I have 3 boys, now 7.5, 5.5 and 3. The first 2 years were tough until my two older boys were in full day preK and 1st and I had the youngest home alone. (SAHM with no family, now work PT weekends). I was very hard on my oldest, then 4. He had to grow up faster but I think its given him confidence compared to his peers who might have been babied longer (like my youngest!)

I LOVE 3. Two seems like alliances within the family can be more set in stone. I enjoy the changing dynamics of being alone with each 3, or different pair combinations.

I also say with 3 kids, at least one is favorite at any time because one will be the least annoying. Whether thats my oldest quietly reading in the back of the minivan while 2 and 3 are battling, or loving my middle when he helps me chop veggies and the other 2 are running around the house or just still getting those sweet little cuddles while my older omes are being (age appropriately) dudes.

With 2, logistics were easier. Less time in and out of the car, easier to zip around errands or travel. But with 5, I feel like we are a self contained unit that doesnt need extracurriculars, big holiday family gatherings etc to make occassions feel complete.

Can you afford help with cleaning the house? Use a meal service, like Blue Apron. Lots of people do it. Accept that there will be good days and bad days.

Anonymous wrote:Going from 2 to 3 is a lot easier than going from 1 to 2, and way easier than 0 to 1!

+1

I have a 6.5, 4.5 and nearly 2, all boys. My youngest had health complications at birth, but had it not been for that, the transition from 2 to 3 was the easiest. We love it. We don’t have helpful family in the area, but my parents come to help a few times a year and we hire help as we need it. Things we have let go are our house (much more cluttered, especially with laundry!) and strict food rules - I don’t have as much time to prep food and snacks, so we do more shortcuts. Also, even at this age they are eating us out of the house! My husband is more involved than many we’ve met around here - which is necessary for my sanity. He feeds them breakfast, splits bedtime and pickups, covers if I need to take one to the dr, and is engaged with them/us 75% of the weekend, and overall we’re pretty happy. The older two play together a lot of the time, and often the baby wants to join in, which makes things easier . I think this is helped bc they are all the same gender, but who knows. We always wanted at least 3 and are considering one last one, but generally the biggest challenge we’ve had is logistics of pickup/drop offs. Congratulations! It is a lot of fun!

Going from 2 to 3 is a lot easier than going from 1 to 2, and way easier than 0 to 1!

Anonymous wrote:So working parents of three? We are doing that, but I’m hating my job more and more, house is always a dumpster fire, I think the youngest may have scurvy...

I love the kids, just wish DH made enough that I could quit. No luck finding part time professional work. So we slog along and.

#3 is 4, so hopefully once school age he will be more independent.

AND WTH, your DH should have gotten snipped years ago, don’t let this go on. We had our 3rd at 44!

ops second just turned 1. There would be no second hold if he had a vasectomy years ago.

Anonymous wrote:So working parents of three? We are doing that, but I’m hating my job more and more, house is always a dumpster fire, I think the youngest may have scurvy...

I love the kids, just wish DH made enough that I could quit. No luck finding part time professional work. So we slog along and.

#3 is 4, so hopefully once school age he will be more independent.

AND WTH, your DH should have gotten snipped years ago, don’t let this go on. We had our 3rd at 44!

PP here, and we were hoping for a 3rd, but as soon as that stick was blue, DH scheduled the snip.

So working parents of three? We are doing that, but I’m hating my job more and more, house is always a dumpster fire, I think the youngest may have scurvy...

I love the kids, just wish DH made enough that I could quit. No luck finding part time professional work. So we slog along and.

#3 is 4, so hopefully once school age he will be more independent.

AND WTH, your DH should have gotten snipped years ago, don’t let this go on. We had our 3rd at 44!

It’s really hard, tbh. The highs are high and the lows are low. But I couldn’t imagine our family any other way. My kids are awesome, wild, and add so much joy to our life.

Three four and under will be very hectic but you will love the baby and things will be fine. We had three 4 and under and survived.

Anonymous wrote:Why did you think the chances were low?

How is this relevant to OPs question?

I know it sucks when you already agreed on the number of children to have but this is a gift from god. If you can finically support it, I don't see why not. You're very far along but why no abortion? I've known married women who got abortions after not wanting more children.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm nervous but we are excited. There is guilt but I'm trying to get past that. It's hard but I'm hoping things will one day be easier. We do family and can hire childcare help. I don't plan to quit my job. We weren't using birth control but thought chances of naturally conceiving were very low.

And the cycle of stupidity continues...

Why are you being rude to OP?

Anonymous wrote:Why did you think the chances were low?

OP here. I suffer with PCOS and it took us two years to get pregnant with our first. We had to do IVF to get pregnant with our second. We normally use protection but we didn’t a couple of times. My husband got a scheduled vasectomy a month later.

It’s too late now so just deal with it. We have three with about the same age gap as yours but now they are older. It certainly was more hectic than with just two but we did fine. The key is both parents being very active with the children so one isn’t overwhelmed and gets resentful. My husband worked long hours but on weekends he was all in as a parent. Except for tennis during the summer from 7:30 -9 he was always around and doing things with the children. We were very happy to have three children and feel blessed.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm nervous but we are excited. There is guilt but I'm trying to get past that. It's hard but I'm hoping things will one day be easier. We do family and can hire childcare help. I don't plan to quit my job. We weren't using birth control but thought chances of naturally conceiving were very low.

And the cycle of stupidity continues...