Completely normal emotions that come with adding another baby to the family.

Hey there momma! So you’re pregnant with baby #2 or 3, maybe even 4? Whatever number baby you’re currently pregnant with, you’re probably being hit with a cascade of emotions and feeling a lot of things all at once right? First off- CONGRATULATIONS!! Annnnd now let’s chat a bit about all things you’re feeling.. Those “beginning pregnancy” hormones hit hard and make you feel crazy at times. That’s usually where you start googling ways to remedy those emotions, or you want to make sure it’s a “normal” thing that all moms feel when they’re realizing they have to figure out the new life you’re jumping into which is probably how you ended up here on my blog in the first place. No worries! What you’re feeling is as normal as normal gets (when you consider that every pregnancy is different soooo what even is normal, right?). By the way: Thank you for stopping by my post! If you like what you read and want to keep up with more of my posts, or email shoutouts, feel free to subscribe! I would love to hear from you. Also, my site does have affiliate links to products designed to make momming just a little easier. This just means if you make a purchase through one of the links I provide, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

#1. Excitement You have a whole new beginning coming your way! The possibilities are endless for you and your family. You now get to see how your first child will respond and act as the older sibling. You’re giving your first baby a forever friend. You are officially adding another beautiful soul to the world. How cool is that?! 

#2. Anxiety-  With excitement, comes anxiety. Change of lifestyle makes most people, especially hormone-filled moms, feel crazy things. You’re not out of your mind, contrary to how the hormones make it seem, YOU GOT THIS! You’re just going to up your “mom game” THAT much more. The anxiety levels you feel are going to fluctuate depending on a variety of things specific to your lifestyle. You have a lot to consider from the start, and all of it determines anxieties you will need to overcome. For example: your work schedule, money for everything baby, unable to be passed down from older siblings, like food, diapers, wipes, childcare, doctor bills, etc.. Then there’s discovering how your new baby “works”.. their comforts, personality, really all things newborn: bath time, nurse/bottle, doctor belly buttons or circumcisions if you have a boy, sleep patterns, and pregnancy in general, and the risks and doctor visits. If you’re looking for ways to remedy that anxiety, check out this post about dealing with anxiety. 

#3. The second emotion that hit me really hard and unexpectedly was GUILT. This is a huge one for me because when we found out my sweet Aspen was on her way, my Knox man was 11 months old. I felt guilty thinking about cutting his time as an only child short. Then I would feel just as guilty for the newborn baby never having that one-on-one attention Knox experienced… I hate to say it- but this guilt doesn’t go completely away….. it does lessen a LOT, and forming a routine really helped ease my sense of guilt. There are still days that the guilt is right there on the surface, but typically, when I’m cuddling Aspen, Knox snuggles right up to us. Cuddles are now a vital part to our after school routine- a daily cuddle party. If cuddle parties aren’t in your thing, you’ll trial and error to figure out what works best for you to have personal time with your kiddos to lessen the guilt feeling. If you need ideas for adding one-on-one time into your daily routine, look at these ideas for bonding with your baby. 

#4. FEAR. Pregnancy in general brings a lot of fear. Fear of the things out of your control can develop when it comes to pregnancy because there are so many aspects that are uncontrollable. Focusing on the negatives is only going to cause you to be afraid of everything in your day to day life from the foods you’re eating, to the amount of exercise you’re doing (or not doing). Try not to focus on what COULD go wrong because the possibilities are endless. Instead, side tract yourself with all the things in the world you can’t wait to experience with your sweet baby love- cuddles, giggles, holidays together, all their FIRSTS, watching your first born morph into the older sibling role, and countless more. Concentrating on the positives can ease the fear that comes along with pregnancy. 

#5 Dread.  Dread is not an emotion that I personally had, however, many of the women I spoke to on the topic said they felt dread in regards to experiencing pregnancy again. I even had one admit they dreaded the 40 weeks of “misery” so much, that she was adamant to NOT become pregnant again even though she always wanted a huge family. My only advice is to not let a mere 40 weeks shape the rest of your life. If you and your husband have dreamed of having 4 babies, don’t stop at 2 because you don’t like being pregnant. The feeling of dread is understandable but didn’t the end result make it all worth it? Looking at that angel face tends to sober you up a bit to where the miserable experience seems to just ebb away. It is completely normal to dread the roller coaster of emotions, lack of control, or “miserable” (AKA nausea) aspects of being pregnant because your first pregnancy was really tough.. If you didn’t have a good first pregnancy it makes sense to dread what you know COULD happen this next go round.. again- this is completely normal. You just have to realize that each pregnancy is different, so hold out hope for the best. Who knows, maybe you won’t have 40 weeks of nausea and vomiting and swell out of your shoes?? Attempt to be a half- full type mindset thinker for a bit.