A Second Kid?

With our son now 2 years old, we get asked--a lot, on when we plan to have another child.

We always say that we're not ready. And that's an honest (and not just a cliche) answer.

1. We still have a lot of things to pay!- Now we know that bringing child into this world, and the expenses that goes with it, does not stop after giving birth. There are vaccines, diapers, meds and the list goes on and on. It's good we were able to save on milk, because he was purely breastfed from birth to almost a year old. We have to think about our house mortgage, car payments etc, etc. We'll see where se stand financially next year.

2. We're enjoying this stage in our son's life- we want to focus on him at this time when he's growing a lot, in all aspects, right before our eyes. There's always the guilt factor that we get home late a lot of days, and not really being the first to see his developmental milestones. So, for now, our son remains the star.

3. Physically, I'm just starting my exercise regimen. I'm getting older and my first pregnancy was not at all easy so I have to prepare my body for carrying another child.

4. I'm enjoying some "me" and "couple" time. The first few months as parents, we were a wreck. Sleepless nights, trying to get home early, panicking over a splinter (with matching rush to the ER and xrays of the hand to boot), and mostly I was stressed over pumping milk. After more than a year, we can now go out sometimes with friends without calling the house to check on our son every 5 minutes, I can go to the gym, and can do the grocery without feeling like it's a marathon. Selfish as it may sound, I'm not ready to give that up... yet.

To be really, really honest? We're perfectly happy with our son and if we'll be gifted with only one child, then that's a-OK with us. I know people say being an only child is lonely but from the start, we already thought about this and well, for now, that's our stand as a couple. That's probably why we got 10 pairs of godparents for our son when he was baptized-- we wanted our friends to be part of our child/children's lives and so we crammed them all as sponsors for our first born-- because what if we only have one?

Give us a few more months, or maybe a couple of years, and we might just change our minds.

But for now, we will remain a family of three.