When you find out your pregnant with your first baby, you're overjoyed with emotions of happiness, excitement, wonder, and anticipation. When you find out you're expecting baby #2 (or #3 or more), you feel those same sentiments but another feeling creeps in sometimes.
Life is good now - Will you have enough love for your next baby?
You look at your firstborn baby and you think, "Goodness, I love him more than the world. How could I ever love another baby? How can there be room in my heart for a sibling?" Most of us aren't used to feeling this combined emotion of uncertainty, anxiety, and even fear that your older child may suffer because you're bringing a new family member into his or her life.
You spend extra time cuddling with your "here and now" baby. Your belly's getting bigger and you can't quite snuggle him on your lap the same way you did before you were pregnant. You can't chase after him as easily and it's harder for you to tie his shoes or do mom exercises with him. These are the physical changes you're both noticing in your relationship, but you feel the emotional changes coming, too. How on earth will you have enough love for more than him?
Then the new baby arrives and you see and touch the beautiful face you've been dreaming about for nine months. The love is there. No explanation, no justification, no question. There is enough love because your heart just doubled (or even tripled) in size to make room. There is enough love because this is the way it's supposed to be, you wonder. There is enough love because now you wonder - how did we ever live without the new baby?
When you're pregnant with the next baby or babies, know there will be enough love and your life will become fuller and more complete when he or she enters your family. Babies with siblings learn to be patient, accommodating, kind and while you feel you have less time or energy to give them, they have a playmate who can give them time and energy in ways a mom or dad never will. They now forever have a buddy to chatter with after you have put them to bed, a teammate to get into trouble with, a pal to play ball with, and a bigger family to grow up with.
Yes, life with one baby is good but life with two (or three or four) is crazy good. John D. Rockefeller said, "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great" and even though I'm sure he wasn't talking about kids when he said it - having more than one kid is better than great.
