Why Mike And I Added To Our Family

Surprisingly enough, I have been getting a simple question asked that I never thought someone would ask. "Why did you and Mike decide to have another baby?"

It seems like a simple enough question. I mean, we did make a conscious decision to add to our family.

Let's see some of the circumstances that helped with the decision.

I'd say it started when I got laid off work. I got to spend a lot of time at home with Alice and Mike and it really strengthened the bond we all had. There was much less arguing and we all just had tons of time to spend together to enjoy each others company.

Now, Mike didn't know this at the time, but I had started to want to have another baby back in July/August of 2009. I had asked at one point when he saw us having another baby to gauge his reaction. He said he didn't really know and figured it would still be a while, so I let him know that I was interested in adding to the family and would wait on him to be ready.

In September 2009, Alice started asking for a brother or sister. She told me she had no one to play with. She kept saying she was bored. I explained to her that even if she had a brother or sister, it would be a while before she could play with them, and that her dad and I would be busy taking care of a baby, so she might get even more bored. She didn't care. She still wanted a sibling.

She started asking Mike and I almost constantly. We'd say 'not now' or 'in a few years' until one day I pretty much asked 'why not now?' Mike said that he didn't think it was really a good time. He was the only one working and things were good the way they were. I had to agree. Things were awesome. I tried to keep the wanting of a baby out of my mind. It was harder than I thought - my sister was pregnant and I was around people talking about babies all the time.

Then something awesome happened. Mike went out with his friends for some dinner thing. They all get together and hang out, as guys normally do, nothing out of the ordinary. He came home that night and I was sitting on my couch watching tv. I asked him how his evening went and we just had small talk for a few moments when he said that he was ready to try for another baby. I'm pretty sure I smiled like a fool for the rest of the night. I also made jokes about him just wanting to get laid - as even though I love expressing my feelings, I still get uncomfortable being mushy and vulnerable...so I crack jokes.

From then on we had a mission. I had to wean myself off of my medications. (Doctor approved, of course) And we wanted to not have every romantic encounter just be about having a baby. It was much easier than expected. Trust me, in the heat of the moment, the last thing on my mind was a baby.

It took a while, but we managed to do it. I got pregnant after months of trying. When I really think about how simple the question of 'why' is, I realize it can really be answered by a simple answer. It just felt right.