Yes, it's a thing. And yes, this always happens. I have a baby, it's crazy hard, I swear off more offspring, a few months in I get some sleep/start bottle feeding/basically have a life again, and then I forget previously mentioned "crazy hard" times completely, and want more kids. It's a dangerous cycle, friends. I should know better.
The other night, as Brad and I were enjoying a quiet dinner and the three meat balls were blissfully sleeping in their shared room, I mentioned this to Brad. It wasn't the first time I've mentioned it, so he was ready with a response.
"you seem to only mention wanting more kids when all of ours are asleep".
har har HAR.
So, he's right. But isn't that when people should make decisions? From a place of strength?
If we decided to go for baby #2 and #3 in the midst of toddler tantrums and sleep deprivation and low milk supply drama and potty training (you know, a few of my favourite things), we probably would still have one kiddo. Every time we decided to give it a go for the next baby we were sleeping well and life was relatively smooth.
Kind of like right now.
Of course, as I type this, we've just had a rough couple days with tantrums and disobedience, but on the whole things are good chez nous. All three kids sleep through the night, in the same room. One is completely out of diapers (even at night! recent! big deal!), two are in preschool for two days a week, the baby is eating solids and drinks cow's milk and plays independently. It's all become very manageable. Words I never dreamed of saying last winter.
And so I find myself at the place of strength where in the past I'd be ready for our next baby. Except we aren't having another baby. But God knows I long for more kids. God knows my heart for adoption has never decreased, after all these years. But it's not that simple. We can't adopt in our current house, and we haven't come to a decision about if we will adopt yet. So we'll re-open the discussion when we move to a home with three bedrooms and when Oli is in school full-time (minimum two years from now).
In the meantime I'm making terrible decisions like following every.single.Duggar on instagram. Why do I suddenly want 19 kids? Not advised. But also, praying for God's will to be clear to me and the hubs about adoption in the future.
Anyone else have baby fever? Or in my case, forever family fever? Please share!
The other night, as Brad and I were enjoying a quiet dinner and the three meat balls were blissfully sleeping in their shared room, I mentioned this to Brad. It wasn't the first time I've mentioned it, so he was ready with a response.
"you seem to only mention wanting more kids when all of ours are asleep".
har har HAR.
So, he's right. But isn't that when people should make decisions? From a place of strength?
If we decided to go for baby #2 and #3 in the midst of toddler tantrums and sleep deprivation and low milk supply drama and potty training (you know, a few of my favourite things), we probably would still have one kiddo. Every time we decided to give it a go for the next baby we were sleeping well and life was relatively smooth.
Kind of like right now.
Of course, as I type this, we've just had a rough couple days with tantrums and disobedience, but on the whole things are good chez nous. All three kids sleep through the night, in the same room. One is completely out of diapers (even at night! recent! big deal!), two are in preschool for two days a week, the baby is eating solids and drinks cow's milk and plays independently. It's all become very manageable. Words I never dreamed of saying last winter.
And so I find myself at the place of strength where in the past I'd be ready for our next baby. Except we aren't having another baby. But God knows I long for more kids. God knows my heart for adoption has never decreased, after all these years. But it's not that simple. We can't adopt in our current house, and we haven't come to a decision about if we will adopt yet. So we'll re-open the discussion when we move to a home with three bedrooms and when Oli is in school full-time (minimum two years from now).
In the meantime I'm making terrible decisions like following every.single.Duggar on instagram. Why do I suddenly want 19 kids? Not advised. But also, praying for God's will to be clear to me and the hubs about adoption in the future.
Anyone else have baby fever? Or in my case, forever family fever? Please share!
Haha, solidarity, Sister. You know I'm so right there with you.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same. My oldest is quite challenging when it comes to sleep ( honestly I don't think it's possible to sleep train that one).. She is lucky she isn't an only child! Georgia sleeps amazingly and is so content. So now I want a third now that I see not ALL kids are so extreme high energy like my oldest. I for sure have third baby fever but we are waiting since we aren't in a great place financially to do that. I originally thought if have another in four years but now I think when G is 2 we would try again. So far away!!!
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA. Love this...love your honesty. A few months after we got married, baby fever hit hard! I was sure I wanted three kids, but pregnancy has NOT been good to me (I'm still throwing up at 18 weeks AND on diclectin and have unpredictable low blood pressure that makes me faint). I think, deep down, I still want three kids, but I cannot imagine going through this process two more times, all while taking care of kids! But you're totally right, when we are on top of things, we feel like we can tackle a lot more. I can't say I have Duggar fever (though I am sooooo entertained by that show...) but I'm trusting that God will reveal to us how many kids we're supposed to have, and that he will give me the grace to survive pregnancy, childbirth and parenting!
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I loooove that you wanna adopt! Praying for patience as you wait for the Lord to open up the right doors!