How did you know you were ready for another baby?

DH & I have been talking. Ryan is going to be 9 months this June 3rd coming up soon. we were talking about letting things just "happen" and we will just be suprised, But now that i am thinking about it I kind of feel bad saying to myself Well Ryan wont be the "only one" though. Do you ever get over that? Anyone start trying while they had a 9 month old. Any advice would be so helpful Thank you ladies!!!

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

I dont know how one would know that they are ready...however I know how you know you arent ready!

But I will say both my SILs have kids that are 18 months apart and they love it! Its alot of work though. I think some has to do with finances. My one SIL was already a SAHM but my other SIL quit her job because in her opinion childcare was just too much. She took a PT job to earn some extra money but she was lucky she could do that.

We know we arent ready because when I look at DS I have NO desire to be pregnant again. My thought always was to have kids at least 3 years apart so it was planned this way. Also I am enjoying the things I can do with DS now that he is nearly a year and a half. And I want to do some things now with just him before adding another child. This is JMO though.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

When you find the answer please fm me. I am on the fence everyday.

I really want another. I have boy/girl twins and want them to have a sibling besides there "twin." I want to have more then 2 kids, I just see myself with more and can't imagine this being the last time I have little ones. (They are just turned 2.) I come from a large family and love/loved it.

The flip side: I really don't know if we can truly afford it. We could when they were little (as long as the grandparents and my DH schedule continued to work out) but I don't know about as they grow up. I had the twins very prematurlely and the idea of putting another child or my family through that is heartbreaking. That being said, I also feel like I was robbed of some of the joy having a full term healthy baby brings. Then there is the selfish things, they are getting older and with each year it gets easier.

Sorry I hijacked your post but lately this is constantly on my mind. Anyone else experience this?

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

i'll be honest-
reason #1 i am 34 and while that is not old, to me it is old enough and i did not want to go beyond that. that is my personal feeling though.

and then #2 reason is that DD will be 2 yrs exactly when DS is born-i did not want to do the "baby thing" 5 years from now when DD is in elementary school. i did not want to drag out my bouncy, exersaucer, etc. i want to have babies close together and get through the similar phases close together. 2 yrs. for me was perfect- not too close but not too far apart either. i get anxious when i think about having a newborn and toddler, but know it will even out eventually and i hope to be glad i did it this way.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

DD is 15 months and I "think" we are ready. DH would like to start TTC right now, I want to wait till October. We decided last month to stop the BCP and let what happens, happen.

I dont really have an answer for you, some days it feels right, some days Im so afraid of having another little one.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

I dont think you ever really "know". For us it was more that we didn't want too big of an age difference.. so we started TTC right before DD turned 3. We're now due with #2 in September and DD will almost be 4.

We are both ready.. I just hope that DD will be ready. Lately I've been getting emotional about it and wondering if she'll get upset with me once the baby comes. Im sure its something every mom goes through but its been hitting me a lot harder lately

DH felt this way before we started trying for the second though, him and DD are really close and he had the "I dont know if I can love another as much as I love DD" feeling. Its a decision that takes a lot of thought!

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

I definitely have baby fever...I want to hurry up and start TTC again (we said end of summer we'll start) before her terrible two's begin and we get too scared to have another!!

AM I ready?...I have no idea..but I dont think I'll ever answer that question with a yes..there's always something...

Message edited 5/26/2009 10:32:55 PM.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

Honestly, I didn't know I was ready but it didn't matter because I got pregnant anyway. DD is 7.5 months old now and will be 14 months when DC #2 is born. I am super nervous about how we will manage it all- finances, childcare, sanity. But like a PP said, I am 34 years old and I do want another baby, so better earlier than later IMO. I also figured it was best to get the infancy stages out of the way at the same time or as close as possible. So, to answer your question- I have no idea. What I do know is that I knew I wanted to have another child at some point so DH and I just said a prayer, closed our eyes and woke up one morning with 2 lines staring back at us.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

i've been ready since i gave birth

but seriously, DH and i decided that we wanted #1 and #2 to be fairly close in age - we never had that growing up and in my experience it's a good thing to have a sibling close in age.

plus i LOVED being pregnant, and i cannot wait to do it again.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

I wanted mine about two years apart and that is exactly what I got give or take a few days. I knew for myslef that if I waited too long, it would be harder...so we waiting until DS was about 1 and TTC. It is just starting to get a little easier, they are 2 and 4 now, and getting more indepdent.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

We wanted them very close together because we both felt siblings with big age gaps aren't as close (yes, yes, there are exceptions).

Before we knew it, our first was a year old. My roommate from college called & said "We should get pregannt together". So I talked to DH if we still wanted to go back to the plan & it was a done deal. I was very fortunate - a few weeks later I was pregnant. My old roommate had to wait another year before opting for an RE.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

I also didnt want to TTC because I really was sad thinking that I wouldnt be able to give Jacob all of my attention. Then when he turned 1.5 for some reason my feelings changed. I actually wanted him to have a sibling and not be alone. Then the baby itch came

Message edited 5/27/2009 8:41:47 AM.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

I'm older (38), had DD when I was 35 and hoped to be ready quickly after she was born. I wanted to try to have 3 DC before I turned 40. Well, DD was not a good sleeper, our marriage took a huge hit when she was born (we had just moved far away from family & friends before DD was born, DH had a new, stressful job that required a TON of travel, so life was very stressful.) It took a long time before I was ready for another one. We also lived in a 2 bedroom apartment in downtown Chicago which was not so kid friendly. We finally moved into a nice, big house in the 'burbs this past August and then I was ready. Unfortunately, it's taking awhile for baby #2. I say you should go for it. It will probably be hard to have them so close for awhile, and your DS may have a hard time adjusting briefly. But it will be so great to have them close growing up together.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

I don't think i was really ready till a couple months ago. Even though DS is a great baby, i really wanted to enjoy him a little. Also, his pregnancy was rough so i needed DS to be a little older in case the my next pregnancy is the same. Now that DS will be 2 next month and me and my DH are so excited and ready to TTC #2

Message edited 5/27/2009 8:23:21 AM.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

It was kind of like a switch went off one day for me. I knew I wanted my kids between 2 and 3 yrs. apart but up until DS was about 16 mo. or so I was not ready to have another baby. As he got more independent I thought it was time for us.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

Once he turned a year I knew I wanted to start trying for another one. It actually took 6 months this time, and I think the time was def. a good thing. As every month passed he became more and more independent, and we also got to enjoy this time with just him.

I'm anxious for #2 to get here now because I am ready for our family to grow and to see how Jack is going to be as a big brother!

Also - we are still pretty undecided if we would go for a third, and I am 32 now, want to wait at least two years for the next one I think, and don't really want to be pregnant after 35. I feel beaten up now, I don't know how I would do it then!

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

I actually cannot wait to have #2 however, part of me will miss all of this alone time with my DD Emerson. It will be strange to have to divide my time.

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

Re: How did you know you were ready for another baby?

I knew right away (before DD was even born) we would try for #2 fairly quickly. I had to do a couple of IVF attempts to get pregnant with DD and will need to do the same for #2. DD will be 8 months old when we try for #2. Age is also a factor for me, I'm 38 and DH will be 44 in a couple of months.

I also LOVED being pregnant and I really miss it!