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It’s Just You & Me.

Family· Frances· Pregnancy· Rants

21 Mar

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My second (and more than likely, final) pregnancy has been fascinating.

Yes, it’s pretty common knowledge that no two pregnancies are the same – even with the same mother. Symptoms you have with your first may or may not appear with your second. Your first baby could be a week past their due date, and the the second could arrive a month early. One might be perfectly healthy, and the other might not. You just never know what to expect. And, for lack of a better word, I expected that.

Yet here I am, marveling over how wildly different I feel with Baby C2 kicking away in my belly.

I am relaxed, with far less anxiety. I’ve had a greater number of pregnancy symptoms, yet none have been as severe as the few I experienced with my first. I’ve gain less weight so far, I’m carrying differently, and I believe I look smaller than the first go-round. I lose track of the weeks and months easily. None of that surprises me.

What is most interesting, to me, is the loneliness I feel.

I mean “lonely” in the most positive way, truly. I don’t feel sad or depressed, but I do feel alone. Isolated, perhaps, with my new baby girl. When I was pregnant the first time, my world celebrated my daughter. I was a first-time mother, and Dorothy was our first baby – and those are two things people get really excited about. There were baby showers, friends and family constantly checking in on me/us, and the ever mounting anticipation for her arrival. My husband was on pins and needles for the weeks surrounding my due date, just waiting for the moment we would need to run out the door (which never happened, FYI).

The second baby is just… different.

All of our loved ones are absolutely thrilled that another baby will be joining our family soon, obviously, but the build-up pales in comparison to just three years ago. Dorothy was everyone’s baby – she was the first grandchild for two sets of grandparents, the first niece, one of the first children in our friend circle – everyone shared in the excitement and newness she brought to our lives. In fact, I wasn’t even the first person to hold my baby; I was barely the third. Everyone just loved Dorothy so intensely from the moment we announced she was on her way, and gratefully none of that has changed.

Along the same lines as waiting to share our pregnancy news with the public, I feel like C2 is my worst kept secret. I almost enjoy that the rest of the world is just moving about their lives, and I seem to be the only one making quiet preparations for the changes to come. Some days I place my husband’s hand on my belly to feel her kick because I begin to think she’s only real to me. C2, just like every second child I know, is old news.

I’m bonding with her, in a way that I never could with my first. 

As I spend these last weeks with my daughter in my belly, I find myself cherishing this time with her. I’m the only one who notices when she’s awake, or when she has the hiccups. There is no fanfare counting down to her arrival, simply because our lives are still moving forward at the rate of toddler. Right now, for a short while, she’s my baby – no one else’s. It’s nice, for a change.

It’s just you and me, C2.

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Comments

  1. Tammy Impicciche says

    March 21, 2016 at 10:43 am

    Beautifully written.

    Reply
    • Samantha Cotten says

      March 22, 2016 at 2:22 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Erin LFF says

    March 21, 2016 at 2:18 pm

    I absolutely loved your writing and loved your thoughts on this!♥ As a first time mom I’m in the hoopla and craziness of everyone being extra excited- but that can actually be overwhelming at times, so I can sorta understand getting to just enjoy “your” baby to yourself for awhile 🙂

    Reply
    • Samantha Cotten says

      March 22, 2016 at 2:24 pm

      It can be overwhelming – which I never realized the first time. It wasn’t until the absence of all that excitement that I realized just how crazy it all was! Hopefully you get a chance to slow down and enjoy your baby with your husband before he arrives!

      Reply
  3. Jenessa Sheffield says

    March 21, 2016 at 2:53 pm

    sounds lovely!
    XO JNESS
    JenessaSheffield.com

    Reply
  4. Lisa says

    March 21, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    All of the YES!!!! I seriously could have written this post. I feel a little more ‘down’ with this baby, not because of anything in particular, but just because the world keeps on moving and there just isn’t much to look forward to in the final weeks. People don’t think to check in as often, there are no showers, Tim isn’t as involved this time around because he’s busy helping with Clara… etc etc. However, I totally agree that this baby seems more personal to me because (s)he ISN’T being obsessed about by everyone else. I have this one all to myself for a while 🙂

    Reply
    • Samantha Cotten says

      March 22, 2016 at 2:26 pm

      It’s nice, isn’t it? 🙂 Almost like the calm before the store of two kids! Ha!

      Reply
  5. MaryAnn says

    March 23, 2016 at 12:15 am

    This is so true! I found that special bond continued long after I had my second son. It was easier for my husband to help out with our older son (they are 18 months apart) and that meant that I had baby #2 with me always. It actually took years for my husband to get over the feeling that he he didn’t have as strong a connection with #2 as he did with #1.
    And because you are so much calmer after having been through it all before, you can really treasure every moment knowing that every day they are a little bit further away from being a baby. I literally teared up all the time because he was getting bigger and I knew he was my last.

    Reply

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