by Deidra Romero posted in Mom Stories

By Deidra Romero
We may have never gone through with having a second if our son, at 2 years old, hadn't proved to be the most selfish child on the planet. My husband and I knew the best thing we could do for him was to upend his world with a younger sibling. My firstborn is one of those children that is hilarious and spirited and incredibly sweet but rarely sleeps through the night. So I was prepared to never sleep again upon having another child.

I was prepared for the worst. I expected I would feel overwhelmed nearly every minute of the day until my second child turned 4. But the good news is that has not been the case. There are so many reasons why having a second child is so not as hard or bad as you think. Fear not. You can do this and here is why.
1. The sleep deprivation is not as devastating. The first time around, I remember watching the nighttime hours tick away thinking "Oh no! It's going to be morning soon and I haven't even slept!" This time I don't watch the clock. I just know that sleep will come eventually. All children learn to sleep and that perspective makes it more bearable. And now I know that even if I don't sleep, it will not kill me and I will get through it just fine -- with some coffee, of course.
2. The newborn stuff is so not as hard. I had never cared for a newborn before so that aspect of motherhood was challenging to me the first time around. But by baby number two I felt like an old pro at th...