Becoming a Mum for the second time just felt so natural It's like we already had solutions to all the issues we encountered the first time around. Archie latched straight onto my breast and fed like a champ. I honestly believe this was largely due to the fact I didn't stress about it. I just kept telling myself that breastfeeding is natural and Archie was born knowing how to do it. And he did, he was gaining weight and the engorgement and cracked nipples eased after a few weeks. I also popped Archie onto the breast whenever he needed it.
I had a c-section which meant even though I would have liked to I wasn't able to leave hospital straight away. I even felt well enough to leave the day after my c-section but wanted to stay for my safety in case I had any complications from the operation. They were happy to let me go home on the second day after though. And so we packed up both kids and all our luggage into the car and begun the journey home. It was just after lunchtime when we left, summer had just began and it was hot so we put the air con on as soon as we arrived home. We had a chilled out afternoon and that evening I popped my newbie into my ergo baby carrier and went for a little walk around the neighborhood as our first outing as a family of four, to view the Christmas lights.
Bringing Archie home was such a different experience to bringing Aisling home. From the moment Archie was born it felt like he had always been here, like there's always been a place for him. The love I felt for him was instant. I think the whole family fell head over heels for him.
One of the reasons I was so keen to get home from hospital apart from the main reason of our family being together was the Sons of Anarchy finale which was aired on the day Archie was born. We recorded it and Aidan promised he wouldn't watch it without me. Now I'm not going to give away any spoilers but the only "baby blues" I experienced was transferred onto the Sons of Anarchy finale. At the end of the show I cried and I cried I was just so sad. Poor Aidan was a bit concerned I think at how much I was crying for a TV show. And then every time we mentioned Sons of Anarchy for about a month afterwards I would get teary and often have a little cry. But apart from that for the first three months my emotions were pretty steady.
Newborns sleep a lot {well mine did, you hear horror stories of those babies who won't sleep though} and Archie pretty much slept and fed for the first twelve weeks. He woke up every two or so hours in the night but always dozed straight back off to sleep. He slept in a bassinet next to our bed. I had to put both my babies on Aidan's side of the bed otherwise I hear their every move and sound and it puts me on edge thinking they are going to wake up.
When Aisling was born Aidan wasn't able to take time off work and I think this contributed to the post natal depression I experienced the first time. Luckily this time around Aidan was able to take two weeks off then he went back for half a week and he had another two weeks off for Christmas and New Year. I feel so blessed that Aidan was able to enjoy this new being we had created together and to spend time together as a family. I think this is one of the reasons we were so relaxed this time around.
The first time I ventured out with Archie and Aisling by myself, I think was when Aidan went back to work for the half a week. We headed to a park for a play date with some other friends, Archie of course wanted to be fed so I had my first experience breastfeeding in public and then he did a massive poo which exploded out of his nappy all over my dress. I changed him and tried to clean myself up but we left soon after only to return home and discover I had left our front door wide open. Oh dear!
This time round I baby wore which really helped me get stuff done like essential housework and cooking dinner. Aisling was at an age where she was able to play by herself for a little bit or attempt to help me. Sometimes Archie would sleep in his swing and move around the house with me. When we went grocery shopping the kids both loved and still do, being in a double trolley together.
The biggest difference with having your second is that you can't just spend all day snuggling like I was able to do with Aisling. Once Archie was fully asleep I tried to put him down and spend one on one time with Aisling.
The biggest challenge would probably be sleeping times and getting both to sleep. It's very hard having to put a baby to sleep while there's an energetic toddler bouncing around the place. Letting Aisling watch videos on You tube on my phone came in handy for these times, as much as I hated having to do it, sometimes you have to put every bodies sanity first and just do what you need to do to survive.
Sometimes we would have days where nothing would go right and no body in the house was happy so I would load everyone up in the car and head to a park for a play. Sometimes I would just do this to get out of our messy house and forget about all the housework that needed to be done, after all babies will grow but housework will always be there.
Before we eliminated Aislings nap{to encourage a better nights sleep for her}, Archie and Aisling would have an afternoon nap together and it became one of my favourite times of day relaxing close to my babies often with Archie asleep on me.
The first twelve weeks after Archie's birth were pretty blissful save for a few issues such as the post birth constipation and initial breastfeeding discomfort. It was after those first three months that I slipped back into post natal depression and our whole family headed to a really bad place but that's a story for another day.
The most fantastic thing about having two kids is watching them grow together. It's the most amazing thing watching them interact with each other and watching Aisling share her toys or hand him one of her toys when he is crying. It's the sweetest thing when one of them will cuddle the other. Yes they sometimes have their disagreements, just today I watched Aisling push Archie out of a cozy coupe ride along car so she could have a turn. Archie wasn't even dazed by that but Aisling got a timeout and some stern words even though I was trying to fight back my laughter as it was rather cute {the first times always are}.
Archie fitted into our family so well and we just adjusted to life with him. On a good day I'd say I would have a third in a heartbeat and on a bad day I'd tell you I was crazy for ever thinking that but from the moment Archie was born I've always felt there's another child out there for us. Who knows what the future will bring? All I can say is Aidan and I are blessed with the most amazing little kiddies ever!
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