Episode 88: I’m a mom of 2 now! Birth Story and New Mom Confessions.

All pregnancies are their own life event and can be completely different, starting with the news that I’d be a mom of 2. This time around I was extremely tired, feeling lazy, and genuinely unproductive.

But if I honestly think back about my last 9 months, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I need to give myself some more credit. Through all of my pregnancy I kept striving at work, managed to continue raising my two year old (turned threenager last week), and had some family things to deal with, plus I got the nursery ready just in time!

Everything on my list wasn’t completed. Exercising and having a fit pregnancy didn’t happen. The pre-prepped meals for after leaving the hospital never got cooked. No maternity pictures got taken. I really didn’t feel ready. My hospital bag wasn’t even ready when I got to the hospital!

All that is in the past now. Thank God! My son, Johan is here, healthy and cute as ever, looking exactly like my oldest son.

Now as a new mom of 2 I have some revelations.

I need a better schedule.

With my first son I was going with the flow – with everything. I fed him on demand, was able to get up and go reasonably easily, and was able to get the podcast up and running in the few extra hours I had.

Now, there are no extra hours. Splitting my attention between two boys is rough! As soon as I pick up one, the other is ready for some mommy time. I have realized that by having a tighter schedule I’ll be able to get more done. If I get up on time and stick to my morning routine I’ll be able to fit in my quiet time and maybe write a blog post or two. If I stick to my routine I’ll be able to get my workout done in between napping sessions. Putting the boys on a particular sleep schedule would allow for my husband and I to have some time together. I can only see positives – once I can actually get on track with this schedule.

My body is not my own right now.

This is a tough subject. I absolutely love that I’m blessed enough to breastfeed. But right now, I feel that my body doesn’t belong to me!

Between feeding my son, being tugged and pulled on by my older son, not being able to exercise and move like I want to (because I’m still recovering) and wanting to take care of marital needs, my body doesn’t feel like it’s mine anymore.

I’m not exactly sure how I will overcome this one. I know a massage is in my future for sure! Plus once I’m cleared to start exercising, I’ll be back on track. More to come on this one as I figure it out.

There will never be a good time for…

I was and wasn’t ready for pregnancy. I felt like I wanted a few more things to be in place and to be mentally set for things I couldn’t even know what I needed to be ready for. Being a mom of 2 brings on challenges that I wouldn’t have guessed. Splitting time with my sons, making sure my marriage is still strong, finding myself in all of this – not to mention my job, the podcast, my friends and family, and real life challenges that come up are all things I’ve faced already.

There would never be a right time to get pregnant, a right time to go after a dream, a right time to start a new thing. I’m thankful that my life doesn’t go exactly as I plan all of the time, because it wouldn’t work out how I hoped.

These three things have new meanings for me right now. Adding to our family has been a world wind life change – starting with my labor story – which is coming soon.

While I’m figuring it all out – I’d definitely love any advice you have. Share below!