregnancy. That feels good... although I'm sure it's going to slowly start sticking more and more. I'm also not noticing as much movement as with James. This might just be the nature of this baby, but I think it's because I'm so busy that I just don't notice. That, and because I'm always on the move, baby is rocked to sleep more often. When I was pregnant with James I did a LOT more sitting and resting, and could take all the time in the world to just lay around and feel him move.
I keep wondering how I should prepare for Baby Banana's arrival. For those of you with two or more kids, what do you wish you had known, purchased ahead of time, or prepared beforehand? I definately plan on making a few frozen casseroles, because sometimes it's hard enough to get supper on with James around - let alone two! Otherwise, I feel like there is a giant adjustment sneaking up on me - but I'm so thrilled to be enjoying this pregnancy, that I just assume it's going to be perfect! Give me a reality check... what should I do to get ready?
11 comments :
In my experience you just can't have enough frozen food stored away. Casseroles, home-made pizzas or pizza pops, muffins, soups, anything that is easy to thaw. I like to have that just normally, but when you've got a new baby it's even better to have.
My son has those same slippers.
I totally understand the difficulty in remaining patient with your toddler when pregnant - it's hard work! Frozen meals are a BIG help - you can't have enough. Maybe see if you can get together with a few friends and do a big cook off. I went to a place called Simply Supper where they prepare all the ingredients and you make the recipe. I made 24 meals in one hour! Maybe they have something like that close to you?! Also desserts are nice to have on hand since you'll probably have a lot of company coming and going.
The other thing is that the second time around I nested like crazy. If you think you're going to have that too, try and get some done before your 37 weeks preggo, otherwise you'll struggle with exhaustion because you have SO much you want to do. Hope this helps!
Sorry that you are up at night a lot. Restless legs were my enemy as well. I bathed in epsom salts a lot when I was pregnant and took extra calcium pills before bed. Calcium is proved to be a sleep aid and it also helps with restless legs. Plus your baby and you need it - so it's a natural solution that's good for everyone.
Just an idea.
Hope you got a few extra hours of good sleep and had a good day today with James.
De-clutter, de-junk, just MAKE ROOM! I forgot how much room a baby takes up with all their equipment and knick-knacks and such, plus through in a toddler's things...I did a major de-cluttering and organizing my home before Britta was born. I was so happy for that...although it tends to pile up again quickly.
Another suggestions: Rest, rest, rest, nap, rest, sleep, rest, relax, nap, sleep, sleep harder, relax, rest, REST until you can't REST anymore!!! With the second baby I found the hardest thing ever was that I couldn't sleep when Britta slept, because I had Annika to run around with...Rusty and I would tag team with in the napping dept., but it still wasn't the same cause I had a 2 year knocking on my door every 10 mins asking me, "mommy, what're you doing?!" REST UP!!
Oh man. I'd say rest up too, but I've never been able to do that. I always find it really hard to rest during the last two months of pregnancy. Plus, within a week, no matter how much you've rested before hand, you'll just be tired anyways... So I'm with the cook and nest girls. Whatever you can do ahead of time is good.
If you have supportive friends and family nearby (which I think you do) I would consider seeing if you can actually schedule some "help". With Sam (who was BRUTAL as a newborn) some church people would come over in the afternoons even just for an hour to hold him for me. It gave me time to shower, or have a quick nap, or play with Ben, or get some housework done. It was SO helpful to me. Actually, sometimes I just sat and chatted with whoever came. It was just nice to be able to put him down without listening to him scream. (Unless he was having a screaming day, in which case I just left him and his "holder" in the basement where I couldn't hear him.)
I would totally suggest seeing if you can't sign up some friends to come hold the baby for you once or twice a week, I'd love to have someone come and do that for me now, but since Hannah is a much better baby than Sam was I doubt I could get as much sympathy from the people nearby. (We don't have any family in town, or I know I could find some holders.) I think most people would be happy to do it as it's "only" holding the baby (FUN!) and it only needs to be for a short period of time, and it's not like you aren't there if you're needed. (I've found that most people don't like the idea of watching a newborn without mom nearby, and mom usually doesn't like it either.)
That's the best I can think of.
It's so hard to imagine James with a sibling.
Casseroles and stuff for the freezer is great...the other thing I wish I had done was to organize a cupboard of snacks for my first born. It would have been nice to be able to send him to the cupboard to get his own snack if I was busy feeding baby #2. Also some easy crafts for James to do (organized in baggies for him)or interactive books for him to read while you are busy are sanity savers! The only other thing I really wish I'd had is one of those snuggly wraps for baby. Trinity was fussy unless being held and it would have been wonderful!
Take time to rest now too. Not only does it benefit you but James will get used to you taking rest breaks and not associate Mommy not playing with the baby.
Food in the freezer is a must. We also purchased a small gift from the "baby" for our older daughter. We had it wrapped and it made the transition of coming home from the hospital afterwards a bit easier. It helps to include the older children by receiving a gift from their new sibling.
I would also suggest getting some fun activities for James, too. Go to the dollar store and stock up on crafty things or small, fun toys. Especially for the first few weeks when the first born is still getting used to mommy holding/feeding the baby every 2 hours. I also invested in a couple new Dora videos of Annika, that I could easily pop in for her to watch for a half hour while I nursed. That was used for the very BAD days.
Does James like Thomas the train videos? I have a tonne of VHS ones that you could take! The best part is that with VHS they can do it by themselves while you feed the baby.
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