FROM ONE CHILD TO TWO!

Although I had my first little boy whilst I was still a teen, having a sibling for him was something that I always knew I wanted. I didn't want him to be an only child as I wanted him to have that person in life who he would create the funniest memories with, tell all of his secrets to and just all in all be his best friend. However, due to being so young and becoming a single parent, having another child was just not the right thing for me to do at that point in my life as I still felt I had so much more to prove, not only to myself but most importantly Tay. I was eager not to become another statistic, and just wanted to work hard to provide for my son, so the idea was pushed to the back of my mind.

4 years on, I was in a committed relationship with my partner and a sibling for Tay was something we began to talk about. It was something we both knew we wanted and felt was right for our family. A little while later, I fell pregnant with my second baby. Me and my partner were over the moon. One thing we knew that we wanted from the beginning of this journey, was that we wanted to involve Tay as much as we could and never wanted him to feel pushed out. We began by revealing the pregnancy to him in a special way. Then throughout the pregnancy, we would bring him along to the midwife appointments and scans, then nearer to our due date we took Tay to Mothercare to pick out a gift for his new little sibling, in which he picked a little white bunny, just like the one he sleeps with at night. I think little things like this really help at involving your older child and gets them excited about their new little sibling.

As I got further along into my pregnancy, I began to get more emotional and the idea of Tay no longer being my only baby was making me feel so guilty. Especially after we discovered we were having another boy, I just thought "What if Tay will think I no longer love him as much and that this new little boy was going to take his place?". It was really getting to me. Luckily, I had my partner who I could turn to for reassurance and after doing lots of research online, I learned that this feeling was very normal and common. So, if this is something that may be crossing your mind, I can assure you that you are not alone and I think most parents go through this when a new edition is on the way.

I must say that once Reign was born, Tay took to his role really well and Reign just slotted into our family perfectly. Watching Tay hold his little brother for the first time, was just priceless. My heart has never felt so full!

When it comes to giving both boys equal attention, this can be a little tricky as Reign needs a lot of attention obviously being a baby, especially now that he has just started crawling 🙈. To make sure that Tay still gets the attention he needs as well, me and my partner will take turns with the baby, so that he still gets that quality time with both of us. We also like to do fun family things, such as movie nights and days out.

I must admit, it's not always flowers and rainbows, it can be tough at times, for instance when it comes to waking up early for the school run when you've been up all night with the baby or when one child is not feeling well (or both of them at the same time!). So, these are just a couple of things you should consider before having another child but I would also say don't let that put you off as the love that you get back in return is well worth it! I'm now 8 months into being a mummy of two and wouldn't change it for the world. Yes, I have my ups and downs but I am very grateful that I was able to have a second child and give them both a best friend for a lifetime.

Are you a mama to more than one one child or thinking of adding another edition to your family? Let me know your stories and questions below.

Jordann

xx