Bringing Home Baby #2

Hi loves,

Continuing in the theme of the last post, in today's post  I’ll be taking about my experiences during those crucial first few weeks of bringing baby#2 home and share some of the things I experienced and found helpful along the way.

Here goes, my experience bringing home baby #2

Things seems to have happened quite the opposite way with both kids, so don’t expect things to go the same as I did the first time.

Recovery time and the whole process I feel was much faster and more pleasant than the first time. I suppose you can credit that to not having a tear or hemorrhage this time around although baby was over 2lbs bigger.

Having help vs No help: First time around, one of my sisters flew in right away as soon as baby arrived, so we were leaving the hospital with an extra pair of hands. This time around, it was just the two of us, hubby and I plus a toddle to care for. Being that recovery went much better and Emmanuel is quite possibly the best baby on the planet, I didn't fell not having that extra hands. Hubby helped in ways he could and as much as he could especially with Eliana.  In short, as scary as it seemed going into it that we weren’t going to have any extra help right away, I think we made it work and we did just fine.

Crib vs Bed: Right from day one, Eliana slept in her crib and never on the bed with us as a baby. Granted the crib was in our room, till we moved and then we moved her to her room. Let just say quite the opposite happened this time. Although Emmanuel has a bassinet in our room, there are more days than I can count at the beginning where he ended up in bed with us. Why, it is convenient for nursing. Eliana was bottle feed so we took turns getting up to feed her. This time, the sole responsibility is on me and that’s just what works best to keep my sanity.

Breast feeding vs Pumping: Whether pumping or nursing or trying to nurse, those first couples of weeks are always a pain. My nursing experience with Eliana was terrible. From her not latching properly, to being in a constant state of engorgement and then realizing I’ll have to inclusively pump; lets’ just say it wasn’t a smooth sail the first time around. I wrote more about my experience in a previous post.  This time around, the boy latched on like he was born to be feed. Although, incorrectly the first few time, but was very quickly corrected and he got it! Nursing is bliss and a wonderful experience. I’m glad I am able to have the privilege. This might sound bad because that would mean it is something I didn’t get to experience with my first, but I truly believe there is a special connection in nursing that you just don’t get when bottle feeding. 
Also, unlike the last time where I used nipple cream for pretty much the entirety of my failed nursing and pumping experience because of one issue after the other, I stopped used the cream right about 3 weeks this time because there was just no need for it.

First Bath Home – Traditional (palm oil and all) vs. Normal bath: Thank God we had friends around us that acted as family and we could call family at the time we had Eliana. With that comes the traditional first bath at home complete with palm oil, a whole lot of shaking and throwing and bending. This time, no one was around to do all that so I gave him his first bath. There was no palm oil, shaking, bending or throwing. This is not to discount one vs the other just at the end of the day, it is all about what makes you and the people around you happy. I don’t think it makes a difference either way.

Tips /Advice

Trust you gut. You've done this before.

Try to get some time for yourself to just be. It can get overwhelming at first. 

Second time around is easier in the sense that you’ve done it before, you know what to do for the most part. Some new things might pop up. For example having a girl first and then a boy (new stuff to pay attention to especially during that first two weeks to make sure all is healing right). 

Your capacity to love grows even bigger than you think is possible.

Take it one day at time and before you know it, you'll be a pro at juggling two kids. Just kidding. Everyday is a balancing act in itself and a learning experience.

Enjoy having both kids by spending time with each one. You obviously have to make a conscious effort to get alone with the first. 

At the end of it all. Do the essentials and what is important to you and your family and leave the rest till later.

Enjoy being a mom of two.

Planning one more post to wrap up this mommy-ing series.

If you guys have any specific topic you'll like me to share my experience about, or questions in general,  leave a comment on message me.