Most of you have probably seen this before, but I got it once in an email and I thought I’d share it here.  (I would love to give the author credit here, but I couldn’t find out who wrote it…)

Changing Attitudes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Babies
Your Clothes
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Preparing for the Birth
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don’t bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn’t do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.

The Layette
1st baby: You pre-wash newborn’s clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby’s little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean & discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can’t they?

Worries
1st baby: At the first sign of distress–a whimper, a frown–you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Diapering
1st baby: You change your baby’s diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn’t squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Pacifier
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

I was a nanny for a long time before I actually had kids of my own, so I don’t quite relate to some of these.  I was careful and cautious with other people’s kids, but by the time my own came around, well…I never took a birthing class or practiced breathing.  I signed up for the epidural the moment I walked in the door.  I let my kids “cry it out” more than I probably should have.  As a matter of fact there were plenty of times I would make sure they were safe…and either get in the shower or go outside for a few minutes.  I got really bad about remembering to change diapers until I’d notice that they were sagging, had soaked through, or had exploded and left “pee crystals” all over the place.  I’ve scared more than one teenage babysitter by saying, “Don’t call me unless someone is dead or dying.”  I’ve sacred more than one other parent by telling them who I had lined up to babysit. (You’re going to let fill-in-the-blank keep your kids????)

BUT one thing that I’ve always been pretty good about is making sure that the nursery is ready.  With my first, it was painted and decorated, ready and waiting months in advance.  With Emerson things were even easier to get ready.  Since she was going to be sharing a room with her “big” brother(only 19 months old at the time), there wasn’t a whole lot we had to do other than move Tucker over to the “big bed”.  Luckliy there was no “big bed” trauma like so many of my friends have experienced.

This time, however…the new baby’s room looks like this:

As you can see, the nursery is full of boxes.  The crib is full of Christmas presents.  There is no shower curtain in the bathroom.  I’ve not hung a single picture or any drapes.  I haven’t even bought drapes or wall decor!  I do have an excuse or two, though:  we have moved twice in a matter of months, I’ve been sicker longer and more often, my “big kids” are at a point where you can’t trust them alone for more than 10 minutes, I’m supposed to be “taking it a little easy” because of my blood pressure, and I’m just plain tired. 

Oh, well…#3A won’t know what boxes are, or even actually be able to see them very well.  (S)he will need the crib cleaned out, but even if that doesn’t happen then (s)he can sleep in the car seat if need be for a night or two.  I’m pretty sure that (s)he won’t be taking showers very soon, so the shower curtain shouldn’t be an issue either.  I do however need to actually find the carseat.  And it’d probably be a good idea to buy at least one pack of diapers.  I don’t think Emmie’s size 5’s will be very useful.  I haven’t bought any new clothes, but I should probably wash the few unisex things I have…they have, after all, been packed up for 2 years.

I kind of can’t believe that I’m already a little over 34 weeks.  Since I’ve never made it past 38 weeks, that means little #3A could be(and hopefully will be) here in less than a month.  I really must look for that carseat tomorrow!