TTC age 22

[ChloePD]

Not after any persuasion to change my plans, just some general advice/tips and things to consider that I might not have thought about.

Background: I'm 22, been with my partner for 3 years now. We bought a house together last year, we have two dogs, he works full time and I'm a full time uni student. We are hoping to be married by the end of this year. We are financially stable, partner brings in a decent salary, I get £1000 a month from student finance plus an extra £600 a month from working part time- I do this for my own enjoyment.

DP and I have started TTC in February. We are both very excited about being a family of 5 (our two fur babies). We very much understand the stresses and difficulties of becoming parents, and this all makes us even more excited. We went through the process of becoming foster parents and were accepted but decided to TTC first and foster at a later stage. We have a great support system, my entire family live in the village as well as DPs parents relocating in the next couple of months to be near us.

Looking for any issues anyone might see with our situation so that we can think about these prior to having a baby and understand fully how we can solve them.

Just to add in, neither DP nor myself drink, we never go out for more than a casual meal with his work colleagues so this would not be an issue with us with a new born. We have two puppies, one with severe separation anxiety so we spend most of our free time as a family, going for walks in parks with the dogs or going to my mums etc. I have lots of childcare experience as I have been a nanny/au pair since I was 15.

Thanks in advance.

Any potential issues? In no particular order:

Needing to wash hands every time you have touched the dog before you can touch the baby (technically you're supposed to anyway, but I never have and it's a pita to start, my hands got so chapped and I only have one cat).
Not letting the dogs close enough to baby to snap, particularly during teething.
Potentially needing to get rid of dogs if they act aggressively at any point or if baby is allergic.
Maintaining your student income while you take time off with baby, presuming you plan to do that.
Childcare costs- what is available in your area, is it any good and how much does it cost?
What are you planning on doing after uni and how easy will that be with baby in tow?
If your partner were to lose his job, how would you cope?
If you were to not find a job after your course ended, how would you cope, financially?
What are the demands on your time in the early stages of your career and would you be willing to spend that long away from your baby?

@ChloePD I'm 23 and I live with my partner of three years also, and we have 2 dogs too! We're 9 weeks pregnant and hoping stop renting and buy a house before the baby come in October. Your situation sounds similar to ours as I've just finished uni and gone into full time work. You have the advantage of owning your own home and being financially stable. Having a baby with 2 dogs is going to be difficult for us but not impossible, we may just have to establish boundaries with the dogs straight off. Saying that I've always wanted a baby and if you do too then go for it! People will probably always say stuff about having dogs around babies, but lots of people have done it! Wishing you all the luck in the world

@ReaganSomerset

Thanks for the comment.

1. I was completely aware of this, my mums friend just recently had a baby and have dogs, to combat this they used a hospital style foam wash which they kept in every room so I plan to do the same.
2. we have extremely docile dogs so pretty sure this would never be an issue but we are currently working with a dog trainer to iron out some general puppy issues before baby, such as licking (nothing agressive or severe but wouldn't be ideal for a baby)
3. Again, little chance of this happening due to the nature and breed of our dogs, and many people have dogs and newborns so we would work on this issue should it arise; and they would be able to stay at my parent in laws or my mums if they really were to be a serious issue, they would stay there until the problem was resolved as they are part of our family and we would not give up on them without putting in a huge amount of effort to fix the problem first.
4. Lots of childcare in the area, including the nursery which my baby brother went to. As I also said, I have a huge amount of family support ie a very able bodied grandmother and a mum who owns her own company and works from home. I would not consider childcare until at least a year old and on days where I would need to be in uni, baby would be with my mum or gran. This would not be often at all given my uni schedule which ends up being only a couple of hours a day. DP also starts working at home one day a week in the next couple of months and this is flexible so would be able to fit in with my most busy days.
5. Planning on working within the NHS as a dietician however baby will be 2 by the time I graduate and so would most likely be in nursery part time and with partner working from home part time. My job would also be a 9-5 position.
6. If partner were to loose his job then we would have to deal with it as best we could, however this could happen to anyone. We both have a great worth ethic and would find a job as cleaners if we really had to, we would always find a way to provide for our family.
7. if I don't find a job directly after graduating we would be 100% fine on DP salary alone, but I would also do any work I could find in the meantime, ie pub or restaurant work.
8. I don't have an answer to this question unfortunately as I'm not yet at that stage but I'm aware that the position i am after is very much a 9-5 position, and yes I would be prepared to leave my baby in childcare and with my partner part time, and due to our financial status I would not need to work full time either if I didn't have to.

@missrose0110 best of luck to you too! And congrats on the pregnancy!

I mean as long as the puppies are properly trained before a newborn comes along then I don't see any issues with your plans. You certainly sound like a responsible dog owner.
Plus you've got your own house and a steady income, sounds like you've got it all planned out!

I've just turned 23 and I'm currently 11 weeks pregnant with my second baby, already have a lovely little 21 month old daughter. Its the absolute best thing ever.

The only thing I’d worry about in your position is how far into your degree you are. It will be really tough doing a degree and working with a baby. There is no perfect time to have a baby as things will always come up but I wish I’d completed my studies earlier so I wasn’t pregnant at the same time. I’ve found it really distracting and I’m only 12 weeks and I know once the baby is here it will be 1000 times harder. With work as well it’s worth thinking about if you will be eligible for maternity pay through them of statutory maternity pay.