When Juliet was born, the first thing I noticed was how much she resembled Drake at birth.  I felt like I was looking at the same baby and even commented to Mr. Chocolate on their similarities.  Mr. Chocolate didn’t believe me at first, until his sister came to visit and showed him a picture on her phone.  He commented how nice Juliet looked and she said, “That’s Drake.”  Then he saw it.

Besides their looks though, I have come to see that Juliet and Drake are as different as different can be in many ways.  Though Juliet is less than a month old and things might change, I thought it would be interesting to compare their  differences in this short time period starting with my pregnancy with each.


Juliet and Drake

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P R E G N A N C Y

Bleeding

The biggest difference when I was pregnant with Drake was I bled, heavy and dark, almost like a period.  I remember when it started around 6 weeks, I panicked and thought I was miscarrying again for sure.  I called my doctor and she let me come in for an ultrasound, and we saw the little yolk sac that let us know baby was there.  Through the weeks I continued to bleed, like a period, and I would routinely get beta levels checked and ultrasounds. Thankfully every time Drake was fine.  At 13 weeks the bleeding stopped though no one was ever able to say why it started to begin with.  Drake was fine though and carried to full term.

I didn’t have any bleeding with Juliet, though I know if I had, I probably wouldn’t have worried as much since I had the experience with Drake and it turned out fine.

Cravings

I craved a lot more sweets with my pregnancy with Juliet.  I’m not normally a sweets girl (except Chocolate of course!), but I found myself wanting ice cream, smoothies, and soda a lot more with my pregnancy with her. My biggest craving during my pregnancy with Drake was yogurt and I found myself not wanting to eat it at all during my 2nd and 3rd trimesters with my pregnancy with Juliet.

Movement in the Womb

Drake was super calm in womb to the point that I didn’t feel him move until 28 weeks.  I joked that I would give birth to him before I ever felt him move inside of me.  When I was 38 weeks pregnant my sonogram technician at my doctor’s office asked if I would let her do some measurements on Drake for her certification renewal. She commented on how wonderful he was as a subject since he didn’t move much and allowed her to get all her measurements quickly and precisely.

I felt Juliet move at 13 weeks and she never stopped.  It felt like she was always moving non-stop in there.  When we went for our gender scan it took the technician twice as long as normal she said as as no sooner had she gotten a good shot to take a measurement then Juliet would move and she would have to  redo everything again.

Braxton Hicks, Heartburn, and Group B Strep

With Drake I never felt Braxton Hicks, with Juliet I did. With Drake I had some heartburn issues, with Juliet I had sciatica. With Drake I tested positive for Group B Strep, with Juliet I was negative.

F E E D I N G

Tongue Tie and Breastfeeding

Drake was tongue tied and thus had difficulties breastfeeding. I chronicled my breastfeeding trials with him in a few different posts, but needless to say we struggled immensely and he lost quite a lot of weight in the early days. That lead to me having to pump and supplement to make sure he was getting enough.  Drake would feed for hours, because he was never getting enough, and was also a big comfort nurser as well.

Juliet and I had some difficulties early on, but overall once we worked through the initial issues  she has proven to be a very efficient eater.  She has been known to feed for half an hour at times, but most days its 15-20 minutes and then she is done.  No comfort nursing — she just pops off once she is full.

Pacifier

Drake being a comfort nurser took to a pacifier very well, Juliet has only recently started to come around to even using a pacifier, for a long time she simply wouldnt keep it in her mouth even, but even when she does use it as soon as she starts falling asleep she drops it like she does when she feeds.  Drake use to wake up every time the pacifier fell out and we would have to stick it back in over and over again.

Gas

Drake never had gas problems or bowel movement issues. Juliet struggles often with gas and we have had to use gas drops with her before each feeding as she often gets very upset and wakes herself up if she has trouble expelling the gas.  She has also gone upwards of 5 days without having a bowel movement which makes her cranky and difficult.  We have had to use suppositories a few times to help make her go.

S L E E P

Probably due to his feeding issues Drake was a poor sleeper, never going more than 1-2 hours in the early days and not sleeping fully through the night until 11 1/2 months. Juliet, at less than a month of age, has slept 5-7 hours straight a handful of times already. On most nights she will average at least one or two 3-5 hour stretches.

Drake was very hard to put down as he would wake up the moment you placed him down causing you to have to rock him down again, only to have him wake up again. Juliet needs to be rocked sometimes, but as a whole if she falls asleep once you set her down she stays asleep and she is easy to put down.

Swing

Drake slept in his swing almost exclusively for the first month and a half. It seemed like the only place he would sleep.  Our bassinet in our pack and play had a vibration box and when he did sleep in there, that always had to be on and if it turned off he would often wake up. Even when he was awake Drake liked to sit in the swing and watch the world.

Juliet doesnt seem to care for the swing or bouncer.  If she is falling asleep you can place her in it, but she will only tolerate it for a short amount of time before she is upset.  Once you hold her in your arms she usually settles down quickly.  We lost the vibration box to the bassinet, but it doesn’t matter as Juliet can sleep in the bassinet fine without it.

White Noise

Drake needed a white noise box with him to sleep and at 3 he still uses it. Juliet doesnt seem to need white noise as she sleeps fine without it.

P E R S O N A L I T Y 

Drake was and is a very calm baby. Just like in womb, he wasn’t very active and even at 3 is happy coloring, reading books, and playing puzzles quietly by himself for periods of time.  His nickname as a baby from the extended family was “Lump” because he would just lay there at times watching and observing everything around him.

Juliet, though quite young so it’s hard to say this for sure, is a bit more feisty I would say.  When she is awake she is quite active and moving. She lifted her head up from tummy time the day she was born and has already rolled over a few times to Mr. Chocolate and my surprise and amazement (we are still trying to catch it on film)! When you hold her over your shoulder, she often will pick up her head to look around.  She is a swaddle breaker extraordinaire despite her love of being swaddled.

So despite similar looks, I feel like I couldn’t have two more different babies.  Only time will tell if they remain as different or grow more similar in behaviors and personalities.

Moms of more than one — were your kids more similar or opposite?