Dos (Babe Numero Dos)

Not that it's any of your business, but YES, this child was a well-calculated, intended plan on our part. : )

The kids will be nearly 17 months apart in age. Having grown up with my brother just 16 months younger than me, it wasn't a scary idea. And, Ro's siblings are all close in age, all 7 of them. So, we liked the idea of kids growing together, being playmates, having similar friends, etc... Plus, we're no "spring chickens", so the throught of waiting years only to do the whole pregnancy/newborn phase again made me not so happy. If I'm this tired now, how tired will I be at 35? And as my best friend points out, as far as obstetrics is concerned, I'm almost considered a geriatric! Yikes, isn't that comforting.

We find out in 2 weeks if we're having a boy or girl. Part of me wanted to keep it a surprise until delivery day and part wanted to know immediately. But, we will be finding out. Hubster can't bear the thought of not knowing if we are able to find out.

Of course, I've been sorting through the "what do we need to buy in order to have two little ones?" From the top of my scattered memory, here's what I've come up with.
1) A double stroller. Yes, this is first on my list. I stroll Ramogi everywhere because as his first birthday approaches, so does the 30 pound mark. He's built like a brick and will barely be walking when Dos arrives. I've decided on the Sit N' Stand Double. If you're investigating, they have the original, the double, and the double plus. The Double is actually more spacious than the Double Plus- go figure. The back seat eventually removes so the platforms can be used for standing or sitting as kids grow. I think this will let us use it for the longest period of time. Its reasonably priced (for strollers) and manuveurs well. Target and Babies R Us both carry the latest style- Green Tea.

2) A second pack n play. Our first one has a bassinet that we'll use as the baby's bed for several months. And we were able to get a second basic one for Ramogi to use. So...check.

3)Second crib. I'm not sure Ramogi will be ready to move out of his crib until after his 2nd birthday, so we'll probably need two for a while. A friend is likely to pass hers along to us, so we can avoid the expense! So...check!

4) Clothes. Because the kids will be born in different seasons, we will need some new clothes most likely. And if we have a girl, we'll need girlie clothes. Boy or girl, I plan on dressing them in Ramogi's sleepers for the first few months to get us through winter. So, I don't have to worry about this for a while. I guess I'll buy a girl some hair bows so I don't get asked her gender!

5)Bottles. I intend to breastfeed again for as long as possible given our life, but I also pump for the sake of my sanity. I'm realizing the bottles I bought out of necessity (I didn't want to spend much $ and wasn't sure if some were worth the hype) were more work than they were worth. My sister-in-law was here a few weeks ago with our 4 month-old neice and they had a wide-mouth Avent. The vent worked great and it was much easier to clean. I think I'll buy 2 of those and toss the rest to Goodwill.
- Infant car seat. We used an older one with Ramogi. I would like a newer one to use but the idea of spending a ton for something we'll use a short time is depressing. I'm hoping I can rent one from a friend to get us through winter and then switch to the convertible seat by March.