At this point Mia goes to be around 7PM EVERY NIGHT. She sleeps around 12 hours. She feeds herself, walks on her own, and attempts to do everything else on her own as well. I can leave the room and not worry that she's going to roll off the couch or stick something in her mouth that shouldn't be there.....I mean most of the time, she is directly behind me (often times between my feet as I'm walking). She can sit through a full episode of Mickey Mouse and/or Sofia the First (aka - Fia). She naps regularly and without complaint. She tells me what she wants if she's whining (even if it does take some pulling on my end).......and she's HILARIOUS. I mean it, the kid cracks me up!
So, what's going to be different once #2 enters the scene? Simple answer: Everything.
To begin with, this pregnancy, while it has been similar to Mia's, has been a whole new ball game in some aspects. Firstly, I am no longer the center of attention, regardless of how huge I get so long as I have Mia with me. Honestly, most of the time that I'm with her, aka chasing her around stores trying to ensure we don't have to "buy" anything by default, I completely forget I'm pregnant.....and trust me, at this stage in the game, I should not be "forgetting" that little tidbit. But, unlike last time, I have a different focus and a different mindset. I don't have an abundance of "extra" time for relaxing and getting pedicures. In fact, I haven't had "extra" time since around 7:14 on October 19, 2011. But strangely, I don't notice it as much either. I am tired, don't get me wrong, but I'm no more tired than I was prior to having a human take up occupancy in my uterus. Also, I spend far less time worrying about how breastfeeding is going to feel or how much the baby is going to eat/sleep (well, I still worry about the sleep thing....). I'm not concerned that I won't meet my expected "due date" and I am certainly under no delusion that I'm going to try to shove this human through my lady parts al-natural....NOW the things I worry about are how I'm going to get Mia dinner and nurse Bella at the same time after work. I worry about what I'm going to do when Bella is crying and Mia's in the bath......or how I'm going to react when Mia is making noise and the baby is sleeping.....I stress about the costs of daycare and how much I'll be out of work with 2 kids sharing snot with the city of Frisco as opposed to just the one. I worry that I will lose part of my special bond with Mia or not form as strong of one with Bella. It's just different.
In the same aspect, I am not left wondering if I will have help. If there is one thing that has become abundantly apparent in the last 22 months, it's that I was blessed with an amazing partner in all of this. Dan has taken to being a daddy as though it was his calling in life. Now, don't get me wrong, we definitely have different parenting "styles" (ie, Dan would like to wrap Mia in bubble wrap before she leaves the house every day, where as I'm of the "shake it off" mindset)....but we have really come together and as far as I'm concerned, we are totally killing it when it comes to this whole parenting gig ;-)
Another huge difference that I believe will reveal itself when Bella arrives is that we WILL take advantage of going places with an infant. I feel like we were very concerned to be too far from home with Mia......Well, Bella's coming out where ever we go. Before, we had no idea how lucky we were to have a child that could and WOULD stay confined to their carseat for an extended amount of time. But compared to having our toddler running all around the place and throwing food and silverware at passing wait staff.....I'll take an infant any day of the week! I mean, for the first 3-4 months, aside from being sleep deprived and having sore nipples and a saggy tummy, it will essentially be no different than having just the one (*said the naïve, not-quite-mother-of-two....) And to be honest....I'm ready for the challenge. Now, once that 4-5 month mark hits.....I will probably come back to this day and time and want to punch myself in the face.....but for now, let's live in la-la land where having 2 kids is "no big deal" ;-)
So that's it....that's what I've been thinking about for the last couple weeks. Now you can stop wondering.
As far as I am concerned, I still feel pretty good. It's hot, but we're in Texas, and it's August, so that probably goes without saying. I am rapidly putting on weight even faster than I did the last time despite my most valiant efforts, so I'm just praying to God it's because this baby is going to be bigger or be born sooner. At my 24 week apt, I was measuring right on schedule though, so I'm probably just wishful thinking. I thought I was getting a sonogram at the last appointment, but turns out it's not until my next appointment at 28 weeks. So, hopefully I will have more pics of our Bella then.
Until then here are some pics of what we've been doing since I last sat down to spill my brain:
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