Recently pregnant with her third child, Georgia Lemanski lets the news sink in – with the help of a few misguided comments
Recently I found out that I’m pregnant with my third child. Fantastic news! Of course it is, but wow it’s a biggie. We have always planned to have three kids but this one has, well, been a bit expedited I suppose. In fact we had a pact not, under any circumstances to get pregnant in January as both of our sons were born in October. You guessed it, another due date within 10 days of the first two. What on earth is wrong with us. It is a literal clusterfuck of children, (excuse my language). My parents in law even said “what is it with you two and January?” Cringe.
Now, 6 silent weeks of vomit, tears and early nights with my husband being a saint it’s all confirmed with the first scan under my expanding belt. We have started to share the news with family and friends. This is where things are getting noticeably different…When pregnant with baby number one there is unanimous joy and champagne corks popping. Oh yes, it’s all rosy – everything works, you can carry on the family name, make parents grandparents and spend hours wistfully stroking the belly and imagining the nursery.
With pregnancy number two things may be a little more subdued on the celebratory front but there’s still a hearty round of “Congratulations!” and pats on the back. Two children is smart, two children works. You can hold one in each hand, you fit in a car or in a family room, they play together, if one gets misplaced you have a spare. Smart people stop at two and its true, many of my friends with two have confidently shut up shop to get on with raising them and getting their lives back on track. But three? All calculations go out the window.
Here are a few actual reactions we’ve received so far:
- “You’re not pregnant are you?”
- “You’re a glutton for punishment”
- “Wow, you guys are really going for it”
- “Oh god”
- “you’re joking”
- “Sh*t the bed. ”
- “Commiserations”
- “You’re mental”. (more than once)
And a lot of people have simply laughed out loud.
What happened? That original joy and expectancy of child rearing has been replaced with the actual truth of what everyone thinks and this time aren’t scared to share with you -basically they think you’re a little nuts.
So there we have it. As the first of my friends to venture into territory of turning our neat family unit into a colossal monster of five I am heading in blind and I am, naturally terrified. We are yet to delve into the logistics of where people will fit in our house, if we need to buy a bigger car and just HOW it works but I’m thrilled at the prospect. And even more thrilled that once this one is done I’m also ready to shut up shop.
