STMs - walk me through your first week?

KatieKim0815

What was it like bringing baby #2 home??

gingerfamily

hectic, tiring and a blast all at the same time. 

 

kbradshaw9

It was good. We each took a kid and that worked well.

Kadyra

Ds2 was in the NICU for 21 days, so our experience was a little different. Ds1 visited ds2 about every day for an hour or two. The transition to home was easy for him. Once home, he was really good and just wanted to be a helper. Dh and I are exhausted. I feel bad having ds1 watch fireman Sam for like two hours every morning while I nap, but oh well. No jealousy. Yet!

Krista123105

It was good...a little bit crazy, but good.  DS #1 is really good with DS #2, and we made sure to make DS #1 feel special and give him lots of attention, which I think really helped the transition. 

Friends and family brought us a few meals to get us through the first few days, which was awesome because we did NOT have time to cook!  DH and I had also made a few freezer meals in advance which allowed us to not have to worry about dinner during the second week.  We also completely cleaned the house during the couple of days before I had DS #2 (I was induced), so we didn't have to worry about that either.  

Basically my best advice would be to take care of as many things (cooking, cleaning, errands, etc) as possible before you have the baby, so that you can concentrate on your two LO's once you get home from the hospital. 

badkitty2012

kbradshaw9:

It was good. We each took a kid andnbsp;that worked well.

This! It also helped having freezer meals and getting take out. DD1 had a lot more "dates" with daddy so she felt that she was still getting attention. I also tried to keep up reading her bedtime stories so we still got time together alone. She loves her little sister and says she is a cute baby. You will have to remember to discipline but give tons of hugs and cuddles to and praise, give helper jobs an just say yes to as much as you can with the older sib.

Baby_Bunny_Hopeful

It was hectic and a bit chaotic... but we had lots of meals brought to us from family and friends (MUCH appreciated!!!)  

DS1 is a big help with DS2 (getting diapers, getting the binky, etc)... but he has become very clingy to me "no, MOMMY do it" etc etc.  

We just make sure to praise him for helping, spend alone time with him one-on-one as much as possible (DH has taken a lot of that on, and I feel guilty about it, but with nursing DS2- it just works out easier that way often).  

We've (unfortunately) watched a lot  of tv and movies (Mickey, George, Cars, Toy Story, etc).  And eaten meals in front of the tv.  I'm not proud of this... but if it makes DS1 happy, and gives me a few minutes of peace- I'LL DO IT!!!!  :-)

Our visitors were also awesome and bought presents for DS1 in addition to things for DS2... so he felt included.  That was very helpful.  

We're still getting adjusted to having 2.  I'm a SAHM, and I'm very "type a" and detail-oriented... so it's taking some time to get into a NEW routine, and trying to stay on top of the daily chores and tasks of the house.  I often feel like my house is NEVER clean, and I'm forever doing laundry or dishes or cleaning or cooking.... and that's because I pretty much am always doing one of those things.  

But it's completely worth it... and it is getting a bit easier every day (although we have had a few rough days where I'm counting down until bedtime when I can relax with a cold drink LOL) 

stgn01

Like everyone said, hectic but good.  I made a bunch of freezer meals and that has helped a lot!  DH has taken over a lot of DD duties because I'm busy nursing DS all the time.  The schedule is still all about DD though b/c I know DS is still so young that he'll just sleep and doesn't really do anything right now.  Running errands with both of them w/o help is the hardest part.  

I was also given good advise...if both of them are crying, go to the older one first.  They are older, understand more, and will feel slighted if you are always tending to the baby first.  This hasn't happened to often but when it does, it seems to work.

 DD is very good with DS and always wants to hold him, give him his paci, etc.  Then there are times she tells me to put him in the crib and come downstairs.  Honestly, having 2 hasn't been as rough as I imagined.  The transition from 0-1 was waaaay harder than the transition from 1-2.   GL! 

tlew12778

TBH the first week wasn't bad. DS was still a novelty to DD 3y8m so all the baby's needs were interesting to her. The jealousy didn't start until 23 weeks in at which point the novelty had worn off and she began to realize that spending time with him meant less time fully dedicated to her.

I was still in a lot of pain the first 2 weeks VBAC and I think that dealing with recovery was actually harder than dealing with two kids. DS was jaundiced so we were back and forth to the hospital every 2 days to have his bili level checked. That was stressful bc DD wasn't jaundiced so I'd never dealt with it before. Plus getting two kids ready and out of the house for an appointment is no joke. We got LOTS of practice with the hospital visits.

I agree that the transition from 1 to 2 is a lot easier than 0 to 1. You just know what you're doing and aren't as stressed and obsessed with random details.