Thoughts on Having Three Children

I always wanted three kids. Three kids never seemed like a lot of kids to me. When I took water aerobics while I was pregnant, I was the oldest one in my class. The next oldest person in my class was 25 or 26. Several were born in the early 80's. When the instructor asked me "is this your first?" and I replied, "No, this is my third" everyone said "WOW!" like I had a lot of kids. It was just something I didn't expect, the shock in people's voice when you say you are having your third child. Strange.

I asked a few people at work and one friend, all who have three kids, about what it was like. They all pretty much said the same thing: It's hard, but worth it. I just never put that much thought into it. I mean, both Mark and I were raised in a family of three, what's the big deal? We turned out all right.

I also googled "having three kids" while I was pregnant and, much to my surprise, found this great website: www.havingthreekids.com. It makes me laugh and I can appreciated more now that I actually have three kids.

So, it's been five weeks. I think because my kids are 4 (almost 5) and 6 years old, I have it easier than those who have three kids under 3 or 4 years old. So far, the hardest part has been making sure Olivia & Anika are getting enough positive attention. I find that really hard to do when I am sleep deprived. I also think we are extremely lucky that Luke is such a mellow baby. He has been fussier in the evenings the past week, but still, nothing compared to Olivia or Anika. He makes those cute little waking stretching noises when he wakes up at night and he might start to cry by the time I get his diaper changed, but as soon as he is plugged in to the milk machine, he's good. He nurses at night for about 15 minutes, sometimes 10, and then he is back to sleep (and so am I). He is waking up to eat nowdays about every three hours, HOWEVER, last night he slept for 6 1/2 hours straight giving me 5 hours of straight sleep. I'm still tired.