Toddler and Newborn advice.

My son was exactly 25 months old when Cassidy was born, as we planned the pregnancy because I wanted them both young at the same time to do the whole 'diaper' thing.  Dylan is very much a mama's boy (I think it's because I am a SAHM) and he's super active, has lots of energy but also has a quick temper.  BUT......he is very loving and accepting of his new sister 'Taddy' (that's how he says her name).  When she cries, he runs to her.  He loves to hold her, lay beside her when she is in her boppy, be in her face to say "Hello Taddy" and he's constantly kissing her.  Which is great, but we have to watch him so he's not too aggressive about it all or gets *too* close as to hurt her accidently.

Now, on the flipside.  I don't know if it's me and my life or what, but I am tired all the time and it's hard right now because everything takes more planning.  I also had a c-section and it's still painful at times.  Dylan is always wanting attention, being a 2 year old boy and I feel bad for Cassidy because I don't get as much quality time with her as I had with Dylan.  She turned 6 weeks old yesterday and it FLEW by.  With Dylan, I remember counting off days saying 'he's 5 days old, he's 11 days old, etc'. 

It will be overwhelming, especially at first but it does get better.  I love having my 2 kids and I hope they will love each other their whole life as much as they seem to love each other now.  :o)

You will get through it.   

How a child is going to respond to a new sibling is really unpredictable.  Alot of it has to do with their personality in general.  AND a really big influencing factor is what you EXPECT.  Self-fulfilling prophesy is a reality, fear it and you are far more likely to experience it.  My oldest was 27 months old when my second was born.  He was VERY non-chalant about it.  His routine continued fairly well and jealousy really didn't come into play.  Knowing him now, I recognize that as a big part of his personality.  For some reason, I was never worried about him dealing with the baby, I was always focused on how could I squeeze taking care of the baby into our family routine.  In the end I found taking care of the baby to be much easier the 2nd time around.  I already knew to trust my instinct and things just fell into place.  Another thing my ped. reminded me of was that at that toddler age, your oldest only has a few weeks of memory, so it's not long before they feel like the baby has been there all along.  I found that thought very comforting.

Good luck, and be sure to read some "becoming a big sister" type books.  I liked "When You Were Inside Mommy" by Joanna Cole.

Thank you for the advice and that absolutely makes sense! I am going to try and relax, since I seem to be uptight about everything anyways!

Life will be what YOU make of it.  Currently, I have 5 that are 5 and under.  In the past when we were foster parents, I had 5 and my oldest was 3 1/2.  It was crazy, but we managed.  When my last child was born my kids were 5, 4, 3 and 17 months.  In the beginning the lack of sleep kills me.  The hardest thing for me right now is the amount of time nursing takes.  I am refusing to give this baby formula so feeding is me alone.

You can manage two and if you are sending her to daycare 3 days a week ... that will lighten your load.  The first few months will be crazy but you will adjust and be fine.

My best friend had the same issue... but yours will be older than her son at that point hehehe... her biggest issue was being gentle to his new sister... he would smack her, poke her eyes, etc... she wished that she would of been gentle sooner lol...

The other thing she did that helped after the first week home was meals already ready in the freezer or meals preped for crockpot meals one day a week... she would make out the grocery store list and hubby would get things they needed during the week and she would escape on the weekend... for her the first 3 months were the hardest for her... but she had no family around or very many friends at the time (after that she joined a mom's group)...

but just plan a little and you will be fine...