When I first suspected I might be expecting my second child, it was about this time of year, which also happens to be near my husband’s birthday. I secretly purchased a pregnancy test and snuck it into the house. I carefully hid it so he would not discover it before it was time. I waited a few days to take the pregnancy test. As many of you know, waiting any amount of time to take a pregnancy test can be excruciating and seem ten times longer than it truly is. Those few days passed so slowly! The morning of his birthday, I waited impatiently until he left for work and then took the test… only for it to immediately turn positive. I carefully gift wrapped the test and presented it to him that evening.
Our oldest child was about ten months old at the time. What we did not discover for another three months was that our expected second child was actually our second and third children. No wonder that test turned positive so quickly! Our lives soon became a whirlwind of preparations. One of the most important was preparing our oldest son for the arrival of not one, but two new baby brothers. Considering Junior’s age, one of the best tips we received was to give him a baby doll. With twins, of course, we had to give him a matching pair of dolls.
Today’s Cotton Babies prize pack will include a Resa Design t-shirt for your older child and a bumGenius newborn cloth diaper for you newest addition. To enter today’s contest for your chance to win, tell us how you announced your pregnancy or how you are preparing the older siblings for the new arrival. You can gain additional bonus entries too. See the widget below for details. Share your tips and be sure to read other comments to get a few ideas on how to prepare your little one for their new sibling!a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Eligible entries must be posted no later than midnight Eastern time, Thursday, January 19, 2011. U.S. Residents only. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win. Winners will be drawn at random on Friday, January 20, 2011 and notified via e-mail.
About the Author
Heather is mom to four, born within 40 months (single, twins, single). She writes transparently about her chaotic household to encourage others through the twists and turns of parenting.
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I put a “big sister” shirt on my 20 month old, and took a picture. Then I put the picture on a piece of construction paper and wrote in crayon letters to relatives saying things like “Dear Grandma, Mommy and Daddy told me in July I’m going to be a big sister. Yay!” They loved it! To prepare big sister, we are talking about the baby in mommy’s tummy and trying to be gentle and helpful with babies. elaine dot zuber at yahoo dot com
We told our 4 year old daughter the day we went to the doctor to confirm our pregnancy. She was obviously ecstatic as she had been telling everyone she met almost since she began talking that she wanted a sister/brother. We had dinner that night w/my family and told her she could tell them, just wait for us to let her know when. We had just sat down to the table when my grandpa said, “That sure is a pretty shirt you have on.” Without missing a beat her next words were, “Mommy has a baby in her tummy.” Needless to say we all cracked up!
Since that moment nothing in all of pregnancy or during these first few months with a new baby have phased her in the least. In fact, we usually have to remind her she’s not Bonnie’s Mommy, she’s the big sister!
We hung up an extra stocking at Christmas time to announce #3 to the grandparents. I was so anxious to tell, that I had to point it out!
I told my husband by presenting him with the test and saying “I hope you get your wish for two little boys who can be best friends!” We just had our second son and we prepared our first by slowly introducing things into the house that were the baby’s – the crib, some new blankets, new pacis, his old baby toys… When we brought the baby home he wanted to give the baby all those things!
I jet talked about the new baby alot with my 20 month old son. I asked him if he was going to share his milkies with the new baby. Now that I am expecting #4, I am preparing my daughter the same way 🙂
Can we use cotton baby diapers ? Which is best to use.Please suggest me .
I took the positive pregnancy test to my husband on his lunch break. Slipped it out of my purse long enough for him to realize what it was before hiding it so we could keep it to ourselves for a bit.
We’re talking about Baby a lot, and our oldest plays with a baby doll a lot, nurses her, changes her diaper, etc.
We found out we were expecting #2 about 3-4months after the birth on #1 ( they are 12.5mo apart). To break the news to our family, I decided to get a “big brother” shirt for our oldest. He was about 6mo old and the smallest big brother shirt I could find was a 2T. Ha. It was riducously big on him which added to the interesting announcement. My grandma kept wondering why we would put a big shirt on him without really ever reading the shirt. It was fun waiting for fMily to actually read his shirt and put 2 and 2 together. Since he was so young we didn’t really need to prepare him, he had no clue when his little sister arrived.
I was due with number 2 around hunting season. I had my husband coordinate calendars one night and told him he had to be home all of oct/nov. He tried to argue and I told him baby #2 would be arriving then. We set up baby #2s room and let my oldest explore in it and use her baby dolls in the bed and on the diaper table. We also just talked to her a lot and included her in the room with us when her sister joined us.
I put a “big brother” onsie on my 15 month old to make the annocment to my husband, and he didn’t notice until I had to give him several clues! I was so upset my planned failed I started crying!