10 Things Pregnant Women Have in Common with Their Toddlers

I am currently 9 months pregnant with bouncing boy No. 2, and I could not be more excited. Overall, this pregnancy has been a breeze compared to my first. Only one day of morning sickness, so much less worry, and I have confidence that I know what I’m doing and am getting myself into. I’ll admit I was a little nervous of the idea of being pregnant with a toddler running around, but instead of it being this terrible thing I was expecting, its been pretty great and even hilarious at times as I’ve even noticed a few things we have in common now.  And just think, my lucky husband gets to deal with us both!

common with toddler 2
1.  We can’t focus on anything for too long. Short attention span doesn’t even begin to cut it. Good luck trying to get me or my toddler to sit still for too long or pay attention to one thing for more than 5 minutes. My mind is racing with onesies to wash, bags to pack, things to get down from the attic, while my son wants to take out his entire train set, dump out all 8,000 pieces, and then realize that he wants to race his cars.

2. We’re both rocking proud bellies disproportional to our bodies. Toddlers are the cutest creatures on Earth and most of that is due to their bulging bellies and huge heads on their tiny frames. Even before I was a mom with a toddler’s belly to tickle, I just couldn’t get over how adorable they were on these miniature humans. My huge belly on the other hand–not so cute. Stretch marks, an innie turned outie, and an awesome dark line going over the middle of it make it less appealing for anyone, but it doesn’t make me any less proud. New life is forming in there and I am constantly so amazed at my body and growing belly.

3. We both wet ourselves. Constantly. You pregnant ladies all know the feeling when you can tell you are about to sneeze or cough, and think, “Oh no.” Panty liners are my BFF because this mama sneezes a lot. You also know the feeling when you hear, “Umm Mommy, I need new pants.” So obviously neither of those feelings are great, but they are a reality, and sometimes you just have to laugh as you gather your toddler’s pee-soaked pants into your 3rd load of laundry. You have to admit to yourself that you’ve been there–because we all run out of panty liners eventually.

4. We are FULL of emotions. We cry all the time. I cry because I feel overwhelmed with things to come or its been a hard day. He cries because I can’t read his mind and tell him what movie he wants to watch. I won’t say who is more validated in their tears, just that we both have lots of emotions going on constantly and can’t always express them in the best way. Its tough to be us.

Judah_emotions

5. We can’t make up our mind what we want to eat (and when we do, we want it NOW!) Grapes? A banana? Cereal? Pizza? I can’t decide, but I’m starving and that all sounds disgusting! Oh, it just hit me: I want oatmeal. Yup, oatmeal. “WHERE IS MY OATMEAL?!?” Sound familiar?

6. Neither of us likes to wear pants. Or clothes in general. Even with the full belly band, I count down the hours until I can get home and take off my pants. My son also enjoys to undress (thankfully only when he’s home). His current favorite outfit is his Avenger tighty whities, a T-shirt, and rain boots. Oh, and his pirate sword tucked into his shirt (for safe keeping and easy access of course).

7. And when we do have to get dressed, the outfits we come up with can be a little scary. I’ve officially reached the “I’ll wear anything that fits” stage in this pregnancy, and sometimes its not so pretty. Judah being a boy hasn’t really voiced his opinion too much on his wardrobe, but some mornings he insists on certain shirts and pants–and I can guarantee you it isn’t what I would have picked. At least Dad matches. Well, most of the time.

me_preg outfit

8. Sleeping through the night? No way. My toddler’s version of not sleeping through the night looks a lot different than it did when he was a baby. He’ll sleep until about 4 am or 5 am, and then I’ll wake up to a tiny foot crawling over my face. And if I don’t discover him when he first gets in our bed, then I see his little silhouette on my way back from my 3rd bathroom trip. Either way, its been months since either of us closed our eyes for bed and then woke up again to the sounds of birds chirping or light coming through the window.

9. We’re cranky when we haven’t had our nap. In full honesty, my loving husband added this one to the list. And he couldn’t be more right. We’ve all experienced a toddler who won’t nap and then we anxiously count down the minutes until a justifiable bed time. But I’m not normally a nap person; however, on my days that I stay home while I’ve been pregnant, if I don’t get that nap in while my son sleeps, then my husband knows to stay far, far away. I need more rest now then I ever did while I was pregnant with my first, so if I don’t get a quick nap, the craziness crankiness appears.  Maybe it’s because I know the dark reality waiting around the corner–sleep deprivation. 

10. We are both super excited about our new roles we’re going to play in a few weeks. He’s going to be a big brother and can’t stop hugging and kissing my belly and feeling kicks. And I can’t wait to be a mom to two sweet little boys–a set of brothers. Be still my heart.

judah_big brother

Have you been pregnant with a toddler? What would you add to the list?

Jenny
Jenny lives with her husband, Joel, and their sons, Judah and Jonas, in Zachary, a suburb north of Baton Rouge. She works part-time as an editor and her favorite part of the week is when she gets to exchange her pencil skirt for yoga pants and pretend to be a SAHM for a few days. When she’s not toting her sons around town or saving her toddler's life one head dive off the couch at a time, she is designing invitations, stationery, and logos for local moms, brides, and professionals. Jenny’s been married since 2007, and she and Joel welcomed Judah into their lives in April 2012 and Jonas in March 2015. She loves to squeeze in as many date nights as possible and spends her free time chronicling her family’s adventures and recent designs on her personal blog, the Gilberts.

2 COMMENTS

  1. #11: You’re both really bad at hide-n-seek. You’re too big to hide and your toddler can’t count straight and isn’t patient enough to wait to be found. But the game is still a whole lot of fun! -miathereader.com

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