The second time around

I admit, when I got a positive pregnancy test this time my first reaction was "Yay!" followed by "Holy crap, what have we done?"  Lily was our only for a long time - and admittedly is a pretty easy kid to parent, all things considered - and so the addition of a second child was a huge change for us.

I've found that the second time around we're much more laid-back about pretty much everything.  With Lily, we spent months getting the nursery just right and picking out clothes and bedding and gear.   For our second, we set up the playard in our bedroom when I was 36 weeks pregnant (we're using the bassinet for the first few months) and at around 37 weeks I went through the baby clothes and pulled out everything gender neutral to wash.    I think we installed the car seat bases around the same time and I packed my hospital bag at 38 weeks - that was the extent of our preparations.

I'm sure part of my relative calm during labor and delivery was the fact that I did NOT have preeclampsia this time.  Being told you have a potentially life-threatening complication and are going to the hospital for an immediate induction is enough to get anyone a bit wound up, and it so was very stressful for all of us when Lily was born.   Because of the medications I was on, Lily had to be whisked across the room to be evaluated within a minute or so of delivery.   Postpartum I was confined to bed for 24 hours on mag sulfate, getting pretty intensive nursing care and monitoring, and about the only thing I could do was nurse the baby.    This time with the scheduled induction it was all pretty different.  We knew our baby was arriving one way or the other on the 13th, we knew my OB would be the one delivering him/her, and from a medical standpoint I had none of the limitations/restrictions that were necessary when Lily was born.   Because the only meds I had during labor were Pitocin and the epidural I have a clear memory of the entire labor and delivery and was able to get up and actively care for my baby right away.   While I'm thankful for modern obstetrics for getting both me and Lily safely through, I had a much better birth experience with Hannah, and I have zero regrets about the induction.

While it was almost three years since we had a newborn, everything feels more relaxed and comfortable.   Breastfeeding is going SO much easier even though Hannah shares Lily's upper lip tie.  I don't know if it's because Hannah's a bigger baby or if I just have a better idea of what to do but once we worked past Hannah being hypoglycemic at birth, we've had things go a lot more smoothly than they did with Lily.   Bathing, diapering, soothing the baby are all easier - it's like riding a bicycle; once you've been through it once it's a lot easier to pick it up again.   Everyone from friends to coworkers said it would be like this and I'm very happy that so far that's been accurate.

I really like the age spacing of our kids.  Lily has been potty trained for long enough that we've had no setbacks or accidents, and she's old enough that she can legitimately help me with simple tasks.   I can hand her a puzzle or some crayons and a coloring book while I nurse Hannah and she entertains herself.  We have had some minor behavioral regression but that's improving pretty rapidly.   If we go for a third baby (which so far is still a distinct possibility) we're going to try for similar spacing - 2.5 to 3 years behind Hannah.