If the child has a gene atypicality, you'll deal with it, same way as you've dealt with anything else, with a little worry and a lot of grace and love.
The sibling stuff... well, I'll let those who've parented multiple children speak to that! I come from a large family myself, with me and my brother very close together (14 months), and two other sibs, and we did fine. We all pretty much liked each other apart from the usual bickering, our parents liked us all (or at least produced a good facsimile of it), and we entertained each other as well as being entertained by our parents. Admittedly they weren't single parents, but I doubt my dad was around much at all in those days.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by worrying about weaning Pearl; is there something specific there you're worried about? She might wean herself as your supply diminishes during pregnancy, or she might not. When your mature milk comes in later, if she has weaned herself, she may want to try again; if that's ok with you, it's ok. If she hasn't weaned herself, people I know who have tandem fed have said that they found toddler-feeding really useful for relieving engorgement and blocked ducts. (Plus, feeding both at once is taken care of :) though is not so discreet in public if you prefer seekrit feeding.)
Sorry, can't help with the returning to work stuff. You do what you have to do, but I can understand you feeling the wrench in advance. I look at people in the USA who have to go to fulltime work at six weeks, and just boggle. NO idea how they cope with that.
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Date: 2010-05-08 06:29 am (UTC)The sibling stuff... well, I'll let those who've parented multiple children speak to that! I come from a large family myself, with me and my brother very close together (14 months), and two other sibs, and we did fine. We all pretty much liked each other apart from the usual bickering, our parents liked us all (or at least produced a good facsimile of it), and we entertained each other as well as being entertained by our parents. Admittedly they weren't single parents, but I doubt my dad was around much at all in those days.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by worrying about weaning Pearl; is there something specific there you're worried about? She might wean herself as your supply diminishes during pregnancy, or she might not. When your mature milk comes in later, if she has weaned herself, she may want to try again; if that's ok with you, it's ok. If she hasn't weaned herself, people I know who have tandem fed have said that they found toddler-feeding really useful for relieving engorgement and blocked ducts. (Plus, feeding both at once is taken care of :) though is not so discreet in public if you prefer seekrit feeding.)
Sorry, can't help with the returning to work stuff. You do what you have to do, but I can understand you feeling the wrench in advance. I look at people in the USA who have to go to fulltime work at six weeks, and just boggle. NO idea how they cope with that.