I definitely wanted a boy for #1 and was momentarily disappointed when we found out it was going to be a girl. I quickly got excited about it, though, and only dread her teenage years.

I didn't care about #2, but I suppose I preferred to get my boy, which I did.

My ideal combo would've been two boys, probably because I had a younger brother, but I love having a daughter and wouldn't change a thing.

Indifferent for first (had a boy) then somewhat preferred a boy for 2nd (and got him). I didn't want to have to learn to wipe the other way. We also saved a bunch of future money (wedding costs).

CONGRATS!

Elise was born on Wednesday morning. Needing coaxing to come ended up being 2 weeks and 1 day late and a chubby 9lbs. Guess she is already like her dad as I was 2 weeks late as well.

What a crazy birthing experience. Won't go into all the details, but the highlight of my wifes 4 day induction was when she got to 9cm but was still going slow so the Midwife broke her water. Next exam hours later she had gone back down to 5cm. It was pretty crushing cause the pain was already intense and got way worse after they broke her water. We had no sleep from the night before and she made the wise decision to get an Epidural so that she could actually rest. Good thing because it was still 18 hours before she was born.





So ****ing weird in the best way!

Congrats Jhall(and everyone else of late as well)! She's a cutie and that sounds like an epic labor. Great to see this thread still going. Best of luck, all.

Congrats. That labor sounds brutal. Your wife is a champ! Cute baby!

holy smokes, thats a crazy labor experience. Congrats!

my wife is dues June 22nd. hoping to not have a crazy experience like that!

Congratulations man, really cute baby, those chubby cheeks are amazing

Last day of first grade.Time flies!



Side note, just realized work no longer blocks 2+2. :-D

I'm unsure about having a second one. My wife wanted a second one, but now she's on the fence.

The issue is I really don't think I'll be around long. I don't say that lightly and out of jest, I really don't think I'll be here in 20 years. Anyway that is somewhat driving me to give my daughter a sibling. That way, when I'm gone, my wife will have 2 and they will have each other when we are both gone.

Is this thinking crazy? Our general attitude was if we have one, we can give her anything she wants, but if we have two it won't be as easy. Any input?

hi man,

come back to us then!

My wife and I have a 5+ month old and we are starting to try for #2. I was pretty much an only child and didn't want that for my kid. I have a much older half brother but I think a bond between close siblings would be special.

I think you can give your kids a lot even if you have 2 when they are young but once they get to the teen years it would probably get expensive.

Make a decision you can live with. In this topic, regret helps nobody, and can seriously f with the kids.
You'll naturally question the decision you make, you're human. Choose what's right for you today, based on who you are today, and what you want today. Next week/month/year you can reevaluate.

Typically (for me at least), the first instinct is the one that fits best.

Been gone for a while. Let me ease back in.

It's a strange thing. I was pretty much cool with just having one, but I had a long conversation with a friend who is older than me and it was hard to argue with her logic. Part of me wants both situations, so it's not like I'm totally against it.

The part that's messing with me is that I want to give her a sibling in case I'm not around later in her life. I guess I'll have to sit and think about it.

Checking in, I have ~20 weeks before life is about to radically change forever.

Funniest thing are the female vs. male books on getting ready. Expectant mom books are about what to eat/not eat, changes to your body, preparing for childcare, etc., while the guy books have chapters like "Month 2: Is it really yours?" and "Month 5: How are you going to afford this?".

My family tends to have kids later in life and I was no exception - 38 when the first came.

We wanted two, to ensure that the first wouldn't be completely alone in this world if something happened to us. Kind of a morbid motivator I suppose. (edit : slow pony is slow but it must be a legit reason)

They are super close and it makes me glad.

Mine are 10 and 7-> (Cullen, from this thread). The elder has already lost four grandparents, poor kid.

(one is still around at least, yay divorce I guess).

Not only is my daughter an only child, she's an only grandchild, on both sides, with no chance ever of having cousins. My bro & sis are late 40's with no kid plans, sis-in-law also has no plans.

With the inevitable inheritances, I will not have to worry about saving for college...how's that for morbid thinking?

I have a problem. My daughter is about to be 2 years old in a month. Her behavior is normal most of the time, but then she's an absolute nightmare to deal with at times. Crying non-stop, unconsolable, kicking screaming the whole nine. I know they call it the terrible two's but wtf?

Is this just a stage? Is it something we're doing wrong? We're very easy going with her, to the point where we don't really discipline her at all (can you really discipline a 2 year old?). I've heard it's just a stage but it's really frustrating when she just loses her mind for 2 hours straight, especially when driving or trying to get ready for work in the morning.

Any advice? Obviously I'm not going to hit/smack her. I just don't know what to do. Sweet baby Jesus someone help me.

Talk to pediatrician at 2 year appt, but most likely normal. Discipline can be tough at that age. I remember when my oldest was that age, he had a ****ty diaper but didn't want to cooperate getting it changed. So he laid on his changing pad for 45 mins until he did. If its getting dressed, sometimes you have to struggle through it. You're bigger than her. I found my son at that age was prone to issues when he was hungry. You could tell when it was getting to be between meals/snacktime.

If there's not a reason (other than just being mad about something) you let them work it out IMO. If not hungry or hurt and you've tried a bit to console, put it back on her and it kind of becomes a 2nd stage of cry it out. I think most people would say its to get attention and you need to convey that's not a positive way to do it. YMMV.

Totally, completely normal. Unfortunately.

My son just turned 2 and is quick to throw a tantrum. Our pediatrician said give them timeout for 1 minute per year of age. So 2 minutes. In a corner or somewhere (not in their crib as that is supposed to be known to them as a safe sanctuary). He even said he will wrap his arms around them in his lap (loosely) until they stop. I thought that sounded a bit much but he did that with his 4 daughters. Anyway the timeouts have worked for us. It's hard to do that to your child but it really has helped. We'll go in after 2-3 minutes and then he'll be fine, wiping his tears away as we kiss him and tell him it's OK.

Our issue is my son isn't really talking yet We are going to get an evaluation form an ECI state program soon to see how much therapy he needs. My pediatrician is also beginning to worry as he said late talkers can be one of three things: Simply late talkers - nothing wrong, autism spectrum, or some kind of physical/neurological issue. He mumbles and squeeks a lot and tries to tell us stories but everything is inaudible. He's cute, though. Maybe he can get by on his looks.

My son also just turned 2 and throws tantrums, so you aren't alone Will.

He's also a late talker and has been in speech therapy for several months. He knows a lot of words, but he's supposed to be putting together sentences at this point. Definitely get evaluated though. We found out that he had an ear infection and he had to get tubes put in. There was a night and day difference after that surgery, so not hearing well was affecting his speech big time.

Thanks. Yeah the doc said it could be something hearing related. He told us to start at 18 months but we were lazy and so many people told us he'll come around. I have no reason to believe his hearing is bad but maybe it is. He said his first word around 13 months, too, so we thought more would follow. He is still yet to say "mama" which saddens me because I know my wife would love to hear it. He has said "dad" several times and on Father's Day I swear he said "Hi dad" twice in a matter of seconds upon getting him out of bed. And had never said that before or since. It was so funny.

Just had his 2 year appt. and doc said ~50 words is a good number at this age, so I was like Oh **** we need to get on this.

Tycho was not taking at two. We had him evaluated and found that he has some other developmental delays as well. Early intervention has been awesome. He's three now and completely age appropriate in speech. Still a few things left to work on, but we've seen incredible strides and the people that work in EI are amazing.

Good to hear. Yeah my doc really wants us to start on the speech therapy (evaluation is in a week or so), because he said there may be other developmental issues and the sooner we start, and find **** out, the better. Also ECI here stops at age 3.

So many people have told us that boys seem to develop speech later than little girls, but when my doc sounds worried, I know it's time to be worried, too. He's a laid back guy who doesn't really rush to judgment. That's part of why we like him.