Is Three a Crowd?

When my first daughter was eight months old, I was totally ready to get pregnant again.  I know it sounds crazy, but, well, what can I say, I must be crazy.  Sadly, "reason" stepped in; I felt an obligation to go back to my job for longer than just a few months, so we ended up waiting a couple of years before getting pregnant again.

My second daughter is now five months old.  I'm not quite ready to get knocked up yet, but I am thinking about the next one and the timing of another pregnancy.  Funny thing is, when I mention to friends that my husband and I want to have a third child, they invariably respond with a dumbfounded, "No!  Really?!"

I know that part of the reason they are astonished is because my oldest daughter is on a very strict diet to control her epilepsy, and it's a lot of work.  But even when I explain that we're not planning for another child in the immediate future, they still find it hard to believe.

Most of my friends are sticking with two kids.  I get that and I respect that.  It's what's done these days.  It's what I thought I wanted, too, once upon a time.  But hubby comes from a family of three kids, and he has always maintained that two just isn't enough.  In the beginning I told him that an odd number of kids was clearly a bad idea, because someone always gets left out, and everyone knows the middle child is always messed up, right?  He suggested we "compromise" with four.  ("Fine," I muttered.  "YOU can gestate two of them.")

I came around to the idea of three kids, though.  So much so, that I'm already thinking about number three.  So much so, that when I felt a brief wave of nausea last week, I started to think I really ought to pick up some pregnancy tests.  Since I am breastfeeding exclusively, it seemed unlikely that I would be pregnant again already.  But stranger things have happened.  When the brief wave of nausea was back the next day, and the next, I started to sweat a little.  What if...?

I knew right away that if I saw a test that said Not Pregnant, I was going to feel relieved.  And also very, very disappointed.

Of course, the day after that, I spent a whole night communing with a big blue bucket, reviewing the contents of my stomach in a way not intended by nature.   "Not Pregnant!" said my brain.  "Grab the bucket!" screamed my stomach.  And I was relieved.

But Baby Number Three is still on my mind.  It's not that crazy, is it?  Not if we wait a little while?

Y'know, I'm thinkin' I really ought to pick up a pack of pregnancy tests.

This is an original Canada Moms Blog post.  Fawn's mad plans are regularly detailed at Fawnahareo's Place.