Things I’ll do differently with baby #2

I am just a month away from my due date with Baby #2, and I’m honestly looking forward to experiencing a newborn again. Although my transition with Zianne was fairly smooth, I am eager to do the early baby stages again with a little more grace and less anxiety. Some things will stay the same, especially my devotion to sleep training and enjoying those six blissful weeks away from exercise. But ever since I got pregnant I’ve been thinking about what I will do differently this time around…

More baby-wearing…With Zianne, I only had an Ergo with the infant insert. It’s a great carrier, but not the best for the newborn stage. I would wear it around the house sometimes in the evenings, but it was often easier just to hold her or set her down if needed. Now that I’ll be chasing a toddler, it seems essential to wear this little babe more often in a way that is safe and secure so I can have my arms free. I’m also excited to for the extra attachment that a soft wrap carrier provides.

Nursing mobility… I had great success with nursing Z and reached my goal to breastfeed for a year. Even the pain of the first few days wasn’t too extreme and I ended up returning all the potions and lotions I had stocked up on in preparation for a difficult transition. However, nursing Z was hard in the sense that her feeding sessions easily lasted an hour until she was about six months old, and she weighed over 20 pounds by that point. I needed a Boppy and other pillows to help me support her huge body, so every single feeding I would prop myself carefully on my bed or the couch and settle in for an hour. Nursing on the go was extremely difficult. In addition, she hated being covered from the start, mainly because our AC was on the fritz when we brought her home from the hospital so the thought of wearing an extra piece of fabric over us when it was over 100 degrees outside was unbearable. Plus, I wanted to make sure her latch was okay, so the cover thing just never happened until it was too late and she hated it. This time around I want to nurse more comfortably on the go and teach the baby to tolerate a cover from the beginning. I will probably do one session a day without the Boppy and with a cover, even if we are at home, just so we are ready to nurse easily when we are out and about.

Nursing tanks… With Zianne, I only bought nursing bras because I wanted the support and look of an actual bra to make me feel more like woman and less like a cow. While I still like my nursing bras, I want to try tanks this time around too. I know they make nursing in public much easier since you aren’t flashing your stomach every time you lift up your shirt and now nothing sounds more womanly that comfortably breastfeeding my kid, regardless of whether my bra is supportive or attractive {but if you are in the market for a nursing bra, this one wins for most supportive and this one wins for most attractive}.

Essential oils… Disclaimer: I don’t sell oils. I don’t have a discount. I don’t need you to join my team. I don’t have undying allegiance to one particular brand. I happily use modern medicines such as diaper cream and Tylenol if needed. However, I dabbled in the use of lavender when Zianne was teething to help with her sleep. I was impressed with the results and since then I’ve added to my oil stash. I probably have 8-10 oils and I use them sporadically,.. to help fight sickness, aid in sleep, or for calm and focus when working on my dissertation. I’m excited to use oils during the newborn stage this time around – lavender for the baby, mood-lifting oils for me during those first two hormonal postpartum weeks, and I just bought fennel seed for my milk supply. I so appreciate that God has provided natural products to help protect and heal our bodies.

Maternity leave… Although I technically had a six week paid maternity leave with Zianne, I didn’t find out it was available until three days before my due date. It was a crunch getting two different subs to cover my classes, and because of the last minute nature of the ordeal the teachers weren’t able to do my grading. I still had to check in with students intermittently while on leave and I had grading work piling up for me upon my return. Don’t get me wrong… I am thankful I got a paid leave of any sort, but it wasn’t super restful. On top of that, I was taking my last grad course and had a three hour class every Monday night with accompanying homework to do. This time around I am on summer break and I intend to soak up every minute with this sweet new babe. I won’t be teaching again until mid-August, and I plan to entirely check out of school mode until then. No emails. No writing. Nothing. Just snuggling the baby and getting quality time with Zianne. I’m currently on a marathon trying to get a draft of my dissertation finished by next month, so I can set it all aside for the rest of the summer to savor my newborn, rest, and recover.