I Wasn't Expecting To Be Expecting
Where do I even begin? LOL. I seriously had a hard time accepting the fact that we are now pregnant for the second time. I am one of those people that like to have a to-do list and for my day to go by it. I know, I know, at times it's not realistic because life can be unpredictable. I always thought that we would wait for our child to be at least 1.5 years of age before we even thinking of having another baby. Not to say that I shouldn't be grateful because I know that there are many couples who struggle with infertility, but I was just looking at my current state and my workload with one child and I couldn't possibly imagine having a baby with a 1-year-old toddler. Call me a bad person if you want to but I actually cried when I found out. It wasn't the excited tears. I was so frustrated and so scared of what this is actually going to look like. I know, God doesn't give you more than you can handle but to me, it felt like it was way too much. I am slowly coming around and getting used to the idea that I will be a Mom of two in just a couple months. So since this wasn't really planned, I had to go back to the drawing board and make a list of some of the things that I need to do to prepare. I've tried to simplify everything into 5 steps.
1. 2 Of Everything: Even though we don't know the gender of the second baby, I am already making a list of all the items that I may need for the second baby. For example, I need to get a double stroller since Mila is still so young. I found one online that had pretty good reviews and went to the store and played with it for a while. (click the pic for more info) Even tested it with Mila in it. LOL What I like most about it is that it comes with two toddler seats but they can be shifted and adjusted in several different ways. To add the icing to the cake, it comes with an infant car seat holder which can hold different brand car seats. (fingers crossed it fits the one we have) We also found another crib on the app LetGo from a lady that had twins. It was used of course but it was in good condition. Plus it wasn't that expensive. Regardless of the gender, I know that I will be able to use a lot of the items that Mila used but there are still other things that I didn't have with Mila that I would like to have with this baby. I think it's really smart to plan way in advance that way you are always on the lookout for these items just in case you run into a great deal.
2. Taking Care of Me: As a Mom, a shower is definitely a treat. Most of the days I don't get one until late evening when Ryan comes home and the baby is situated for the night. I feel like I haven't reached my ideal place of health and fitness after the first baby but now I have to keep it moving and make sure that not only my family is taken care of but also my body which is housing another human being. This is probably one of the reasons I haven't been posting any kind of postpartum progress because now I am growing another human being and I have to constantly remind myself that my body is doing an amazing thing. Having said that I did get stretch marks with Mila and it was not until like week 39 which was very frustrating because I was so religious with the lotion and making sure that my skin was hydrated but hey genes also play a role regardless of what you use. I am definitely not giving up on using a proper product to make sure that I continue to protect it even with this second baby. So this is one of the products that I've been trying for the past several weeks while we were waiting to announce the news to the world. I've seen Mustella products online and have recently seen these product sold at Target but I always wanted to try and see how they work. The people at Mustella was so generous enough to send me three of their products for expecting mothers so I've been trying them out to see if I like the product and if I see any difference. Even though I have stretch marks from the first pregnancy I still want to make sure that I am doing what I can to prevent further damage. I've been applying the Stretch Mark Prevention Cream pretty much every night and I love how moisturizing it is. My skin gets super dry in the winter and on top of that my belly is stretching so using this cream definitely helps me to stay moisturized while the expansion is happening. It is safe for you and the baby even while breastfeeding since all the products that you put on yourself actually go into your bloodstream. The products also contain natural ingredients and are paraben free. I linked the Stretch Mark Prevention Cream as well as the oil below. I will definitely do more updates as I get further along in my pregnancy, but so far I absolutely love the products.
3. Training The First One: One of the biggest things that I wanted to happen with my first one before we even thought about have the second baby, was potty training. I cannot imagine having two kids in diapers. Even though I started putting Mila on the potty at 10 months she is still not fully trained. So now my goal is to dedicate a couple days in a row where we do the potty training the legit way where her diaper comes off during the day. This is definitely a must. Not only will it eliminate another financial obligation but it will also help you when you are busy with the baby not to worry about changing a diaper or training your first child when your hands are full.
4. Diaper Rule: With Mila we made up a rule that helped us with a diaper situation. We bought a box of diapers for every month that I was pregnant so that we were stocked up and didn't have to worry about running out for a while. Actually, we didn't have to start buying diapers until Mila was 8 months old. I am glad that we followed this rule because it eliminated another item that we didn't have to worry about. We are kind of behind in this round because I haven't bought a single box. So technically I have to catch up but I am definitely going to follow this rule again. If you're pregnant, I would highly recommend following this rule.
5. Different Birth Plan: Now that I've experienced the first pregnancy, labor, and delivery, I feel like I am prepared a little better and have a better understanding of what I need for this round. Not to degrade the hospital that I delivered at but I feel like I know that I would want to have a legit midwife this time to help me through the whole process. Not only will this be helpful for me but I know that Ryan will feel like he has more support this time around as well. I was really disappointed in the full experience of a hospital birth especially because I was prepared to give birth naturally and they were not. We didn't have any support from the nurse to the 'midwife' who was actually just like a doctor walked in once to check me in and the second when I was ready to deliver. I can go on and on but overall I am glad that we have a healthy baby girl and there were no major complications. I am currently looking into birth centers, which by the way charge a third of what the hospital charges. Not only that, there are no pressures like you would have at a hospital to push certain shots and procedures. The midwives at the birthing center are present and help you through the whole process. I am actually a little bit more at ease knowing that I have another option.
I am pretty sure that I my list will continue to expand as we move closer to the due date, but for now I am going to do what I can to prepare for this baby.
If you are pregnant the second time or already had your second child, what are some other things that I should consider as a soon to be Mom of two? Comment below:)
Create Coleture, Be YOU
Viktoriya Cole