giving others hope - and bragging

Barbie&Kevin

ok, im sorry if i come off as a huge AW, thats not my intention (entirely, lol).  I'm hoping to give other's hope

My children are 16 months apart (#2 was planned)

 I'm having a great time with them.  I've been getting out of the house by myself with the 2 of them since week #2 (husband was home week 1).  we even hit the grocery store a few times.  The second baby still sleeps a whole lot, so it's easy to pay attention to my firstborn and play with him.  I make sure I go to sleep right after my firstborn does, that way I maximize the amount of sleep I get.  I wake up to nurse the newborn and still end up getting a good bit of sleep.  I nap while #1 naps if I need additional sleep.  the only way i'm able to leave the house is because I wear my newborn.  We don't have a double stroller (yet).  The moby i'm using is wonderful for shopping, parks, etc.   I actually just learned how to nurse while wearing the newborn. 

 Dont stress yourselves out before #2 arrives.  There is hope.  Granted, I got lucky with great sleepers, a very quick/efficient nurser, and a toddler who isn't displaying any signs of jealousy (yet?)....

I find having 2 under 2 easier than having my first child as a newborn (make sense?).  Having the experience from the first makes all the difference in the world. 

GL ladies

CaitlinJ22

how old is your LO? I have a feeling you aren't going to get a good response from some veterans on here since it's early in the game for you...but I appreciate what you are trying to do thanks for the hope.

shari_rngleson

thank you for the encouragement.  i am nervous and excited!  i plan to be on a strict sleep schedule like you describe to be able to function!

scooter19

Thank you.  It's exactly what I needed to hear.

Barbie&Kevin

my newborn is 1 month old today - and i TOTALLY expect it to get harder as the newborn ages and is awake more and needs me more....trust me.  I am not naive to that fact!

 strict sleep schedule is crucial for me.  I'm the type of person who likes 10+ hours of sleep a night.  6-8 never seems to be enough. lol

firsttogo

Thanks for your words. Each stage has ups and downs. The Brand newborn stage is the easiest, but so far we have not been miserable with any time period.

Sleep schedules are great if you can get them set up!

userdeleted

Yay! I'm glad things are going well for you

My experience was similar, especially in the beginning. Things still really are not as bad as I anticipated, though of course some days are harder than others. Luckily for me, Charlie has been a fairly easy baby. 

I think a pp mentioned a sleep schedule, and I want to second that. We have them on a synchronized afternoon nap, and it is about 2-3 hours of pure bliss for me! I can only take partial credit - really Charlie just started falling asleep around then and I dedicated myself to making sure it could happen every day!

mlf625

CaitlinJ22:

how old is your LO? I have a feeling you aren't going to get a good response from some veterans on here since it's early in the game for you...

Eh, I don't really think this is that kind of board for the most part.

OP, good for you. I also found the newborn stage MUCH easier than I was anticipating.  It's gotten a little tougher for us as DD is getting older and more awake (and refusing to nap when her brother naps!) but for the most part the first few months of 2u2 have been way better than I anticipated.  And once I master the synchronized napping, it's going to be a breeze.  

I think it's great to give some of the 2u2 moms-to-be some hope since we all know how nervous we were "back then"! 

howleyshell

Congrats!  Glad it's going well for you.

And I do think it's nice to post success stories like this for the still pregnant Mammas!

I doubt you'll get flamed.  These ladies are not drama llamas like some other boards. 

Melissa0703

I agree with you.  My DD is just over a week and my DH is still home - but it's easier than I thought it would be at this point.  I know it will be harder when he is BTW and my DS moves to PT at his daycare.  Synchronized naps are definitely the key. 

 What are you using for babywearing? 

Mr.&MrsS

I am so glad things are going well for you!! I dont think there is anything flameworthy about that. ) I hope it continues that way!!

 

HarrietNJMommy

Good for you!

It was easy for me too for the first couple of months with 2u2. Then the sleep deprivation really hit, unfortunately, and it got harder.......When I finally had things going really good - BAM! I had #3! LOL! And then it was really hard all over again.

kfriscia

Good for you! I'm almost 5 months in and I feel the same way.  Ofcourse it has it's tough moments but for the most part it's been better then I expected.  They both sleep so that is a huge help.  If I was sleep deprived I would be telling a whole different story.

Telyco

mlf625:

CaitlinJ22:

how old is your LO? I have a feeling you aren't going to get a good response from some veterans on here since it's early in the game for you...

Eh, I don't really think this is that kind of board for the most part.

OP, good for you. I also found the newborn stage MUCH easier than I was anticipating.  It's gotten a little tougher for us as DD is getting older and more awake (and refusing to nap when her brother naps!) but for the most part the first few months of 2u2 have been way better than I anticipated.  And once I master the synchronized napping, it's going to be a breeze.  

I think it's great to give some of the 2u2 moms-to-be some hope since we all know how nervous we were "back then"! 

Ditto to this exactly!

LDQAM516

haha...I posted something like this awhile ago and got ripped a new Ahole...I will add that it is STILL easier than I EVER expected...it isnt h$% for all of us!

Barbie&Kevin

Melissa0703:

I agree with you.  My DD is just over a week and my DH is still home - but it's easier than I thought it would be at this point.  I know it will be harder when he is BTW and my DS moves to PT at his daycare.  Synchronized naps are definitely the key. 

 What are you using for babywearing? 

 Moby.  It's great!  but I recently used a friends woven wrap and it's definitely better (IMO) though more expensive.  I catch a lot of people doing "double takes", but it's definitely working for me.

Barbie&Kevin

mlf625:

CaitlinJ22:

how old is your LO? I have a feeling you aren't going to get a good response from some veterans on here since it's early in the game for you...

Eh, I don't really think this is that kind of board for the most part.

OP, good for you. I also found the newborn stage MUCH easier than I was anticipating.  It's gotten a little tougher for us as DD is getting older and more awake (and refusing to nap when her brother naps!) but for the most part the first few months of 2u2 have been way better than I anticipated.  And once I master the synchronized napping, it's going to be a breeze.  

I think it's great to give some of the 2u2 moms-to-be some hope since we all know how nervous we were "back then"! 

 Thanks.  I couldn't agree more

brandifawn

I totally agree with you, 4 months in and things are still great.  DS2 is a really laid back little guy and loves to watch whatever is going on around and DS1 just turned 2 and still loves his little brother to pieces and tells me he is "Nic-no-nas's baby" (Nicholas's baby).  We get out just about every morning for errands, playdates, music classes or the library and I agree that wearing him makes it a breeze, I have a Moby, a ring sling and a Bjorn and just picked up a Water Tot on ebay for this summer.  And the scychronized napping in the afternoon is fantastic, I get the house cleaned up, dinner started, laundry done and even usually have a bot of down time, like now.  I really think it depends on you and your kids!  I am so glad it is going well for you though!

CaitlinJ22

LDQAM516:

haha...I posted something like this awhile ago and got ripped a new Ahole...I will add that it is STILL easier than I EVER expected...it isnt h$% for all of us!

I remember that and thats why i thought this one would be flamed, but I was wrong. I am personally happy to read stuff like this.

jgb2000

Thanks for posting this!

-Jen