two in a year and a job to boot

[sophus]

i haven't even had my first yet but am already planning next one. I will be 39 when i have my first in sept and so will want to crack on with the second one asap (especially as i want 3). obviously you can't plan how long it takes etc etc but if it all went according to plan i would have them with just over a year apart. Has anyone experience of this and had a serious full-time job/career etc to boot. If i take 9 months off by the time i go back to work i would want to be pregnant again - not sure how well it would go down (employers are supportive and i am boss lady so would hope they just have to take it on the chin, but don't want to be seen to be taking them for a ride). Don't know if i should take less time off for this one and then plan to take full year if i have second one. Or maybe i should stop worrying and just take each baby as it comes.

i'd stop worrying and take each baby as it comes.
you can't really plan them that well.
it worked for me- we were one shot wonders (twice)
but i have friends who are struggling to get pg with the next one... and plans don't always work, just go with the flow

Hmm, I would wait until you have had the first before you worry too much about when to have the second - even the most of angelic babies can wreak havoc with your sleep. I didn't feel ready to begin trying for the second until my first was well over a year old! You need to give your body time to recover in any case.

i really think you have to see how you feel at the time- all i would say that in my personal experience i have found the children more rewarding as they got older - so perhaps longer with the second would have been better for me as the 1st would be at a more interesting [imo]age! a friend had 3 in 4 years and was a lawyer, but found it increasingly hard to be somewhere where she had to pretend her dc weren't a priority - she's switched to academia and finds it much more supportive of her family situation.
i respect your reasons for wanting them so close together, but would get super fit and full of vitamins if you're not already - because doctors don't think it's a good idea - too much strain on the body - but then plenty of women like me have 3 in under 3 years!
another thing is i'm a sahm and though i would like to work a bit it made no financial sense because nursery for a 2yr old and twin babies was hilariously expensive - but then again it sounds like you had more earning power than me!
good luck and i hope you achieve what you want! i'm sure someone with experience of this will be here too.

Thanks all. Am aware that planning for children is best way to make plans go haywire, and it is only my age that is making me even contemplate something so insane. Guess what i am really trying to do is plan for any eventuality. It only took us three months this time around, but at 39 i think i shouldn't waste my chances - and even if we end up with just the one i will be happy as larry.

You sound scarily like me. Got married at 36, had No1 at 37. Here I am a few months short of my 39th birthday with a nearly two year old and a miscarriage in December and still trying for No2. Still want two more children but know that as I get older I need to be relaxed and somewhat fatalistic about it all.........