As some of you may know I am expecting my second child in just over a months time (well he is actually due in July but I am in need of a planned caesarian for a tilted pelvis) . I am feeling a bit of mommy guilt as I don’t think I’ve given this pregnancy as much attention as my first. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve gone to all my check ups, followed doctors orders and have been taking my vitamins; but unfortunately I have not done as many extras as I did with my first son.
Unlike last time I have not done any week by week photos, I haven’t felt the need to stock up on outfits, bibs etc. I just got a frame for the ultrasound picture at the beginning of April as a gift from my husband for my birthday and I have rarely checked my pregnancy app to see which fruit/vegetable baby is the size of, nor have I started a count down to babies arrival ( mind you its a little difficult at this point as I have yet to receive my actual surgery date.)
However, I still have to confess that when asked recently at my glucose test how many weeks I was I couldn’t come up with an exact answer. I gave an approximate answer but was unsure of the actual week. I don’t know if it was because I was given a few different due dates or I was preoccupied with my little guy, work, school or even my small business/blog. Or was it just more exciting oveall the first time as everything was new and I had never experienced a baby growing inside of me before. No matter what the reason is, it was a real eye opener.
We have all heard the stories where the first child’s baby book is more complete or how there is so many more pictures of the first born. I was shocked when I realized I was already falling into that kind of pattern and baby wasn’t even born yet. After the guilt set in about documenting this pregnancy I have decided to take more time so my baby number two doesn’t get the short end of the stick. I am going to try to set time aside each week to pay more attention to what my little man is doing, pause and really take in the kicks and flips, make changes to my sons nursery to make it special and unique for our little one on the way. Once he is born I will do my best to fill his baby book, take lots of pictures, spend quality time getting to know him and I’ll ask for help in the photo department etc if I feel I can’t keep up. I don’t want him to feel any less special than his older brother.
Even though I was experiencing guilt for letting his time in utero fly by, I am glad I experienced it now instead of 5 years down the road when it is too late to do anything about it.
I would love to hear any of your suggestions on how you kept up the baby books and photos or how you made baby #2, 3,or 4’s arrival unique or special in some way. Also to all those expecting out there take time to treasure the little things as they grow up so fast and time really does fly.
Now is not the time for you to get down on yourself. You are a busy woman and at least you realize that you want to pay more attention to your pregnancy. I personally just relaxed more with each pregnancy, it was as if I knew my baby was going to be ok and dont worry about not taking pictures, you will take tons because you will be so in love with your beautiful and perfect baby.
Thanks for the support Aneta, I will remember your words of wisdom and relax!
I went through a similar phase with version 2.0 was due! I even wrote a semi funny post about how pregnancy #2 was compared to #1. Many second/third kids complain that there aren’t enough pictures of them, especially solo ones so the day version 2.0 was born I started an instagram account for him. I post a pic of him daily with his superman figurine!
Good luck you’re totally fine and I’m sure you’ll get the documentation done right!
With my 2nd pregnancy, the guilt arrived right from the start, since it was not a planned pregnancy and, at first, I wasn´t enthusiastic. Still, I strongly felt the need to be fair, so I took the monthly pictures, booked pregnancy pictures with a professional photographer, etc.
One of the reasons for my extra care is that I myself was the 2nd daughter and all my childhood-adolescence I resented not having newborn pictures and felt they liked my sister more than me. Of course now I know better, but I´d still like to prevent that feeling.