My kids are also 19 months apart. The first few months it was really hard work, especially because my DS did not like to be put down for even a second so he lived most of his life in the wrap or ergo carrier. He's not even four months old yet and already things are much easier. Ever since he could focus on toys and reach for them he is much more content to be put down, and he loves to watch his sister playing. He is also a lot sturdier so he doesn't cry or get hurt if his sister accidentally sits on his arm or kicks him in the head. DD dotes on him and is always wanting to hold him, brings him toys, kisses and hugs him when he cries, etc. She hasn't had any jealousy issues or behaviour regressions, doesn't want to be treated like a baby, etc. She has adjusted very well to having a baby in the house.
I had no problems lifting/carrying my DD at any point in my pregnancy, although she is on the small side and not quite 20 lbs yet at 22 months old. Sometimes now she wants to be picked up and I'll tell her I can't right now because I'm holding the baby and she understands for the most part. She is pretty light though so if she is hurt or upset I can pick her up and hold them one in each arm.
Naps can be a bit tricky. When I need to put the baby down for a nap it's the only time I let my DD watch TV. I usually put on Paw Patrol for her and put her in the playroom while I go down the hall to put the baby down for a nap. Sometimes if baby is super fussy and taking more than 5 min to go down then I put him in the Ergo carrier and walk him around the house to get him to fall asleep so I can keep an eye on my DD. If she was older then I wouldn't mind leaving her unsupervised for longer, but she is still pretty young so I need to keep an eye on her. My DD is easy to put down for her nap, I just change her diaper, put her in her sleep sac and dump her in the crib so it only takes a minute or two. I just put baby down in his crib with the mobile playing while I put DD down. Sometimes he screams the whole time but he survives.
Bed time my OH and I typically do together since the baby has come along. I am in charge of baby and he is in charge of toddler. They get their bath and into the pj's, then we read them stories. If the baby is getting fussy then I go into our room and feed him and put him down to bed while OH continues to read to DD. If I am putting them to bed on my own then sometimes story time gets cut short if the baby is fussy or overtired. Again DD is easy to put down, just dump her in the crib and she will go to sleep. She does very occasionally cry and throw a fit in the crib if story time is cut really short, but that's just the way it goes. She usually only cries for a few minutes and then settles down and goes to sleep. I try to time baby's last nap of the day so he isn't too tired during stories, but sometimes (often) things like that just don't go according to plan so DD just has to learn to adapt to having her brother in her world. The baby can take quite a long time to settle at bed time so I can't put him down first and then do bedtime with my DD, so we just do the best we can.
They will eventually be sharing a room, but right now baby is in our room and DD is in her own room. We will keep them separated until baby is sleeping through the night at which point they will go into the same room.
