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In honour of my second born’s second birthday.

A Love Letter to The Second Born

Your mom didn’t have a gender reveal for you. Or a baby shower for that matter.
There was no baby book or pregnancy book or thousands of scan pictures hanging on the fridge to be admired at every tummy rumble.

Your mom didn’t take daily, weekly, monthly bump pictures. Or post weekly/monthly pregnancy updates on social media or to family and friends.

Your mom wasn’t treated like a Pregnancy Princess like the first time around. Nor did she act like one. She wasn’t watching every little thing she consumed or doing daily pre-natal workouts.

She didn’t know which size fruit you were every week. Or what developmental milestones you were going through in her womb. Some weeks, she even forgot how far along she was and would have to awkward pause and think whenever asked.
She didn’t have a countdown to her pre-natal appointment or read thousands of books and articles on pregnancy.
Your mom was too busy being a mom to be a pregnant woman.

When she felt you twirling and kicking and somersaulting inside of her, she would stroke her belly lovingly and wonder who you were and who you would turn out to be. And she would inevitably always end up picturing your sibling. It was all she knew after all.
She worried that she could surely not love anyone as much as your sibling. It would be impossible. Her firstborn whose every first fart, burp and poo had been magical and mysterious. She worried that she would not have enough time for two kids. Or worse.... that she didn’t have enough motherly love for two children. She was already bursting at the seams with love for one!

And you may think that, that all sounds entirely terrible. You might find yourself feeling unwanted and unloved. Or at least much more unwanted and unloved than your sibling. Because how could you ever compete with a first born, whose every first time doing anything was magical and mysterious?

But see, all the above also made your mom cherish being pregnant with you all the more. She was much more calm and relaxed, than the first time around.
And though you don’t remember, you must have felt that too, lying inside her chilled-out womb.
She was much more confident that you would grow, just like you were supposed to, and you would arrive into the world, perfect and healthy, just like you were supposed to.
And she was much more confident that, when you arrived, she would be a good mom to you. Just like she was to your sibling.

And when you finally did arrive, it was just as miraculous as the first time had been. Your dad cried and your mom cried. With relief and awe and happiness and love. And they said things like "Oh this is surely the most perfect baby there has ever been born!" Just like they had said about your sibling. And they believed it too. In their eyes, you were the most perfect baby they had ever seen. Even if they had seen an equally perfect baby only a few years prior.

And though your parents thought they knew it all, it turned out they knew nothing at all. They had forgotten all about babies. How to hold them and bathe them and feed them and calm them.
You were so tiny and fragile and precious to them. And everything about you was new and exciting and scary and wonderful.
And you weren’t like your sibling at all. Not even a little bit. You were so uniquely you. Different temper. Different wants and needs. Different moods. Different eyes and hair and smile.

Your parents didn't expect that their hearts could expand and swell and make room for just as much love as for their first child. But it could and it did. Just like that.

The moment you arrived into their world, it was like the last piece of the puzzle clicked perfectly into place. They hadn’t even realised a piece had been missing at all. But once they met you, they questioned how they could have gone without you for so long.

You were always meant to be part of the family. In fact, as soon as you arrived you immediately became an essential part of it.
The family wasn’t complete until there was you ❤️

Sensitive ang mga buntis guys, be careful with your words pls 🥺

Tag a buntis friend na strong independent woman pero tanga talaga pagdating sa pagibig hehe u go girl! Alam ni lord na kaya mo lahat yan! Loveyou 😘

Being healthy is beautiful, be careful with yourselves guys!