30 weeks pregnant and having a wobble

[Prawncocktail24]

I'm 30 weeks pregnant and also have a 2 year old...the last few days I've suddenly been hit with panic of how I'm going to cope with a baby and a toddler. My 2 year old was snuggled up on my knee this morning and I just kept thinking he's going to have to share me with a baby, and he's such a mummy's boy I'm so worried a baby is going to ruin his little world.

DH is great, always pulls his weight with the toddler and round the house, but does work long hours, whereas I'm part time and particularly when I'm on mat leave it'll be a lot of me alone with 2 little ones. We don't have any local family and no real, hands on support really and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Just looking for some reassurance that I've not ruined my toddler's life and that I can do this please.

I think it's natural to have these thoughts, I'm 31 weeks with a 4 year old and having similar thoughts of how to cope, what's going to happen etc... you won't have ruined your toddlers life, it may be hard for a while but ultimately it will all be fine.

Ah I was in your position this time last year. Honestly, it's been fine and I needn't have worried. My 2 year old loved her baby brother pretty much from the get go and seeing their bond and relationship develop now he's getting a bit older is just the cutest.

There are some days where it's hard and it feels like there's always one or both of them crying and needing you and it can feel overwhelming in the moment but you do just cope and adapt. I often joke that it's 90% under control and 10% total chaos and carnage. The early months when baby wasn't mobile were the easiest. I'd keep him in the sling and just crack on with the toddler. Now he's older me and DH do a lot of dividing and conquering and I try hard to still get small pockets of time with my eldest.

My toddler turned 3 in the summer so also started nursery and that helped as she gets time away from baby to do her own thing and baby also gets some quiet 1-1 time. It's also surprising how much more efficient you become at getting stuff done second time around.

Good luck, you'll adapt and it'll be great (most of the time) 😃

@elb1504 @Fizxy thanks for the reassurance, it was what I needed to hear! I keep telling myself loads of people have 2 kids and cope, so of course it'll all be fine, but I think the closer to the end of my pregnancy I'm getting, the more the reality of it is setting in. I think I'm just worrying about all the negatives though, so I think I'll try and look forward to my eldest bonding with the baby and some of the (hopefully) nicer times we'll have too.