Pregnancy - 2nd Time Around

Is it easier with a singleton vs. twins? Is it different? Is it all that you hoped it would be and more?

Pregnancy, where you carry a parasite for 9 months, and then have it explode out of your abdomen.  Oh wait, that's from the movie Alien.  That's how I relate to being pregnant, except you have the option  of how the parasite enters the world, exploding out of your hoohoo or your abdomen.

Ok, it's not that bad, except when I'm upset with my husband.  Then it's all his fault and I'm suffering terribly. But his usual response is that the last time I wanted a baby, I got double the deal with the twins and that every time they have a meltdown, they're all mine.   I think this time around it is MUCH easier on my body but the exhaustion from raising two very rambunctious 2.5yr olds has faded my memory of how hard it was the first time.

I'm trying to prepare for the arrival of our little girl.  I've bought all the clothing she'll need for the first few months of her life but it's hard to judge exactly how much clothing she'll really need.  I'm still in the mindset that I'm shopping for twins so this kid will probably never have to wear an outfit twice in her first year.  Oh well, Michael got a raise.  Hehe!!  Her nursery is still being used as a changing room for the boys but I've been looking at girly nursery ideas and we should be going into full decoration mode soon, unless I get completely distracted with the twins' halloween costume for this year.  I'm not really feeling the "nesting" urge just yet.  If anything, Michael feels more like nesting and keeping the house in order more than I do.

Now I have a question to ask all those moms out there who have two or more kids, especially if these kiddos are still too young for grade school.  How do you do it?  Are you on meth or Ritalin?  Seriously, I want to know.  These two weeks have been my most trying days since the boys were newborns.  Meghan, Mom, and Auntie Colleen took a trip to Asia, leaving us short on a lot of help.  So for the last two weeks, Michael has only worked a few days and spent the rest of the time with me and the boys.  We still have his parents helping out but it was just exhausting.  I'm so tired to the point that if my children asked me for cocaine, I'd say ok, whatever to make them happy.  At least now the morning sickness and heartburn is more in check after I switched meds.  It definitely has helped with keeping up with the boys (somewhat).  Being pregnant and having such young kids is most challenging.  The boys are also quite rough when it comes to their little sister/fetus.  After I tried explaining there is a baby in mommy's tummy, Daniel lifted up my shirt to see where exactly was this baby hiding.  They think it's hilarious to push my outtie belly button like a door bell and slam their heads right into my uterus.  Are all little boys like this?!!?

We've also been sorta trying to do the last step in potty training.  I'm thankful that the boys have been doing their No.2 in the toilet since they were 7 months old but they really need to be weened from diapers all together now.  There have been a few accidents and Alex does not mind having his underwear and pants soaking wet with pee.  Daniel gets it, he doesn't like being wet and uncomfortable and will pee in the toilet but still needs to be asked/prompted before he'll go.  The last thing I want is for the boys to regress and decided they want to be babies again once their sister arrives.  I've heard that sibling jealousy can cause such problems but maybe because the boys have always had sibling rivalry with each other that they won't really care if a new baby joins the group.  Feeding has also been an issue in our household.  You would think that by now, Daniel and Alex would be feeding themselves.  Nope, it is quite the opposite.  They have the option to feed themselves and Alex does a pretty decent job if you encourage him but Daniel will ask you to feed him.  They know when they have something good going on.

Can you tell that I'm going to get my tubes tied when I go in for this c-section?  Yes, another c-section. I'm not gonna labour for 30+ hours where I'm sure some complications will arise and have another section anyway.  I'm thankful that Michael has seen all these issues first hand and knows what will be the best for me and baby.  Heck, I'm sure the last thing he wants to do is suffer with me for so long and have to deal with a c-section as well.