The Arrival of Baby 2!
Well....baby 2 is here, safe and well! And what a little beauty, like her sister, she is! For the purpose of the blog, our eldest (who's still a baby really at 19months old!) will be referred to as 'tot' and baby will 'baby.'
So, two little girls! Daddy's outnumbered. Daddy is also very aware that with two girls he will effectively have a lot more boys to worry about in several years' time!! Daddy is also pleased that he thinks both girls have a good chance of making it to England Women's Cricket team, so it's all good.
Mummy has already begun on the matching outfits. Mummy is planning spa days for 15 years' time. Mummy squeaks at the cute tight/dress combos she can keep out!
I'm not sure why I'm referring to myself in third person there. How cringey. Gah- that's such a parent thing to do.......I am a parent. Of two. I know. Reality check. I'm going to try harder not to be a cringey one.
That's probably easier said than done with me and my husband. We don't ever feel like we've aged but we are behaving like we have in this first week as a family of four. In the evenings and night, when baby is up late feeding, we've found ourselves doing crosswords and wordsearches in bed to stay awake. It's positively elderly.
Talking of late nights, baby made a pretty memorable 'night time' entrance into the world. This time we had a cesearean planned and it was rather odd thinking we had a day organised to have a baby! We were due to show up at 8am. The night before we ate a good dinner (I had to be nil by mouth by midnight) and chilled watching a Stacey Dooley documentary, with tot tucked up all snug in bed. At 10 my Husband and I agreed to head off for an early night, saying, "It will probably be our last full night's sleep for a while!"
Oh how we can laugh at the irony of that sentiment now!! Baby had different ideas...
Literally as I laid down in bed I became uncomfortable. And then drastically more uncomfortable. And within a couple of hours, there we were, whisked in for the section and meeting our lovely babe a few hours earlier than 'planned!' Perfect, really!
Then it was back into the land of the newborn- it's amazing how much you forget! The first couple of nights were all nighters.
Pulling all nighters when you're not aged 13 at a prank-call-and-pizza-party-sleepover doesn't quite have the same appeal. There is something ever so precious, though, about those quiet night time hours and peaceful baby cuddles. It is hours of staring at this new little person- your own little person- and wondering about all the fun to come!
Just over a week in and we're starting to emerge into some sort of new normality: if you can call 'normality' double nappy changes and double dressing times and a double pushchair! We ventured into town with said pushchair- it's a side by side (Babyjogger City Mini Double for those of you who like to name the specifics- really it's just a very useful wagon to me!) The game was to see if there were any shop doorways we couldn't fit into - but you know what- the wagon went through them all (and we even went into Newport Skintrade, which, if you live on the Island, may not think is the most appropriate shop for a double pushchair....Even if my Husband did nearly give the girls some sort of whiplash trying to prove that the little steps inside the store were "no issue....!")
We've only ventured to town, to the parents/grandparents, and to the swimming pool this week- which on reflection doesn't seem too bad going. The swimming pool idea was more to give tot something fun to do, so we agreed my husband and tot would swim, whilst me and babe would sit in the cafe to watch.
Well, when we turned up to the pool we didn't think to check the pool programme, and it turned out there was an Aquababes session on: it was either do that or wait half an hour. Waiting half an hour with a toddler and a newborn didn't really seem like an option- a thought which quickly dawned upon my Husband's face....! The lady at reception could sense this pained look, which turned into more of a grimace as he began to picture billions of babies with trillions of twee parents splashing about in an organised fashion, so she suggested we look through the cafe window to see what he thought first!
I found the whole scenario hilarious as we peered through the window to see a swarm of women with excitable young ones descending upon the small pool- armbands and floaty things galore!
Despite this clearly not being his favourite sort of situation, he was never going to let tot down. We both knew it. And so off he marched, tot in arms, to embrace his first baby class! I settled into the cafe, baby asleep, hot cuppa in hand, ready for my morning's entertainment....brilliant!!
The class actually looked really good- and my husband didn't end up being 'the only man' in the end. In fact, he emerged singing about the 'fishy on the bus going splish, splash, splosh' and claimed to take tot again on his day off... so here it is in writing, right?!
Overall, it's been a lovely first week as a family of four. Baby already feels part of the family and we've all fallen rather in love! Even tot is constantly kissing baby on the forehead. It's adorable.
And so far, both tot and baby don't seem to mind at all that they have parents who can be a bit cringey; who are trying not to whiplash them in a wagon; and who sing about fish on buses. First week done: all is well.
