All Photography in this blog: 10elevenphotography

So I’m not having another baby…. Anytime soon.

To say that my husband and I get this question all the time is an understatement. Our answer is always the same, not anytime soon, or, in 3 to 5 years, or we don’t really know. A lot of people say leave it at that. Some people don’t. It’s not an easy question to really answer, although everyone likes to ask it. I don’t blame them for asking, it’s something that most married couples probably experience. That’s why I thought I’d write this post to give some clarity to the subject, and why I don’t plan on having another one anytime soon.

1. My body changed DRAMATICALLY

This isn’t something everyone necessarily everyone thinks of but your body is completely different before and after you have a baby. I had incredibly bad morning sickness with Leo, to the point where it was hard to do anything without having to go to the bathroom. Eventually my doctor prescribed me morning sickness pills… which were super expensive! I’m not saying that means I will with my next pregnancy, but that feeling was awful. I was also so tired, got winded easily, and had what my husband called sausage toes. I’m still trying to love my body now, I don’t want to put it through another pregnancy at the moment.

And labor sucks, just saying. I’ll leave it at that.

2. Leo does not need to have a sibling, stop telling me he does.

This one really get’s me mad, but it’s time I address this.  It’s extremely rude to say to me that my son deserves/needs a sibling (yes, I’ve been told those exact words). He doesn’t. I’m his mom, I’ll make those decisions for my son. It doesn’t make sense for us to have a baby only for Leo to have a sibling. If we decide we want another, it will be because we want to. I’m not really the person who wants or needs to have my kids close in age. Would it be nice, yes, but I don’t think that it’s a determining factor for us when deciding to have another baby.

My son will be fine either way. Stop telling me that I’m being selfish or that Leo won’t grow up happy without a sibling. That is… honestly… rude.

3. We’re just now becoming financially stable.

This one is a no brainier for me. It’s nice to be able to provide Leo with whatever he wants and having money let for ourselves and savings. When Leo was born we really struggled with this for a while. I LIKE to work. This might be selfish to say, but I don’t want to spend more money on diapers and formula at the moment. Let us save us some money first and then we’ll talk.

4. We are still so young.

I don’t really think I need to go in depth here. I didn’t want babies until I was 30. I was blessed with Leo, but want to take my time for ME before I have another blessing in my life.

5. I like spending time with just Leo.

One is one, two is 20. Right? Leo is a lot of work on his own, I don’t know if I could handle another one (actually I know I couldn’t). I’m in LOVE with Leo. Right now, he’s my everything. I want to spend as much time with just him as I can right now before I have another baby.

6. Mental Health

I had postpartum depression. It’s not something I’ve ever gone in depth about, but it wasn’t easy. I wouldn’t feel like getting out of bed, taking care of Leo, or taking care of myself. I know, at this moment, I would not be able to mentally handle another pregnancy and then baby.

7. I like to sleep… a lot.

This may be my most important one, I LOVE my time to sleep. And so does Leo. He’s harder to get out of bed in the mornings than I am. Selfish, maybe. But having to wake up every 2 hours in the middle of the night was not fun. I’m enjoying having a solid 8 hours at the moment.

8. Because I don’t feel like it.

Isn’t that enough? I just don’t want to right now. Big families are amazing, there’s nothing wrong with having multiple kids back to back. But to be honest, 2 or 3 is our magic number (depends who you ask) I like where or family is at now. In the future I may change my mind and have 10 kids, but for now I’m content with my life. Right now, 1 baby is working for us, and that’s all that matters.

At the end of the day, a woman should be able to have any amount of kids she wants to, at any time frame including none, or one. Hopefully this puts that question to rest for a moment. Because, trust me, the moment we get pregnant, everyone will know!

All Photography in this blog: 10elevenphotography