A wave of emotion

I am pregnant with #2, my daughter is about 2 1/2. To this point I have been excited to make her a big sister and give her a playmate. Today I had this wave of fear that I only have 5 months left with my little girl al by herself. In 5 months she will have to share, toys, space, attention. I have been so excited to see how the sibling relationship will develope but today I am scared to death of what I have done.  I'm sure it will be wonderful but I just want to make sure my daughter is comfortable.  Any thoughts or ideas of how I can make the most of out last alone time and get her used to whats coming?

I don't have children but I love my little sister and I don't know what I'd do without her. We are almost 3 years apart and she means the world to me. Sure we fought like crazy but we also played nonstop. I still remember playing barbies with her, exploring, making music videos, dressing up, ect. We had and still have so much fun together. Your daughter is lucky to be a big sister :)

Oh, my. I understand exactly how you feel. I worried every day how my daughter would adjust to no longer being the only child/grandchild/niece (on both sides of the family!). She really did great.

We made sure she was very involved in the pregnancy. We bought her a couple books on being a new sister (her favorite was Little Critter's "New Baby"). We asked her if she thought it was a boy or girl and what names she liked. She even helped paint the nursery. The hospital we delivered at even offered a class for soon-to-be new siblings. They watched a video, diapered and cared for baby dolls, toured the maternity wing and decorated bibs for their new siblings.

Once the baby was born, we made sure all visitors greeted her BEFORE the baby. When someone brought a gift for the baby, they brought her a small one, too (not at our request but it was great!). She was the first one (other than her dad and I) to hold the baby and we made sure to include her by asking for her help as much as possible.

All that being said, I cried every day for the first seven days we were home after the baby was born. I was an emotional wreck because I didn't get to spend as much time as I normally would with my daughter. I feared she felt like I was pushing her away and that she was hurt by having to go to daycare while I was at home with the baby (we didn't want to mess up her schedule by keeping her home). After that first week, I saw how much she loved her brother and how well she was adjusting and just like that, I didn't feel the anguish anymore.

I'm sure a lot of my fear was hormonal. Once I was no longer pregnant and out of that crazy stage afterward, I figured out how to balance my time with them. I made sure my husband took the baby for an hour or so when my daughter came home from school so I could have one-on-one time with her.

I can't say it will be easy on you but I know your daughter will do great! Kids are resiliant and their love is unconditional!