The difference between the 1st and 2nd child – Maximus V’s Kaiser

Thank you to Kris for this guest post about the differences between her first and second child.  Kris blogs over at Max and Kai, writing about the adventures they get up to x

The title to this post sounds like a pair of fighters from a game like street fighter.

Max and Kai are my sons (in case you hadn’t guessed)

The old saying that no 2 pregnancies are the same is so true and the saying definitely applies to children.

I honestly believed that my second birth would happen in the same timeline that I had with Max. He decided to make an appearance at 37 weeks and 5 days. Kai on the other hand was very cosy and didn’t show up until I was 41 weeks. Those extra weeks were the longest of my pregnant life and I was more than ready for him to show up.

The labours were also chalk and cheese. With Max I had no clue what I was doing, I had to let the midwife basically boss me about. It was ok though, that was what I needed at the time. Labour with Kai whilst extremely painful was a lot quicker and more controlled.

Max v’s Kai- The Labour
Max – I went into labour at 37 +5, my waters went naturally at 2 pm contractions began shortly after and he was born at 3.07 pm on the 8th November 2014. I only had gas and air but needed a drip because I was severely dehydrated. We had a traditional legs in stirrups.

Kai- Kai came at 41 weeks, he enjoyed keeping me waiting. I had 2 incomplete sweeps (don’t recommend them at all). contractions started at 5am after a horrific bloody show and baby was born at 12.36 pm. I had gas and air again, this time we got to use the birth pool which was awesome but he was born in a bed after a last-minute dash to the ward.

Max v’s Kai – The first 3 months
The first 13 weeks or so with these 2 couldn’t have been more different. By the time Max was 3 months he had already banked the first of three hospital stays due to a UTI. Touch wood Kai has been in good health apart from teething (I know already, I’m gutted I didn’t want it to happen so soon).

Sleep
Both boys were out of the Moses basket and in their own rooms by 12 weeks. Max at this point was sleeping from 11.30 pm till 8 am and Kai goes to bed at 8 pm till about 7am whether he’s tired or not. As a mum to Kai I’m a bit more strict with the routine, I can’t believe Max used to stay up till 11.30 pm and I thought that was good.

Bath Time
Max used to hate having a bath and would scream his big head off. Kai loves it especially if you dribble water over his body. I do wonder if that has to do with the time of year it was cold when Max was a bubba whereas Kai has had time to acclimatize to the weather being a July baby.

Bottles
The boys pretty much match each other for milk. Max loved his milk and Kai is drinking 7 oz every 3 hours or so. Kai is definitely more sickly than Max was, I wasn’t really prepared for that.

I’ll wrap this post up by saying both boys have big personalities especially Max who is about to turn 2. No 2 children are the same but we’ve been blessed with 2 gorgeous ones.

How did your first and second pregnancies/children compare?