There's something strange and curious about having pregnancy number two equal baby number three. From doctor's visits with a new nurse ("So this is your second baby." "Third." "But you've only had one other pregnancy?" "Twins." *blank look* "Ohhhh...") to that first ultrasound ("Is this your first?" "No, third." Holy crap that sounds like a lot of kids, it sounds like I know what I'm doing and I really have no idea) to articles and blog posts that seem to pop up at least once a week about how to balance a (singular) toddler with a newborn and adding a second child to the family after parenting just one for oh so long!
In fact, it was and still is kind of hard to relate to other people's posts about their pregnancies since, y'know, the usual is to add (just!) one baby at a time. We've always had to balance two. That's just the reality of twins...you're thrown to the wolves and expected to swim. (I...may be mixing metaphors here. Whatever. Seems accurate.) While seemingly everyone else I know is concerned with adding baby #2 to the mix and OMG how to I manage TWO KIDS?!? Well...I've just always had to deal with that. In most ways, I don't really worry about how adding another baby to the mix will effect Caden and Brooklyn. They've always had to deal with another little person around and having my attention divided between them. Come to think of it, I don't really worry how adding a baby to the mix will effect them at all. I'm more concerned with keeping them occupied while I'm nursing without fighting for the eleventeenth time over the same toy (which we probably have two of, anyway) and that I'll manage to get them fed on a somewhat regular schedule with something resembling actual, real food.
Not to diminish anyone (i.e. everyone else) who is adding a baby to the chaos that is already having a toddler. If I only had a Caden or a Brooklyn, I'd be worrying about all the same things. And in a lot of ways, I can relate so much more this time to articles about baby's development and whatnot, since there is only one baby in there, and my timeline as far as actual due date, doctor's appiontments, etc. actually matches what it's "supposed" to. It was a shocker to me last pregnancy when I opened What to Expect When You're Expecting (aka the pregnancy Bible) and found no more than three pages on twins/multiples pregnancy. (I recommend this book if you're looking for something multiples-specific.) Or when we went to the labor and delivery class and approached the seasoned nurse who was instructing with several of our twin-specific questions and got mostly answers of "I'm not sure". (How reassuring!). (It went fine.) Now when I open WTEWYE (Which, second pregnancy, so-HA! Not that often.) it actually more or less all seems relevant, which is...nice.
Second pregnancy with only one baby after twin pregnancy BONUS: while everyone else is complaining about showing much sooner and gaining weight faster in their subsequent pregnancies, there is NO WAY I'm showing as much as I was at 17 weeks last time. Forget second pregnancy...one baby/placenta/amniotic sac takes up WAY LESS room than TWO babies/placentas/amniotic sacs. I'm pretty sure I was trying on maternity pants at the 7-8 week mark last time, and I held off until the 12-14 week point this time. Whoo-hoo!
(Practice!)
In fact, it was and still is kind of hard to relate to other people's posts about their pregnancies since, y'know, the usual is to add (just!) one baby at a time. We've always had to balance two. That's just the reality of twins...you're thrown to the wolves and expected to swim. (I...may be mixing metaphors here. Whatever. Seems accurate.) While seemingly everyone else I know is concerned with adding baby #2 to the mix and OMG how to I manage TWO KIDS?!? Well...I've just always had to deal with that. In most ways, I don't really worry about how adding another baby to the mix will effect Caden and Brooklyn. They've always had to deal with another little person around and having my attention divided between them. Come to think of it, I don't really worry how adding a baby to the mix will effect them at all. I'm more concerned with keeping them occupied while I'm nursing without fighting for the eleventeenth time over the same toy (which we probably have two of, anyway) and that I'll manage to get them fed on a somewhat regular schedule with something resembling actual, real food.
Not to diminish anyone (i.e. everyone else) who is adding a baby to the chaos that is already having a toddler. If I only had a Caden or a Brooklyn, I'd be worrying about all the same things. And in a lot of ways, I can relate so much more this time to articles about baby's development and whatnot, since there is only one baby in there, and my timeline as far as actual due date, doctor's appiontments, etc. actually matches what it's "supposed" to. It was a shocker to me last pregnancy when I opened What to Expect When You're Expecting (aka the pregnancy Bible) and found no more than three pages on twins/multiples pregnancy. (I recommend this book if you're looking for something multiples-specific.) Or when we went to the labor and delivery class and approached the seasoned nurse who was instructing with several of our twin-specific questions and got mostly answers of "I'm not sure". (How reassuring!). (It went fine.) Now when I open WTEWYE (Which, second pregnancy, so-HA! Not that often.) it actually more or less all seems relevant, which is...nice.
Second pregnancy with only one baby after twin pregnancy BONUS: while everyone else is complaining about showing much sooner and gaining weight faster in their subsequent pregnancies, there is NO WAY I'm showing as much as I was at 17 weeks last time. Forget second pregnancy...one baby/placenta/amniotic sac takes up WAY LESS room than TWO babies/placentas/amniotic sacs. I'm pretty sure I was trying on maternity pants at the 7-8 week mark last time, and I held off until the 12-14 week point this time. Whoo-hoo!
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