One of the things I was most worried about when it came to having two babies so close in age was the logistics of getting out of the house. I don’t drive and Sean works all week so if we want to go out Monday -Friday we have to either walk or rely on public transport and because of that, the kit I use to move these little people around is pretty important. I’m asked quite a lot how I manage to get us all out and what pram we use so I thought I’d do a little post about the three different combinations I use to make sure we don’t miss out on any midweek adventures.Let me tell you though, getting out that door takes a whole bunch longer than it did with just one, even with the luxury of having different baby transport options. And the sheer amount of stuff you need in the early days is just mad. My only tip whee that is concerned is allow yourself plenty of time to get ready and make loosely timed plans – accept that you might not make it where you’re going at exactly the time you hoped and trust me, you’ll feel a whole lot less daunted by the whole thing.

Getting out with 2 children under 3

Joie Evalite Stroller

This was my go to when William was newborn and in the absence of a double pram with a carrycot, the idea that he could lay completely flat in the rear seat was a real selling point for me. Having both ‘seats’ there and ready to go without the need to attach extra bits every time I wanted to leave the house made it so much less daunting and loads easier for me to go out in the early days. Plus, it’s amazing how much stuff you end up needing when you leave the house woth two children in tow, especially when you don’t drive so the extra long shopping basket comes in so handy. It is also compatible with the Joie GEMM car seat meaning if we need to go somewhere and Sean is going to pick us up there’s no need to worry about planning too far in advance. I still reach for this pram the most for days out as it is just so easy to use and lightweight and now that William is that bit bigger, the children can swap seats depending on what they need – William is loving being able to sit up front and properly see what’s going on and Florence loves the treat of being closer to me as we go. One of the only draw backs to this pushchair is that it takes up so much room on the bus! It fills the entire buggy bay which usually fits two pushchairs.

Micralite buggy & baby carrier

We were sent the Micralite Fast Fold stroller to try out by natural baby shower while I was pregnant with William. To say I was impressed by how light it is and how easy it is to steer would be an understatement and it really is perfect for use with a toddler who isn’t quite ready to walk everywhere yet and who needs half the stuff they did as a baby. I was a bit sad about not being able to use it much when bump became a baby but Now I have both little ones we still use it quite a bit. It’s great for little trips to the shop where I can put William in the carrier and for little outings where Florence can walk the distance like the park or the odd occasions when she pushes her little buggy to the shop beside me.

I have two different means for baby wearing too – a wrap and a carrier. My daisygro wrap was my first choice when William was smaller – snug and safely shielded from the elements he was always so content wrapped up on my chest. While I still use it from time to time – especially if nap time is nearing – I have turned to my trusty I-angel carrier that I have from when Florence was a baby. William is almost 22 lbs and so the hip seat in it really does help take the strain off my back. He can face me or be forward facing depending on the time of day though he loves to watch everything that’s going on as I walk so his preference is definitely to face forward.

(photo of Florence as I can’t find any of William in this carrier!)

Joolz Geo 2 & buggy board

I adore my Joolz pram, and while it does have a double function on it (you can buy an extra seat for underneath or attach a car seat with the adapters) we just didn’t have the budget for the extra parts when William was born. I used it on occasion in the early days of double motherhood but only if I had just one of the children with me. It easily converts from a carry cot to a seat just by zipping and unzipping different parts onto the frame.

More recently though, with Florence becoming more independent and wanting to walk more on days out, I’ve been teaming my Joolz up with a buggy board I bought on Facebook. I think it’s actually a universal buggy board from a brand I hadn’t heard from before and is called an Isafe Segboard and Unlike your usual buggy attachment, it has a removable seat! It’s so handy and florence loves sitting on her ‘Pram Bike’ and looking at her baby brother on our travels. It’s so much easier and quicker for her to jump on and off when she needs to and means that she’s right up close to me so we can still have a little chat as we go. I get so many comments on this while we are out and about and so many mums I’ve met or I know have actually bought one since seeing ours.I hope this post comes in handy, whether you’re expecting your second little bundle soon or if you’re wondering how on earth you’re going to ever leave the house again now that there’s another extra person here.

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I’ve been giving this post a lot of thought over the last few weeks and while some parts might be a bit TMI I wanted to share my experiences in the weeks following William’s birth as some things came as a bit of a surprise to me.

I was very lucky (I appreciate this even more now) that after Florence was born I bounced back pretty much immediately. I was up and out by day three, I stopped bleeding after a week and aside from the addition of a tiny human everything went back to normal very quickly. This time however, has been completely different and it’s come as a bit of a shock – especially after such a straight forward and ‘picturesque’ birth. I’ve been getting so frustrated that I can’t just go out and about and get stuff done the way I expected to and at times that’s left me feeling really rubbish and downhearted. I put an attempt in at a trip into town with the children the other day and it turned out to be a complete disaster.

Heavy bleeding

I lost a lot of blood in the days following William’s birth – way more than I did with Florence – and I was getting through maternity pads every two hours. I think the loss of blood contributed to me feeling quite weak in the days after birth and I was constantly pale. It was quite alarming if I’m honest and I bought it up with the midwives and health visitors both at the maternity unit and during my home visits with the midwife and the health visitor, but thankfully, by day 10 it started to slow down and now at 5 weeks post partum, it has stopped completely.

Sore bits!

My labour & birth was so quick that my body, let alone vagina, didn’t really get much chance to prepare itself for what was actually happening. By some miracle, I didn’t need any stitches and only suffered a first degree tear but the healing time was an awful lot longer than anyone had prepared me for. I could barely sit down for a week, maybe longer, without being in a lot of pain. In fact, after William was delivered and I was moved to the couch, I couldn’t physically sit because I felt like I was still at that stage where he was coming out. Thank goodness for paracetamol,  ibuprofen & Spritz for bits is all I can say! 

After Pains

Oh my, the after pains! Typically you don’t get them after your first baby, and while everyone says about them with second babies I really underestimated how much they would hurt. They were like contractions but without the incentive of a baby at the end and lasted a couple of days. They were so incredibly intense to begin with and started pretty much immediately after birth.

No bladder control

I’ve never had a particularly strong bladder, but since having William, my bladder control is shot! To start with, I had no control at all which led to a few rather embarrassing accidents in the first weeks after he was born and it’s only just started to improve now. I’ve been sent a pelvic floor aid which I am going to be testing out and reporting back on the results here on the blog in a couple of weeks so I am hoping to have all good things to say.

Physical Exhaustion

You expect to be nackered when you have a newborn, after all there’s not very much sleep up for grabs in the early days, but I’ve never experienced this type of physical exhaustion until William was born. It was constant for the first couple of weeks, I struggled simply walking around the house and if I even so much as lifted Florence it would leave me practically useless for the rest of the day. Still now, I feel like I’ve been beaten black and blue from the inside if I over do it (sometimes that’s just taking a walk down the road) and everything feels heavy and achey, especially down there.

Despite all the difficulties, becoming a Mother of two has been as wonderful as I hoped it would be. I just wanted to share the realities of how the post natal period can be, as truthfully, this time around it completely knocked me for six.

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