I am starting to really think about just HOW this thing is going to work, this BABY thing.
....HOW is it going to work, y'all??
I mean, we had our little routine for getting up and out of the house with one baby:
>get awakened 4:30 or 5am
>warm bottle
>feed bottle, snooze in chair
>place baby back in crib
>go back to bed and snooze a while, if lucky
...and that evolved naturally into "with one kid:"
>wake with alarm, hit snooze
>let kid sleep while we're showering
>wake kid, get him snack or breakfast
>turn on his shows
>get him dressed
We now get it done within about an hour-fifteen (and usually without much screamingKNOCKWOOD). But what exactly happens when you add another baby to that mix? We already wake up at the crack of dawn -- well, I mean, I KNOW that the actual 'crack' of dawn is entirely relative when there's an infant involved -- so am I going to have to wake up and feed the infant at 5:00 am and then just continue on to our regular 5:45 start-time for showers and cereal and shows and scurrying around the dresser and bathroom sink? I guess I will. With no extra time for the snooze button! What am I going to DOOOOO without my SNOOOOOOZE? Sob.
I would say screw the whole thing while I'm on maternity leave, we'll just wake up when we wake up... but we need to keep AJ on his regular schedule as much as we can because GOD KNOWS he is better when he's in his groove. He needs a hat or something that warns: "Does not respond well to change."
Oh wait, I just remembered -- at least during maternity leave I can take my Today Show nap. I mean, if this baby cooperates. It's just crazy that you can't predict! Anything! She may not sleep the same way AJ did! I'm going to have to re-learn everything... with an extra distraction just for a challenge, you know.
Where did I read yesterday... someone's comments section -- a mom said "You're just tired for 16 years. You get used to it."
Every mom is superwoman, I think -- especially those of you with more than TWO! I BOW IN YOUR DIRECTION, YOU AMAZING CREATURES.
7 comments:
I can't imagine. Thank gawd for maternity leave, though. You will be able to sleep at some point later in the day. I always said I was okay on sleep during maternity leave because I didn't fully wake up until 11 or so. Pardon, but screw the Baby Whisperer idea that you should be up and looking your best first thing in the morning. (Though Miss PPD here probably isn't one to talk.)
HA! Yes, screw the Baby Whisperer... for more reasons than that! I SO wanted her to be right, and she SO wasn't in my case.
It works out somehow--but I'm not sure how it does! I always think I can't another kid to the mix, but then the child just...absorbs. There's a transition time where the child rests on the surface, and that can be tricky, but then: absorption.
I second what Swistle said.
Also, I hesitate to add for fear of sounding unsupportive, but I always wished people had been more honest with me, so here it goes...
In my opinion the switch to two children was the hardest transition I made. For perspective's sake I will add that the first one was not hard at all for me. Yes, there were a few memorable (to this day) nights, and he was s crappy sleeper, but it didnt bother me. He was like my little buddy. I didn't ever feel that he hindered me from things I wanted to do. HOWEVER, addding number two was a shock to my system, TWO carseats, TWO kids to keep safe in a parking lot, TWO sleeping kids to transfer from car to bed, TWO kids to feed, bathe and put to bed....It just overwhelmed me. I found the thought of goign to the grocery crippling.
I truly do not mean to sound foreboding, I just think I wouldnt have been as blown away if someone would have warned me.
One more disclaimer - it just occurred to me that my view might be skewed by the fact that I was either moving to Japan, or completely on my own for the first nine months of Connnor's life...so maybe it isnt that bad for other people.
In happy news, #3 was a relative breeze and has left me with the opinion that once you have two, it doesn't matter how many you add unless you condiser th homeowrk and projects that come later...
Hijack over. opinionated much?
I have heard that, too, MB, that 2 is the hardest transition. So you didn't shock or dismay me. Much.
;) I think Japan may WELL have had something to do with it, though, GEESH!! And driving on the wrong side of the road, fer cryin' out loud, never mind the 2 carseats!!
You my friend are DOUBLE AMAZING because of that. I've always thought so.
Oh, you'll figure it out for everyone. We all do. I wouldn't have imagined life with 4 kids, but somehow we manage. Now 5, that has me a little freaked out, but I know we'll figure it out again. My hardest transition was none to one, but that was more emotional than anything. Plus the next two came in such rapid succession that there was no time to dwell.
Uh, hon? You'll do fine. If *i* can do it, you can do it. I'm a walking zmobie that hasn't sent out holiday cards. You'll rock this two kid gig and if you forget to shop for your family for Christmas? call me. We'll bond.
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