Pregnant again: joy, pride and... panic!
Last year Maria gave birth to our first child, Sam, who is now 13 months old. Like many couples, we've found the first year of parenthood a real challenge, balancing the demands of work and the child. Sam currently spends two days at nursery and one day with his grandmother, while I work one day a week at home and generally get the other day off, as I'm a regular Saturday worker with my job. It works out well at the moment, giving Sam plenty of stimulation and variety. "I feel as tired as tired can be" has been a regular refrain from Maria recently, then a friend announced her own pregnancy (it was no secret that they had been trying) and something clicked in Maria’s brain. "I’m not being funny, but I think I’m pregnant as well." A test kit was rescued from the back of the bathroom cabinet and confirmed her suspicions. My reaction was a mixture of joy, pride and… panic! How are we going to cope? Our son, Sam, will only be 18 months when the newcomer arrives, all those nappies, all those disturbed nights – what are we doing ? It takes a while for the reality to bite: we were two, then we became three and now, with fate taking us on a whirlwind voyage through parenthood, a fourth seat will be required at the table. Maria and I had been together for some time before children came on the agenda, but since Sam came along last year our lives have revolved around mealtimes, nappy changing and such like. And now we’re planning to make it a double commitment by giving our son a little play-mate. It would seem ludicrous if it wasn’t so fulfilling. It had always been the plan to have more than one, it’s just that we didn’t expect the old chestnut of waiting a long time for a bus and then two coming along together to be replicated so faithfully by our family planning. |
I'm Adam Hill, a 32-year-old journalist married to
Maria. Maria is 37 and works for a marketing firm.
