There is not much explanation needed here. I was telling Theo the other day that we should just stick with having one baby. Of course, I know that will never happen as both of us have always wanted a large family.
But, seriously (or joking-ly, really)…here are 5 reasons I am just sticking with one.
5. I’ll be out of luck.
Oh my goodness….Tera is such a good baby. We are only 3 1/2 weeks in, but I really can’t complain about her habits. Sure, she gets really fussy sometimes and cries until my frustration level is through the roof, but all that is perfectly normal for a baby. She eats like a champ, she is growing, she poops right on cue (when she has a clean diaper, of course!), and she only wakes up about once in the night. Plus, she is absolutely adorable.
I’m afraid if I have another child, the child will be the exact opposite. Crying all the time. Health problems. Maybe even a little bit ugly. Keeping me up all night. I don’t know…Tera is just such a great baby, I might be out of luck!
4. Managing two (or more!) of these?
Honestly, I don’t know how YOU do it. Yes, you. You with the 2 kids. You with the 3 kids. You with the 4 kids. You with the two kids and twins on the way (yes, you, Alesha!) How do you possibly manage two toddlers and breastfeed at the same time? I can’t handle anything but sitting still and feeding the baby.
And how do you do when the baby keeps you up most of the night, and you still have to wake up at 6 am with the toddler? (my secret to sanity with a newborn is staying in bed until 10ish).
I feel like I have a handle on this whole feeding the baby, changing the baby, rocking the baby, holding the baby. I’m starting to realize that there may be hope for me in making dinner and getting a load of laundry done. MAYBE I can even fit a shower in there….but what do you do when there are already more (bigger) babies in the house?
3. It ain’t cheap.
Ha. Self-explanatory. Diapers. Wipes. Breast pads to keep up with all that leaking. A new wardrobe- for baby AND for me. Bassinet. Blankets. Carseat. Hospital Bills. The list goes on and on. It all adds up, even if you are the most frugal person in the world.
2. Labor.
Yeah, this one is pretty self-explanatory, too. A couple times during labor, I looked at Theo and say ‘we are NEVER doing this again.’ Honestly, the first week or so after labor, I still felt that I would NEVER want to do it again.
I guess it kind of is like running a marathon. You hate it during. You even hate it after. But then slowly your mind forgets the pain and remembers the glories, and you somehow decide that you want to do it again.
But, really…why would you go through that again when you KNOW what it’s gonna be like?
1. My heart would explode
We are absolutely smitten with our Tera-girl. How could I possibly handle feeling this way about TWO (or more!) children? How could my heart handle the worries of a mother-heart for more than one child? How could my heart learn to share all this love that I have for Tera?
Oh, I know the answers to all those questions- it just does. It just does it. It loves each child differently, but equally. But I think that if that were to happen, my heart would just not know how to handle it…
1. I thought the same thing before you would born. How could I possibly love another child as much as I loved the one I already had? When you love a child 100% how can you love any more than that? But you do. Finally somebody put it this way and it made perfect sense: You don’t have just a given amount of love that you have to divide among all those you love. Love doesn’t divide, it multiplies. So you always have enough love. Now, time and energy, that’s another matter. LOL.
I think the second baby is the hardest transition. After that it doesn’t matter. But you become better at all the things you juggle, and you are maturing and growing into mothering as well as the baby is growing, so you get better at it. I was so scared before having the second one, and I spent a day with this lady who had several children and saw that after one you just have to be more organized. She told me that you have to learn to do things in stages. You may boil the macaroni during the morning nap, fry the ground beef during the afternoon nap, and throw the goulash together at supper time. And you just sleep less!
#4. You adapt, you dont sleep or shower, and you take pictures because otherwise you dont remember what happened. And then one day they start to nap at the same time, or they become more independent, and it starts to get easier and its ok. And then, crazy you, you decide to have another and you end up with twins. So…I’ll let you know how that one goes. The whole nursing two with two older kids thing. Or really, doing anything! But I know someday, two years down the road, I’ll be showering again and maybe cooking and cleaning. (I won’t be having another though!)