O hai u wants mah babay wizdumbs?

In the very beginning it will be weird.

Your firstborn will probably suddenly seem huge to you, like they grew three inches while you were giving birth.

It’s possible that you will feel like you’ve betrayed your first child and suffer pangs of guilt while asking yourself over and over “What have I done?”

But it all gets better. You find your family rhythms and you realize your firstborn will survive this and the guilt goes away.

Caring for your second child will feel familiar and you’ll probably be a lot less nervous than you were with your first. You may even feel empowered by your ability to handle two children at once, although you’re a lot happier when your spouse or some other person who doesn’t get on your last nerve are there to help.

Before you know it, you have to get back into the swing of things because your firstborn cannot be contained any longer and that’s when you learn the art of navigating the outside world alone with two kids, one teeny one and one biggerish one.

And it’s a challenge at times but you learn to accept that sometimes you won’t be 100% in control of the situation because, well, it’s hard with two, but you’ll all be okay. And each time, it gets easier.

As your baby begins to grow and finds his or her comfy little niche in your family dynamic, the amazingness of it all might make you tear up a little. And when your firstborn shows any sign of love or caring to the baby, well, your heart will hurt…in a good way.

At some point you realize you’re now a party of four and it feels right and even with all the challenges you’ve faced and all the ones to come, this little family you’ve helped create is so beautiful and so perfect… You can’t even begin to imagine your second-born not being in your life.

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Okay, maybe this wasn’t quite the assvice they were asking for but more a retrospective on my experiences when my second child came into the world. But I hope that some of what I learned will be of benefit to three lovely ladies who are about to bring their second babies into the world.

This was part of a Virtual Baby Shower thrown by Kristen, Liz, Katie and Julie for Her Bad Mother, Mrs. Chicky and Mrs. Chicken over at Better than a Playdate.

If you’d like to join in the fun, go there for the details. You can win stuff! Seeing as I’m all done breeding, I have my eye on basket #3.

Much love, easy deliveries and healthy babies to all of you :)