Another baby? Excitement eclipses logistics

On paper, we shouldn’t be having another baby yet. I’ve only been back at work from maternity leave a year, and financially we could be doing better.

Then there’s the fact our small 110sqm two-bedroom house would feel a lot smaller with another person in it and of course twice the children means twice the hard work, right?

Oh, and this week featured probably the most chaotic minute of parenting I’ve ever experienced when getting my 19-month-old ready for a bath and he proceeded to wee all over the wooden living room floor, bend down to try and lick it, and then slipped in it, falling on his bum crying.

It was enough to put anyone off kids, but here I am, four months pregnant with baby number two.

Deciding if you should commit to a second child and the timing around that is a tough one.

Many people have the ‘‘bash it out’’ mentality of having kids close together to get it over it with.

Or there’s an argument to wait until the first is older, so they can be helpful with the new baby.

Others decide ‘‘one and done’’ is for them and don’t have any more children.

It’s hard to know how many children you’ll want until you are in the trenches dealing with the real sprogs in front of you rather than the hypothetical ones you’d talked about with your partner when you first got together.

I always liked the idea of having three kids but having had horrible morning sickness this pregnancy while running around after a very active toddler, I’m not sure I’m cut out for that life.

For me, I knew I wanted kids close in age. With three older brothers, the closest being eight years older than me, I never really got the full sibling experience.

This baby is due four days before my son’s second birthday, so while I won’t fall into the two under two category for long, there won’t be much between them.

The feeling of being ready came on all of a sudden and changed within a few months. Earlier this year I could think of nothing worse than having a newborn.

I am one of the incredibly lucky

Wanting a second chance at the newborn stage, which was so rough for me the first time around, has helped in the excitement of expecting baby number two. and rare parents who have a child who has done the elusive sleeping through the night since he was five months old.

There have been plenty of other struggles, trust me, but for the most part, sleep has not been one of them.

So that means for the last year and a bit, my husband and I have got at least a solid eight to 10 hours every night.

Bringing another baby into the world means giving that up, which I’m sure you can appreciate is hard to fathom.

For women especially, that socalled biological clock comes into play too, with the ticking getting louder and louder with each year over 30.

For me the major signs of feeling ready for another baby have been confidence in my parenting abilities, constantly spotting babies when I am out and about, getting older and not wanting to wait and risk conception struggles, and wanting a second chance at the newborn stage.

The newborn stage with my first was clouded with birth recovery, fear of the unknown, and postnatal depression.

While I’m aware I won’t be immune to these same struggles the second time around, I do feel more confident going into it now having a grasp on what babies need and my role as a parent.

So while on paper bringing a second baby into the mix may seem like a silly idea, you’ve got to trust your gut, or ovaries in this case.

The excitement of having another crack at it, and hopefully enjoying it a little more, as well as watching a sibling bond or rivalry grow, outweighs logistics.