I never thought I would say this, but I think I’m ready to expand our family to baby number three. 

Let me explain. With my first pregnancy, I was so sick in my first trimester that I literally said she would be the only child. “Like, how are we all here and why do people continue to do this to themselves”, was what I was thinking most if not all of my first and second trimester. Well, the entire pregnancy. Needless to say, I had my daughter and she was THE most beautiful little human I had ever seen. I immediately had baby fever and wanted to do it again. 

Add on top of that the fact that I was diagnosed with PCOS and Prolactinoma and had very little chance of conceiving in the first place, so she is indeed our miracle baby that caught us by surprise and my heart longed for more babies.  

Let me back up a bit, I was grateful to get pregnant, and felt a rush of JOY when we found out but the symptoms of pregnancy were not what I had imagined. It was horrible. I’m not that person that skips through pregnancy with a smile on my face. I’m more the one that looks like she’s been hit by a truck and just needs food and sleep. Yep, that’s me. But needless to say, after having my daughter and going through the rough pregnancy I wanted another one. Babies will do that to you!

So 18 months later, we find out about miracle number two. Who also happened to surprise us. Talk about excited! I was so overjoyed and immediately knew it was going to be a boy. That was week 5, by week 7 I was so sick I could barely eat and by week 10, I had lost 10 pounds in one week. I went to the gastroenterologist because it was definitely gluten related, and found out I needed to stay away from gluten and sugar alcohols. Both of those things made me super sick. For anyone with an autoimmune disease or a celiac intolerance, I definitely got a SMALL, very small, taste of what you go through daily. For me it lasted through the second trimester and even a few weeks into third trimester. Since it was a boy, I said the whole time, this is definitely the last one! We’re done after this! We have our girl, we have our boy! We’re good to go! I was totally done and ready to move on with my life of two small kids. Then I had my son Josiah. Yep, it happened again.

This time I was content with having small kids for about 3-6 months, then I got baby fever again! As my little baby boy grew, I knew and felt in my heart that I wanted more children. My husband and I spoke and he says three is ideal for him. So we made the decision that we want to have one more child. My son is 10 months old now as of February 2019 and after he turns one in March, we are planning to expand.

Here are 5 things I’m thinking about as I plan for baby number 3 (no judgement).

1. The birthdate. We all do it! It can’t be too close to my daughter’s or my son’s birthday. One was born at the beginning of February and the other was born at the end of March, so no conceiving from May-July. The ideal conception date would be around October-November. That would give us a July or August birthdate which is perfect. We are, however, leaving it all in God’s hands. We just want a healthy baby at the end of the day.
2. Lifestyle. Who will take care of three small kids (two toddlers and one baby) so we can go on date night? One is okay, two is a lot but three is a bit much and depends on the person. Will our lives be contained within our home until the oldest is big enough to watch her siblings? How can we continue to focus and build our marriage throughout this process? These are questions we’re asking because our marriage is a HUGE priority, only second to God in our household. Our relationship must fit, so we need to plan this out with the understanding that our plans can change at any moment. 
3. Finances. Babies are expensive. We are currently looking at our budget and how a new baby will fit into it with all the expenses. What do we need to cut out, do we need to add an extra stream of passive income, maybe a new or better job? Our budget is definitely being examined so we can make responsible and wise decisions going forward. We love Dave Ramsey and his wisdom, so that is helping us plan it out as well. 
4. Health. I actually never stopped taking my prenatal vitamins because they are really good for my son to get his nutrients through breastfeeding, but also because I just feel better. I am a few pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight so I have some toning and working out to do. I have at least 6 months ahead of me so my diet has changed and my workout schedule has increased. I’ve also completed a physical and have an appointment to check on the other issues they diagnosed me with a few years ago.
5. Reducing my stress and enjoying my family. At times we can be so focused on the next that we don’t enjoy the now. I don’t ever want to get so wrapped up in the next child that I am not present with the beautiful gifts God has given me right in front of my face. Both of them are miracles and the third one will be too. So no stress, no worries. I love my little family and while, yes, I can’t wait to add to our growing family, they are enough.

If for some reason we don’t have baby number three, I will be okay. We have our plans but God determines our steps and with that, I am thankful. We will see what 2019 holds for The Reed Family. Here we go!