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No two babies are alike (guest post)

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Welcome to the first of my bubby bloggy break guest posts!

And please welcome… Kelly from Handmade Tears and Triumphs! (Insert applause track here.)

Kelly is one of my favourite bloggers and, bless her cotton socks, jumped at the chance to guest post when I approached her nervously last month. She agreed to share her experiences of welcoming a second child into the world on this blog.

(She even returned the compliment. You can catch my guest post contribution to her ‘Husband Files’ earlier this month over on Handmade Tears and Triumphs.)

So, read on to find Kelly’s words of wisdom. Words I’m sure I’ll be referring to in hospital after welcoming our second child into the world and wondering why he’s so different to his big sister!

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The things I learned when I had my second baby

My first baby was pretty easy going. We expected sleepless nights with a screaming infant and we got a chipper little guy who was all smiles from four weeks. For this reason, when expecting our second son, we were full of confidence. Cries like:

It’ll be a walk in the park! We’re great at this parenting gig!

rang out of our living room. And then he was born. And it all went to shit.

You see, we very quickly realised that no two babies are the same. That just because we’d done this before did not mean that we were prepared. And that some babies, no matter how hard you try, just want to do things their own way.

Our first son had trouble with the breast but loved the bottle. Our second son thought that anything made of silicone was the devil and wouldn’t allow anything but my breast in his mouth. I learned that as long as baby is fed, that was all that mattered.
 
Our first son slept in a bassinet, our second son slept on me. I learned that as long as baby got some sleep, that was all that mattered.
 
Our first son was peaceful and quiet, our second son screamed like a banshee. I learned that long, baby wearing walks were great for shutting up banshees.

In a nutshell, you could say that I learned to not have expectations when it comes to a real life human being.

But I also learned a new capacity to love. Babies fill your heart with so much love that you can be left wondering how on earth you’ll fit another child in there. And then he’s born, and your heart doubles in size. And although those first 12 months were incredibly challenging and exhausting, I learned that it passes so quickly, and in those late nights pacing the hallways, you need to remind yourself that it’s only temporary. Before you know it, he’ll be grown up, and you’ll actually miss those days.

I once feared that there weren’t enough hours in the day to fit in a second child, but I learned that we didn’t need any more time, because he was meant to be in our lives all along. Like a missing piece to the puzzle, he fits perfectly.

Even if he does seem like the devil’s spawn sometimes…
 
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Kelly is a working mother of three. Fluent in sarcasm. Loves to talk (rant) and cook (eat). Tea and wine drinker. Budget queen.
 
Kelly blogs at Handmade Tears and Triumphs, the mummy blog combining sarcasm and sentiment while trying to do it all in the attempt to become a superwoman. You can also find her on facebook and twitter.
 

HandmadeTearsandTriumphs

Have you welcomed a second child into the world? What did you learn from the experience?

Comments

  1. What a lovely post. Such important things to learn as well. Like it is just sleep that is important, not so much where that sleep is had. Thankfully for me my three all slipped in rather nicely as well

    Fairy wishes and butterfly kisses #teamIBOT

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  2. Oh every baby is so different indeed! Our older daughter is the nicest, most laid back kid you will know. Our 2nd one is…. let’s just say, she makes me want to cry very often. She hits, slaps, screams, is the most fiesty little thing I have ever seen. As a mum, I have ended up parenting both very differently. Luckily, they have quite a big age gap between them too so no one has questioned any different parenting style.

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  3. So true! I have 5 and I think they take it in turns. Our first was a nightmare and I swore I wasn’t having another one. But oops! I did and he was the coolest little dude. So I had another one and she was fabulously easy too. Number 4 had 6 months of colic. Doh!

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  4. Gorgeous post, Kel! I often forget that the tough (and sleepless) nights are just temporary. But having two at a time just got me all so loved up. More than I could ever imagine or thought possible. x

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  5. I’m with you Kel, with No.2 he was a boob boy and always slept on me. I wish I had done more of that with No.1. Now that I have 3 I just have no expectations and just try to roll with it, otherwise I’d go CRAZY!

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  6. I wondered if I’d have enough love, but then I found that you don’t need to share the existing love, it exactly just grows.
    Lovely post. It goes so damn fast, doesn’t it?

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  7. I love this post! And Kel, I think we had identical babies. Exactly, completely identical down to the silicon revolt and the sleeping on me, in a sling. She’s a force to be reckoned with and I love her for it.

    Reply

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