I’ve been hearing from so many moms that they are afraid to have another baby or they are already expecting baby number 2 and are afraid. Afraid because they think it’s going to be so much harder the second time around now that they will have two. They remember how hard the first time was and they wonder how the hell they are going to do that again, but this time with the first one running around.

Please don’t be scared and don’t put off giving your child that sibling you so badly want them to have. There’s no reason to. It’s because it’s actually MORE enjoyable the second time around. You know what to expect now, but more importantly, you know all too well how quickly the baby stage will end. You know now that pretty soon they won’t need mommy to rock them to sleep. They won’t need mommy for cuddles into the night. And they soon won’t be so tiny that they can curl up and fit entirely on your chest. So the second time around you won’t be wondering when you will be able to sleep again, or clean your house, or even get your body back (if they are attached to your boobs). Instead you will know to cherish every second because those seconds go by in a flash and will soon seem like a lifetime ago.

As I write these words, typing on my phone in the middle of the night (12:43am to be exact), I am still not asleep for the night. Just when I finally lay down and closed my eyes for a few hours my little baby boy who turned 5 months old at the stroke of midnight started to cry. And when I went over to him and his little hand reached up and grabbed my finger and he immediately calmed down, I forgot how tired I was. All I could think about was how the hell he was 5 months old already and how it won’t be forever that I will have the ability to solve all my baby’s problems just by being there.

So please, don’t be afraid to have that second baby. It’s so much more special the second time around. Because you know it will end. You know the needy, clingy stage that was so hard for you to adjust to with your first one will end before you know it, and you also know just how much you will miss it when it’s over.

And yes, I cried the entire time I wrote this.