Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Not at all the same

Having two kids is nothing like having one.  You think that you have learned everything after the first.  You know what sleepless nights are, you know that breastfeeding can be a challenge, you remember that your spouse still needs some individual attention.  You think you know a lot of things.

What you learn right away is that nothing you learned with the first one applies to the second one.  Children are individuals.  I say with awe that this begins at birth.  My children look practically identical but man are they different in personality. 

Ashlyn absolutely refused to latch properly to breastfeed.  I bottle fed her breast milk and then pumped for every feeding until we discovered she had a milk allergy.  Then I bottle fed her formula and pumped after every feeding in hopes of being able to limit my diet enough that she could eventually go back to breastmilk.  That venture was unsuccessful.  I finally gave in and felt immense physical relief although some emotional pain as well.  Dylan, on the other hand, immediately latched on and has breastfed like a champion.

I could give you a dozen more examples of how my children are different, but my favorite thing is one similarity...they are both mine and I adore them.

No comments:

Post a Comment