A few people around me are either pregnant or trying to get pregnant. It makes me often think: am I ready for another baby? My oldest is nearly four, my youngest just turned one, and my goal of having three kids before thirty is fast approaching...
But am I ready for another one? I recently wrote the hub: Am I Ready to Have a Baby? Questions to Ask if You Are Thinking about Getting Pregnant, Pregnancy and Having Kids . It reflects on several questions prospective parents should ask themselves before trying to have a baby. My answers to those questions seem so serious at times, but I gave answers that are honest. Having babies is a tough business! Ask any new or old mom, and they'll tell you: being a mom isn't a one time gig. It's a job that lasts a lifetime.
A third baby. One, two, three. If I were to have the baby in nine months, my youngest two would be twenty-one months apart. Nearly two years apart. That's not too bad, right? And if I have my next child soon, I can use the baby gear I still have available to me without having to purchase or find anything else.
My goal of three before thirty was set many moons ago, before things changed. Before I became a stay-at-home mom. Before we lost my steady income. Before things got tight financially...
Can we swing it? We're surviving well, but what happens when you add another being into the mix? I do look at it this way: if the baby is a boy, I have enough boy clothes to last me through the first five years. If it's a girl, same thing with the clothes. I have three car seats, one being an infant carrier that is currently not being used. I have a double stroller plus an umbrella stroller. I have a pack-n-play, bouncer, high chair, bouncy seat, potty chair...Heaven knows I have enough toys. I even have diapers in various sizes that I have saved as my kids grew out of certain sizes. As far as all of that goes, I'm set.
What about the formula? Statistically, for me, my babies end up on formula. I guess once pregnant I could start slowly stocking up on it. That might be it, really. That's not so bad...
Sigh. It's a big decision, not to be taken lightly. Am I ready for another baby?
Did you have to think this through as I did? What made you decide you were ready to have a baby?