Preparing for Baby #2

When I was pregnant with Munchkin, my first child, I was researching everything.  I mean EVERYTHING…strollers, car seats, cloth diapers, carriers, high chairs.  You name it and I was looking into it.  It felt like I was making monumental decisions that would affect her for the rest of her life.  I know that if you’re a mom, you’re laughing at me and hopefully laughing along with me because you did the same thing.  I needed to look into all these things because we had NOTHING.  There was next to nothing child friendly about our house.  Over time through buying things. the generosity of hand me downs and family and friends at showers, our house slowly filled with baby items.  When you walk in our house now there is no doubt that a child lives here.  She’s left her mark on every room in the house, from her pillow on our bed, the bath toys in the tub, the sippy cups in the kitchen and the toys and books in her room and the living room.  Oh, and don’t forget the play structure in our back yard that you can’t miss when you park in our driveway. 





Preparing for Punkin has been TOTALLY different.  For one thing, we already have baby stuff.  We knew we wanted more kids so we saved most of the baby gear.  The co sleeper go peed on by a kitty so that got tossed but we probably wouldn’t have used it again anyway (though it would have been nice to sell to recoup some of the cost…oh well!)  The crib is now Munchkin’s full size big girl bed but we’re not crib people so we’re not missing it.  The swing was a hand me down and worked ok.  We didn’t use it a lot.  The seat part was detachable and can be used as a rocking chair and we still have that but we got rid of the swing part because it stopped working. If we decide we want one we’ll get it when we need it. Other than that, we have everything we need for a new baby:

Bouncy Chair?  Check

Breast Pump? Check

Bottles?  Check

Bibs, burp cloths, changing pad? Check

Baby girl clothes?  Check

OS Cloth Diapers, covers, fitteds, prefolds, and cloth wipes?  Check

Infant toys and cloth books?  Check

Jumper?  Check

High Chair?  Check

I could go on but you get the picture.  It’s been so nice that we haven’t had to buy much of anything for Punkin.  Part of me feels bad that Munchkin got all new stuff and Punkin doesn’t.  We did buy her some new clothes, some brand new and come from consignment sales/shops, but I do that for Munchkin too.  The other, more practical part reminds myself that that’s the way it is for kids 2 and beyond. Punkin won’t know/remember that none of it was new (until she reads this someday!)

There were a few things that I have gotten for Punkin.  Even though we already had baby girl clothing, Nana and I couldn’t stop ourselves from buying Punkin a few things.  Plus, Munchkin was born in the summer so I didn’t have a ton of warm clothing for Punkin.  So that was a NEED.  Then I decided that we were going to start cloth diapering sooner (Munchkin started at 5 weeks) so I purchased premie/newborn prefolds, diaper covers and some newborn All In Ones.  We scored a Rock N Play on clearance and I had wanted one so I was excited about that.  The big splurge for Punkin was the purchase of a woven wrap.  I had wanted one with Munchkin but never wanted to spend the money on one.  Since we didn’t have to buy a lot of other items I was able to buy one.  It’s used but I love it.  I can’t wait to use it!  I also purchased a Mei Tai carrier since the one I used with Munchkin was borrowed and I already returned it because I was afraid I would lose it.  Munchkin hated it but I’m hoping Punkin will like it, especially since I plan on personalizing it with Duck fabric. 


We’ve also been preparing Munchkin for Punkin’s arrival.  We talk about Punkin daily and have taken Munchkin to all the ultrasounds.  She knows there’s a baby in Mama’s belly.  She loves to look at the ultrasound photos.  She gives my belly multiple hugs and kisses a day.  We’ve read books that talk about being a big sister. She knows that babies cry.  Her world is going to be turned upside down but I think she’s going to be ok.  So for now, I’m soaking up the time I have left with only one child.  I know once Punkin is here I’ll wonder how we ever got along without her.