You guys have been so great at giving advice on all kinds of topics here on Glamour.com--Joanna's wedding dress and Petra's wedding hairdo, for example. So, why not get your thoughts on babies? I know, I just had one--well, 6 months ago--but I'm really struggling with whether I should start giving all the baby clothes away, or whether I should, gulp, try for three...
So, it's been a while since I've posted kid photos, so I thought I'd share! Here are my little men, photographed by my photographer pal Wendi.
This is my 2-year-old, Carson:
And my little guy, Russell, who is almost 6 months old:
Here's the deal: I come from a semi-large family. I'm the oldest of four kids (here's a really goofy photo me and the sibs back in the day). I've always thought that large families were fun and small families were, well, boring--until I became a mom. Truth be told, motherhood is just as joyful and wonderful as it is exhausting and overwhelming. This all makes family planning a little, well, complicated.
On one hand: Two kids seems nice and neat. We'd all fit in my current vehicle, and I wouldn't need to buy a minivan. (The horror!) And, as my husband likes to say, our family would be the perfect little golf foursome. Bonus: I wouldn't have to go through pregnancy again (not my favorite) and risk dealing with more belly flab and weird health complications like my mega ovarian cyst and the weird pregnancy rash called PUPP (seriously, Google it--it was hell).
On the other hand: I'm ga-ga for babies! And, while I adore my two sons, I secretly (or not so secretly) long for a daughter. I'm really close to my mom--we talk on the phone every day. This is not to say that if I had a third boy, I wouldn't be thrilled. I love boys. And maybe I'm just being a wuss about pregnancy. I mean, I survived two, right?
While I have time--I'm 31--I tend to like the idea of rambo parenting. What's this, you ask? It's when you get all the hard stuff (sleepless nights, diapers, bed-wetting, etc.) out of the way in one big intense swoop, rather than space it all out.
But, I shouldn't wait too long, according to experts. In fact, health officials in the UK are launching a campaign to try to get women to have their babies before the age of 35. I see their point--risk factors increase when a woman is pregnant over the age of 35. But, this campaign kind of rubs me the wrong way. Older moms shouldn't be stigmatized or scolded for delaying motherhood. (And by "older moms" I don't mean 70-year-old moms, as I wrote about here.)
Anyway, what do you think? Would you be happy with two healthy, beautiful kiddos and stop right there. Or would you try for three? What do you think I should do?
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