The upside to carrying your 7th kid

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I realize that the decision to have 7 kids isn’t really an idea the majority of people will ever entertain (well, sane people, anyway). But just in case you ever wondered if there’s any benefit to being pregnant while there are 6 diminutive maniacs running around your house (all. day. long.), there ARE! Read on.

1. You’re too busy to think about being pregnant. If you’re an OCD planner and dreamer like I am, then a first pregnancy literally feels likes it’s 27 (thousand) months long. Researching cribs and strollers and baby baths, panicking about what baby carrier is safest and having meltdowns about the nursery theme filled every minute of every day of that first gestation. During THIS pregnancy however, I generally abide by the following motto:

Ain’t nobody got time for that.

2. Your body’s pretty much seen it all. If you’re gonna be prone to stretch marks or varicose veins or horrible morning sickness, you’ve probably already gone through it. Chances are slim that you’re gonna find any MORE stretch marks than you did during your first half-dozen pregnancies. And if this does bother you more than you thought it does, knowing that there are a variety of options when it comes to stretch marks removal, you might not have to live with this for much longer. Now I can’t offer any guarantees, of course, but for all intents and purposes, your body’s a seasoned baby-making pro at this point.

3. No agonizing over birth decisions. After 6 births, you’re fairly confident that you know what’s coming and how you want to handle it. Especially if you’re fortunate (?) enough to have delivered a baby under every possible scenario like I have (c-section, induction, epidural, drug-free, water birth, twins…you name it, I’ve tried it :). Bring it on, birth.

4. Having a baby = mini vacay. People think I’m being facetious when I say this but in reality, at this point in a person’s mothering career, having a baby is guaranteed paid time off. You get to lay in bed, cuddling and cooing over a precious newborn while other people clean your house, feed your children and bring you treats. Ok, it’s generally my freaktastically amazing husband that does most of these things for me but considering it takes me pushing out a tiny human to get him to take any time off work, it’s totally worth it. Some expectant first-time mothers may be thinking “what is PTO?”, especially if they are still not solid on what it will mean as they move into the next phase of having a baby. Websites like zenefits.com can help with clearing this up and offer more information on the matter.

5. You’re better at appreciating the little things and letting the rest go.
This may just be a byproduct of having a bunch of kids, period, but regardless of the reason, it’s really nice to allow yourself to let go of some of the incessant but non-essential daily stresses. Of course these stresses are different for every person (see this post for more about deciding what to let go) but there comes a time in every mom’s life where she just has to give something up. For me, I generally end up forgoing house cleaning. Oh, I know, it’s a big sacrifice to not scrub toilets as much they need it. And sometimes sitting down in front of a movie while there’s laundry to be done just PAINS me, but hey, my sanity’s at sake, so…

It’s a rough job taking care of a lazy high-needs pregnant lady, but I’ll take it!