Wearing: Wilfred Free Bianca sweater dress / Moscot NY sunglasses / Proenza Schouler PS11 tiny bag / Madewell boots (similar)

I don’t know how this is possible but I’m already in the third trimester of my second pregnancy (#slowdowntime). One of the regular thoughts I’ve had all pregnancy long is that I need to do a blog post about how this pregnancy is different from my first with Lily. Not only have I been getting a ton of questions, but also the fact that it’s always fun to scroll back a few years later, and re-read these kinds of posts as a personal diary for how I was feeling in the moment. So in no particular order, these are the some of the questions I’ve been receiving, or thoughts that have been going through my head:

What have you been doing differently this pregnancy compared to your first?

Sleep. I’ve been much more tired this pregnancy compared to with Lily. Which is 100% because I have a toddler to care for as well as growing a little human. I look back at my first pregnancy and think... HAH, you thought that was tiring. Because I’m not working full-time right now, I also have the luxury of taking naps which is the quite possibly the best thing on earth (after my family, friends & coffee of course). I’ve also been very proactive with keeping an eye on my iron levels and taking supplements as I was extremely iron deficient at the end of my first pregnancy. I know that plays a huge role in energy levels, so it’s something I’ve been watching.

I’ve also been exercising more consistently and try to take a class at least once a week. Towards the latter half of my pregnancy with Lily, I wasn’t doing any exercise, so I’m happy that I’ve found a way to stick at it, albeit at a much slower pace!

I also noticed I’ve been sharing much more on social media about this pregnancy. First time being pregnant meant I didn’t really find my voice as a “mom blogger” until Lily was about 6 months old. It’s a little odd at first going from writing about style only to then including the broad topic that is motherhood & babies. I kinda wish I embraced it sooner, but you live you learn!

How did you know you were ready for baby #2?

It was the moment when we felt like Lily wasn’t a ‘baby’ anymore. Probably a few months after her 2nd birthday or when she fully mastered potty training. But we wanted to time it nicely that I wasn’t going to be pregnant for our trip back to Australia last Christmas, and then we thought, why not just wait until I have my 30th birthday (nobody wants to sober at their 30th!).

How quickly did you conceive on number 1 vs 2?

I would say just as quickly. Although in hindsight the timing was perfect, we didn’t necessarily plan to get pregnant with Lily at that exact time. She’s literally a honeymoon baby. We thought, OK we can see ourselves ready to start a family, but didn’t expect to get pregnant THAT quickly. The same thing happened with #2, it was almost the first month we tried that we conceived. And I know what I’m saying could come across as a little insensitive as I know that some couples try for years to get pregnant. For us, it happened very quickly which also makes me think we should be very careful with protection to avoid 3 kids under 5 haha.

What are the biggest lessons from your first pregnancy that you keep in mind now?

Hmm, this is a hard one but I have to say I was so happy with my medical care over the course of the pregnancy that I definitely wanted to replicate that again. I have an amazing midwife team as well as an incredible Naturopathic Physician that really set me up with the best tools/vitamins/care etc when pregnant with Lily.

Do you have more or less pregnancy-related worries this time around?

When I was pregnant with Lily, I got really worried as I headed towards my due date about how labour was going to go down. Was it going to hurt like hell? Was it going to be 30 hours? Was it going to be a c-section? Was I going to poop while pushing!? It was more a fear of the unknown as no book or prenatal class is ever going to really prepare you for it!

This time around, I’m worried about how Lily is going to take the new addition to the family. She seems very excited to be a big sister and is so loving towards the bump, but she also is such a mama’s girl - so I have no idea how she’s going to react being told that she’s not the centre of the universe and that I can’t come running at her every beck and call.

How are you prepping differently for this baby? Any must-haves for newborns?

I stocked up on a few baby boy’s clothes at VONBON when we were closing down, but aside from that clothing is mainly hand-me-downs from Lily. But to be honest, we are still doing most of the prepping.. we haven’t set up a nursery, don’t have a car seat and haven’t got our infant stroller yet. So I guess you could say the second time around, we’re doing things much slower and later haha.

P.s. I’ll be putting together a must-have newborn items list soon!!

Is your bump bigger earlier this time?

So much bigger!! I looked back at pictures from the same week (while pregnant with Lily) and it seems like I’m 10 weeks further along compared to last time haha. I had to stop wearing my normal jeans earlier, the belly button popped out much faster and I felt the kicks come on much earlier. Speaking of which, this boy kicks so much more than Lily used to. It’s almost uncomfortable at times!!

How are you prepping Lily for baby #2?

We’ve been reading lots of books together about becoming a big sister which she really enjoys. We are trying to make it a big deal like “when your baby brother is born, he’s going to be really little and won’t be able to do all of the things you do like eating ice cream. Babies can’t eat ice cream, so you’re going to have to be a really big girl and show him how it’s done”. Small things like that. We are looking into doing a prenatal class for second-time parents that includes a bit section about preparing the older kid for baby’s arrival. Any tips from second-time parents would be much appreciated!!

How do you plan to balance it all?

Um... I don’t know. I guess I’ll just have to figure it out as I did with Lily. She’ll be at Montessori preschool full-time so I’m happy that I’m going to have one-on-one time with baby boy after he’s born. My parents & sister are also coming from Australia for the first few weeks which will really help with food, taking care of Lily etc. Thereafter... I’ll just have to wing it!

And that’s all! Thanks to those that submitted questions.. I really appreciate it!

xx Sharday

Photography: Kirstyn Konig