Two chapters at once

Pregnancy is different when you have other children to care for already.

It’s a miracle, and no less special than your first, but it’s where the splitting of your attention starts.

Holding them in your arms is simply where it continues.

Every mother knows pregnancy is sacred. And that life inside of her is worthy of celebrating, even if her body is pushed to the limits.

It’s hard every time, but it’s a different type of hard when you have others already at your feet.

It’s having little people asking you to pick them up, to find their toy, to play hide and seek with them when all you want, and all your body needs, is to rest.

It’s getting up at night to feed, rock, or care for those same babies who needed you during the day, with the one inside of you twisting and twirling for your attention.

It’s mothering on while growing another you will mother, knowing that you only have a certain window of time to enjoy your now before everything changes.

It’s two chapters needing to be read at the same time, even though the characters are introduced at different times.

It’s feeling like there’s never enough time to enjoy both seasons fully, no matter how hard you try.

But despite all of that, it’s also a different kind of special.

It’s having your older children kiss your belly and talk to their yet-to-be-born-sibling through your stretching skin.

It’s having such a special time shared with the most special people in your life.

It’s knowing where this love story can take you in a few months.

This sort of pregnancy is a roller coaster of a different kind, physically and emotionally, no matter how many times you have ridden it.

But it’s the kind that makes you so strong as you ride it and content as you finish it.

It’s the kind that makes you realise you can read two chapters at once,
And still end up with the most beautiful ending.