5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Baby #3

*Thank you Graco for sponsoring this post. Regardless all thoughts and opinions are my own and I only recommend products and brands I truly love.

I always knew that I wanted a third baby. I remember while in the hospital after giving birth to Tripp thinking about how cool it was that we would have at least one more time to experience the whole having a baby thing. And then we had our third five months ago. I heard a ton of mixed things about what life would 3 kids would be like before having our Millie girl, and when she came it was nothing like I expected. It was difficult in ways I never expected and easier in others. And thanks to things like our Graco Uno2Duo stroller we are making it. But if I could go back in time and tell myself a few things before adding our third, this would be it…

–It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. It’s a crazy transition, especially when your kids are spaced out around how ours are. I still feel overwhelmed a lot of the time. Being responsible for 3 little ones is a lot to manage.

–Every baby and every family is different. So much of how your adapting to a new baby goes is going to depend on your new babies’ personality as well as your existing children’s personalities. No one’s experience is exactly the same. Don’t compare your situation to anyone else’s. Don’t feel bad when someone says “oh 3 was easy for me” if it isn’t for you. For me transitioning to 3 was incredibly hard, and that’s okay!

–You have to get used to never being in a hurry. Everything is do-able. You just have to give yourself time on some things. Grocery store? Sure but be okay with having it take up most of your day. Lunch? Definitely but don’t plan anything immediately afterwards.

–There is a good chance your third kid is going to get sick a lot. Maddie Grace got sick for the first time around 6 months. Tripp got sick for the first time around 3 months. Millie got a cold at only 4 weeks old. And naturally, I called the doctor freaking out. Since then she’s had several more colds and she’s only 5 months old and exclusively breastfed. Every baby has a different immune systems, and strong immune systems definitely do not run in our family, but the third kid is subject to even more terrible toddler germs than your first two so don’t freak out when they seem to constantly have a cold!

–It’s not ridiculous to realize you need new products to adapt to life with 3 kids. A huge blogger recently announced she’s pregnant with her 3rd kid and asked what new baby products there are to look into and someone actually said something along the lines of ‘why do you need anything else don’t you have plenty of stuff from your first 2 kids?’ I kind of laughed. 3 kids means you are outnumbered. You don’t have enough hands. To me it seems natural that there are some products you’re gonna want to have with 3 kids that you didn’t necessarily need with the first 2. One thing that threw me for a loop was finding a stroller that really met our needs as a family of 5. For the most part Maddie Grace and Tripp both don’t wasn’t to ride in the stroller. And then there’s Millie who doesn’t like being worn and wants to be in a stroller. And the fact that every now and then either Maddie Grace or Tripp will decide they do want to be in the stroller too. Most of the double strollers we have a bulky and not convenient and I don’t want to take them along if I don’t have to. The best stroller I found to meet these needs is the Graco Uno2Duo stroller.

The Uno2Duo is really unique in the way it can be either a single stroller or can transition into a double stroller. It easily extends a full 5 inches to transition into a double stroller so that there is room for the 2nd seat or for a child to ride along on the board if they prefer. There are actually up to 22 different ways the stroller can be configured to fit one or two children. And it has ton of useful features that moms of multiple children will appreciate like one hand fold and a cell phone holder. It has awesome large UVF 50+ canopies and has a really smooth ride both mom and kids will enjoy! You can find the Uno2Duo at www.gracobaby.com.

This is a great product for a mom-to-be to add to her registry as well! In fact, there is a chance to win big if you add this to your registry now! When you add the Graco Uno2Duo to your registry and upload a screenshot of it on your registry to the Graco sweepstakes website here you will be entered to win your own Graco Uno2Duo plus your dream registry!