WM and will have 2 under 2

Starfish+77

So DD is 9 months next week and we just found out we're expecting #2 in April, making their age difference 16.5 months. I think I'm over the shock of finding out I'm expecting but still anxious of course. We both work FT and DD is in daycare. I enjoy my career and am not considering quitting my job. Any words of encouragement from other WM's with 2 under 2? Tips? Biggest challenges? I think I'm trying to mentally gear myself up for this!!

LoCarb

First, Congrats! H&H 9 mo!

My kids are no longer under two but I did go through this. It's tough in the beginning-especially outings to the grocery store, etc...just getting in/out of the car. You will need to add time to all activities. Drs appts were tough.  I saw a dr every week for months for well visits or acute visits with alternating kids. Just like now, it will take a little while to establish a routine but once you have one just stay in the groove of things. It definitely gets easier as they become older and can help do things on their own. As far as work...I never considered quitting my job b/c it was a break from the family chaos. GL!

itsmevkb

You are in the same place I was last year, except I also have two older children.  I'm not going to lie, the two and a half year separation between my first three was easier than the 16 month separation between the last two but hey, the 16 month will be all you know so you'll have nothing to compare it to!

For us, Maren just slipped right into our family as though she's always been there.  Sully is incredibly caring to his little sister so that is so wonderful to see and I love how they will grow up being so close in age.  Does he sometimes get cranky that I need to attend to Maren first?  Sure, but learning patience is a part of growing up so it's all good.

You'll do fine.  Just give yourself plenty of time to adjust and then once your baby is on a bit of a schedule things get better and easier to handle.

shakespearenluv

I started working full time with two under two a few years ago. My boys were 21 months and 8 weeks. I'm not going to lie or sugar coat it - we had a rough go. But we had a lot of sickness, both with me and the new baby that caused more stress than normal. I had a job that I didn't have my own office and there was nowhere for me to pump. This complicated matters considerably, as I wanted to be able to provide my milk for my son. It caused undue stress.

Honestly, three years have passed since that time and I STILL don't know how we made it through it, lol. I didn't really want to work though. I just knew I had to for financial reasons. It sounds like you like your job and that will probably really help.

It's a challenge but planning ahead and making lists makes everything so much easier! Good luck!

Starfish+77

Thank you all that responded. As this wasn't exactly planned, I'm going through a bit of a freak out still. I know it will all work out in the end. I also didnt mention that we have zero help from family, so that weighs on me as well. I never expected to have 2 under 2 and I can't even imagine how my life is going to change in 7 months!

virginiagirl11

I have a 3 month-old and a 2 year-old and I'm starting back at work full-time tomorrow. I'm pretty scared. I've been working 20 hours/week for the last four weeks after my maternity leave ended and that has been tough enough.

The two hardest things for us are: 1) being able to find good care for our kids, 2) getting everything done to keep the household running.

Because of the dynamics of our kids and the fact that they don't nap very much, we never get anything useful done while they're awake on the weekends. So everything we do to keep the family going (cleaning, laundry, bills, online purchases, important conversations, reviewing daycare paperwork, prepping for work, making food, etc., etc.) gets done after they go to bed. Sometimes it takes a while to get them down to sleep, which means we don't start on that stuff until like 10pm. Plus, DH is self-employed so when he's not with our toddler, he's working. I never get a break. We are always sleep-deprived.

It's also really hard to find excellent care around here. There's plenty of "okay" care but finding the good ones is freaking difficult. And stressful.

That said, we love the ever-living heck out of our kids and don't regret for a second having had them so close together. It is exactly what we wanted; life just happens to be really hard right now. It'll get better.

Reilly626

I have twins so I only know two at a time. It's a lot of work but the benefits are that they have a buddy and playmate. Hopefully this will happen in your situation. Best of luck!!

ebp913

Here's another thread that was going the other day too.  I responded to that one

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12048902/any-working-moms-of-2u2#latest