Only child Syndrome

Yes, I am an only child and there is something that has been nagging at me since I found out I was pregnant with my second child.

How does it work to have a sibling? How do parents manage to handle more than one child? How does having a sibling change you life?

Ok I always wanted an older sibling but never really a younger one but since that would never happen I substitued my cousin Leah who was three years older than me for that job. But I didnt see her all that often since we lived in neihboring cities and went to different schools. When I got older it always drove me crazy when my friends with siblings would fight with their brother(s) or sister(s) because i just couldnt understand how they could fight like that.

I always said I would never have more than one child since i turned out fine and never really felt I was deprived of anything. I was spoiled by love and had my parents undivided attention. But when I married my husband who has a sister who is 9 years older I agreed to THINK about having more than one. As time went on we agreed on two children but that thought scared the CRAP out of me (and still does). I had an IUD placed when my son was about 2 months old so that we wouldnt have any accidents before we were ready. I wanted to loose some weight so that hopefully I would not have the same complications that I did with David (Gestational Diabetes and Pre Eclampsia) and we wanted to save up a little money for a down payment on a mini van. Well in december I went to the Dietitian at the Naval Hospital here in Beaufort and she asked me when my last period was and I had to think about it because... well gosh I havent had once since around the 6th or so of OCTOBER. So I stopped at the dollar tree on my way home from that appointment and grabbed two tests and took one as soon as i got home but surely it couldnt come out positive because I was using a 99.9% effective form of birth control right? WRONG!!!!! It turned positive instantly so the next morning I took the other one which again was an instant positive. So we got some snacks and a couple of toys for David and headed over to the hospital to have some tests done. The results came back that I was 8 weeks and 5 days pregnant so they did an ultrasound but couldnt see the IUD so they send me for an MRI which also showed no signs of the IUD so it is assumed that it came out on its own and I didnt even notice (they are tiny and really flexable). So I am now 15 weeks into this pregnancy with baby number 2 (Hoping for a Girl!!!).

So back to my quesions. What am I going to do with 2 children. A toddler and a newborn at that? My son is an attention hog and though he will go to sleep at night on his own he still makes you laydown with him while he falls asleep for naps. And now we live in a two story house so how am i going to carry a baby and a toddler up and down the stairs that I have a hard time going up and down on my own (i have bad knees)? David can crawl up on his own but then he takes off in what ever directions he chooses (usually to chase a kitty) but he cant go down yet and I dont think he will be able to go down by then either.

Also if they both have a function on the same day at different places how do you decide who goes to which one? How do you make sure that all toys, food, and any other activities are even? How do you deal with the sibling rivalry?


Would someone please help me?