I loved you instantly, of course.

It was the second time in my life that a delivery-room nurse had placed a wrinkled newborn girl in my arms.

When my lips brushed across your cheek, I knew it would be a cinch to love you as much as I loved your big sister. But I knew I’d need to love you differently.

I was smitten. And I was terrified—not of what  you’d be like, but what  I’d be like as your mother. What if I made comparisons? What if it were true that birth order would have a profound and lasting effect on the kind of grown-up you would become? And what if my sloppy parenting ruined you for life?

Sure, I loved you instantly. But what if I didn’t love you right?

The rest of this message for second-borns, middle-borns (and their parents) continues over at The High Calling today. Join us? (Click here.)