We've just had our third child (third boy) and it's great though it is hard work to make sure everyone gets enough time with mum. I think having your first child is the hardest as you have to come to terms with such a life change, from you as centre of the universe to a little baby deciding when you can hit the shower, when you can eat etc. After that it's just a question of degrees! Thankfully we live in HK so I still get some time to myself, though not a lot of course. My eldest boy is 3, next is 2 and now a 7 week old. The two eldest boys love having the little one around. They always want to hold and kiss him. I think it will work out nicely and am glad that the third was another boy.
Three always felt the right number to us. When we'd had two we just didn't have the feeling that we were done. When the last one was born it felt just right, like our family was all here. I did and do worry sometimes that I have created a 'middle' child. I know a few middle children who aren't too happy but I also know lots of first and last borns too who complain so... I think our middle child will be completely fine. He's so adorable and loving that we never forget about him which is what I think can happen.
I think being in HK when your kids are young is good for allowing you to give time to each child. We have a helper and our three year old goes to 'school' four mornings a week and the two year old has just started doing a couple of mornings a week so with planning everyone has plenty of time with me. Of course, I'm exhausted from always trying to make this happen but it's worth it. I don't want my kids to grow up being raised by a helper so we do as much without her as possible. It's just great that our meals are cooked and the house is cleaned and I have someone to hand the baby to when I need to. (We also have really great facilities where we live so it's nice and easy to spend the afternoon in the pool or playground with the kids.)
I think with three kids your spare time does go down if they are all young. If some are in school all day long and you have a helper then life is probably pretty cruisy. We wanted our children to be really close together in ages so they could be mates and so that they were all doing similar activities at the same time. The eldest two are real buddies already and for the most part play together really well. They also look out for each other already which is lovely to watch.
I think three kids is a nice sized family. When I'm tired I try and remind myself that i'm lucky to have them.
