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Lorelei
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| Posted: Jan 26 2010 at 5:40pm | IP Logged
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Hello Ladies,
Was reading a post from a recently again new Mom who came to the realization that 6 REALLY DID make a significant change in the home than 5. What do you think...what number really changed your home??
Just wondering, as I am 4 mo preg. with 6th, over 40, and slightly, just a bit...hmmm..tired.
In His Love,
Lorelei
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Jan 26 2010 at 5:44pm | IP Logged
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I've always had harder adjustments with the odd numbers. But that makes sense to me since the first is always the hardest adjustment and then 3 means you are short a hand for the first time.
And it was with #7 that my laundry system fell apart. It was just enough more that it tipped the scale into not working. And I still haven't found something that really works.. I play catch up when I must and get things done somewhat in between times.. how successful I am determines how often I have to make a big catch up effort. 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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melanie
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| Posted: Jan 26 2010 at 6:24pm | IP Logged
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Hmmm...
I felt like moving from 2 to 3 was a big adjustment. Maybe it was just the nature of the third child,  . 3 to 4 was pretty easy, but again, my fourth is very sweet and easy going. I'm pregnant with five and feel like that may push me over the edge, so maybe Jodie is on to something with the odd numbers thing. I definitely feel like I can no longer "afford" to get behind, you know? In the past, if housekeeping got behind or I slacked off on keeping up with laundry, I could take a day or half a day even and just work hard and catch up. Now I feel like that's becoming nearly impossible. Catching up is definitely far more work than not falling behind in the first place. Which is unfortunate, because I keep falling behind anyway.
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Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
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Michaela
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For me, going from 1 to 3 just about did me in. (I've never been shy about admitting that. 3 children 3 & under & horrid PPD after my twins) 3 to 4 has been smooth sailing...pure joy. I'm sure the age difference has a lot to do with that. #5 will be here next month & I really feel I better stay on top of everything or I'll be in trouble.
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Michaela
Momma to Nicholas 16, Nathan 13, Olivia 13, Teresa 6, & Anthony 3
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: Jan 26 2010 at 7:07pm | IP Logged
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When expecting #4, everyone said not to worry, that once I had three everything after that was easy. Oh My! The Lies!  My fourth was the "perfect" baby, but her birth still threw me for a loop!
After that, things stayed pretty even with #5 and #6. The adjustment with #7 again was hard. But let me tell you, having #8 was the biggest adjustment. He was a couple weeks old when I told a friend who also had eight, "Eight kids is insane! Why didn't you warn me?!" She just laughed and agreed.
I wouldn't change a thing now, even in hindsight. But I certainly agree that there are certain points where adding a new baby is a little harder than others.
Good luck! There's no turning back now! 
Disclaimer- I love this journey even in it's more challenging moments.
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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teachingmyown
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One more thought, I think the transitions are easier/harder in relation to the current toddler's temperament. My hardest transitions were when I had more difficult toddlers, even if the baby was easy.
I hope that is a helpful thought, not a scary one!
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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CrunchyMom
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I only have three, but I found transitioning to three easier than two. I think it was due to other life issues, though.I lost my mother while pregnant with number 2, and I had some pregnancy depression and ppd before and after his birth. Plus, my oldest is a big help and even at 4 was able to help do those little things like going to get a diaper and such which are such little blessing with a newborn. I kind of think that was a relief over just having a toddler and a baby.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Paula in MN
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Like Lindsay, I only have three. My first was an adjustment to motherhood in general. My second was definitely more of an adjustment, because there were 15 years between the first and second. Trust me, I had not saved any of my maternity clothes or baby clothes. 
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 Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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MNMommy
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| Posted: Jan 27 2010 at 7:23am | IP Logged
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teachingmyown wrote:
One more thought, I think the transitions are easier/harder in relation to the current toddler's temperament. My hardest transitions were when I had more difficult toddlers, even if the baby was easy.
I hope that is a helpful thought, not a scary one! |
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With my limited experience, I'm guessing this is spot-on. I pretty much lost it with #4, but I think that was mostly due to #3 - he was difficult and demanding from 10mo - 3yo. #3 and I are finally in a good place now that he's approaching 3.5yo.
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Jennifer
Tired mom to - 10yo dd, 7yo ds, 6yo ds, 4yo dd, 2yo ds
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Bookswithtea
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Ummmmmm...for me it was going from 5 to 6. I just felt completely overwhelmed, particularly because I had every age group from babies/toddlers to teens. I couldn't do the "everyone outside for a park day and nature study day, no other school today" thing because of older students. I couldn't do field trips that everyone would love. One end of the age spectrum or the other would be bored with any educational movies I got from the library. So I felt like my entire arsenal of tricks for bad days wasn't working. And my laundry system broke down, and my food budget increased (mostly that was having a teen, though, not the new baby).
A sweet mom here told me via email that depending on the family, its common to feel this way either after baby 5 or 6. She told me to take cod liver oil daily and to get out in nature when I could and to be nice to myself. Slowly, things came back together. I overhauled the grocery budget and laundry system in time, but it was 6 months before I got around to even beginning it. We limped along. Summer came. Things slowwwwly got better. And now I'm wondering what #7 is going to do! 
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~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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Lisbet
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I have come to look at it like this - after each child, things are different - and things never get back to the way they were before - we just adjust to a new 'normal' until the next one may come along.
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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DominaCaeli
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Thanks for this thread! We are expecting #4 in April, and I'm wondering how this transition will be compared to our last. #3 was an easy addition to our family for a lot of reasons: she was a relatively calm baby, she was sleeping through the night early on, my first two are "twins" so it was almost like adding #2 rather than a third routine-wise, and my others were already over two years old (it took us a while to get pregnant again). This time around I will have two 3yos (who are actually quite well-behaved, but still take a lot of energy) and a newly-walking or almost-walking 14mo old. I'm finding the responses here really interesting as I think about how life will be in our house a few months from now!
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Blessings,
Celeste
Joyous Lessons
Mommy to six: three boys (8, 4, newborn) and four girls (7, 5, 2, and 1)
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Nina Murphy
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#6. During the pregnancy. And increasing with each one. But as the difficulties have increased, I try to comfort myself with St. Paul, that, so have the graces increased.
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God bless,
~~Nina
mother of 9 on earth,
and 2 yet-to-be-met
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florasita
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| Posted: Jan 27 2010 at 2:47pm | IP Logged
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# 3 after that life was pretty much busy . with 2 I could still take a bus , walk alot with one and carry the baby etc. Once we had 3 forget the bus with a baby and a toddler never mind my 3 middle were like having 3 babies all at once . The art gallery was impossible the main downtown library etc. I started to drive after #3 came along as before I'd rode a bike or bussed everywhere with the first two . now that we are back to just two at home again life has slowed down and we do more bike , walk and thinking bus but we really don't go out much .
age however did make a difference with the energy level . with 36 dh did the grocery shop for me and I sat much more then with the others but I could . We had no other small children when I had or was pregnant with #6 . I already had an adult child and 3 more close to adulthood so had so much help .
I think personally I was more drained in my 30's then now in my 40's just because our home was so busy back then . if it is any concellation life does slow down and get quiet over the yrs. 
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May I rise & rest with words of Gratitude on my Breath
May I have the Heart & Mind of a Child in my Depth
May I forever remember to be a Light
May Peace Love & Hope be My Sight
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Erin
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I think not only does it depend on the toddler but the baby himself. Number 3 for me was incredibly hard but then he had colic, 4 was a breeze he was a happy smiley baby. We grow and stretch with each one, some we stretch more than others Different areas seem to hit you more with different additions. I remember with number 7 being hit with the realisation that the washing never stops.
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Erin
Faith Filled Days
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teachingmyown
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I think a big key to handling the new challenges with each new baby is to put aside your expectations! You can't go into having #6 thinking that it will be just like #5, or #4, etc. Like Lisa said, things are never the same you just find a new normal.
I think that when we have expectations like I will be up and about by day 7, or we can start school again by day 14, and so on, then we crash and burn with those babies who require a bigger adjustment.
Good luck Lorelei! It does even out regardless of the time it takes to adjust. Just keep focused on the prize, not the imagined obstacles!
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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Bethany
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Well #2 was hard for me, but my first two are only 16 months apart. Physically it was hard because we lived in a 3 story townhouse and everytime I went anywhere I was carrying a toddler and an infant in a carrier down to the car. When we got back, I had to take them both upstairs, get them safely settled and go back down to bring in everything. Whew! I'm tired right now thinking about it and I was only 29 then . #3 was pretty good, other than the c-section. With #4, I was feeling pretty good and then at about 4-6 weeks out I began to panic. The first couple of weeks were pretty rough, but she was a great baby. Now, I'm bearing down on #5 and noticed a little panic the other day. I'll have 5, 7yo and under, and like my Dh said the other day, sometimes he looks around and thinks "Whose kids are these? We can't have 4." At our parish, we definately seem to be one of the larger families, so we get a lot of attention. Thankfully, in our co-op there are several other families with 4 on up to 9 children, so there I feel quite "normal".
Now, you guys have me worried about the odd number thing, although my Aunt has always said odd birthdays are the worst.
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Bethany
Wife to Mike, Mommy to Amelia (6/02), Sarah (10/03), Martha Grace (10/05), Rebecca Anne (12/07), Laura Catherine (3/10) and Reed Michael 7/4/14.
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JodieLyn
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Well just remember.. I'm coming up on adding #9.. also an odd number.. so adding #5 couldn't have been too traumatic. And when #5 was born was 3 months before my oldest's 6th birthday.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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KC in TX
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Bookswithtea wrote:
| And now I'm wondering what #7 is going to do! |
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Does this mean you have news?
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KC,
wife to Ben (10/94),
Mama to LB ('98)
Michaela ('01)
Emma ('03)
Jordan ('05)
And, my 2 angels, Rose ('08) and Mark ('09)
The Cabbage Patch
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teamommy
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I think the circumstances in my life at the time have made other babies more difficult to add than others.Number 4 was during harvest season. My dh was there for the birth, and got up at four the next morning and got back to work. Those berries don't wait for babies! Number 5 was born in January, and my dh had all the time in the world to help. Made a huge difference, both physically and emotionally. He also kept up on the housework, so I never felt like I was behind. #6 was born in Sept, we were still in full time farming mode. We were also moving my parents from WA to OR, I lost my best friend, and it had been 5 years between babies. It was a difficult time, though he was an easy baby!
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: Wondering...
