[SweetSimpleThings]

I'm of the pretty firm opinion that the first year after a baby is born is one of the hardest phases on a marriage - people are tired and cranky, it's easy to feel resentful, your body is still not really your own in the way it used to be, etc. etc.

So, now that we're coming up to 17 and 18 months, how are things going?

Are you back to the pre-baby days with your SO or DH?

Did nothing really change with baby's arrival anyway?

Are things still challenging - and if so, what?

Are you having the same, less or more (hey, someone might be, lol!) sex than before baby?

Has negative or positive impacts on your relationship made you re-think your future children plans (ie. if it has been positive, do you think maybe you'd have more children than you'd originally planned or, if thre have been negative impacts, have you re-considered having additional children?)

When it comes to parenting and the house, what is something your partner is great at?

What is something that still needs work?

[josie_24]

Are you back to the pre-baby days with your SO or DH?
Uh...no.

Did nothing really change with baby's arrival anyway?everything changed with Caleb's arrival

Are things still challenging - and if so, what?Things are getting better, but we're still in therapy and working through stuff

Are you having the same, less or more (hey, someone might be, lol!) sex than before baby?I should not admit this but we still haven't had sex at ALL.

Has negative or positive impacts on your relationship made you re-think your future children plans (ie. if it has been positive, do you think maybe you'd have more children than you'd originally planned or, if thre have been negative impacts, have you re-considered having additional children?)I want a companion for Caleb but I refuse to go through the infant stage alone again. He slept in another area of the house, it was a huge struggle and honestly a very dark time for us. DH has never been with Caleb longer than half a day alone, and I am getting BURNED out.

When it comes to parenting and the house, what is something your partner is great at?DH is really good at playing with Caleb now.

What is something that still needs work?a lot. obviously the sex, and figuring out how to talk to each other and DH needs to be able to and offer me a break once in a while.
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[kimmiejo]

well after the morning we just had I will refrain from answering this at the moment because it probably wouldn't be accurate right now because I am fired up at DH right now Maybe I will be back once I have counted to.... oh maybe 1 million and calmed down LOL

[ChoMomma]

I'll answer this but keep in mind these are BEFORE Rachel arrived because now we are back to being cranky and nasty to each other lol.
So, now that we're coming up to 17 and 18 months, how are things going? Things are going ok

Are you back to the pre-baby days with your SO or DH? no, I dont think things will ever be back to pre-baby days.

Did nothing really change with baby's arrival anyway? everything pretty much changed

Are things still challenging - and if so, what? Alicia is still not sleeping thru the night so that's a huge challenge for us.

Are you having the same, less or more (hey, someone might be, lol!) sex than before baby? way less

Has negative or positive impacts on your relationship made you re-think your future children plans (ie. if it has been positive, do you think maybe you'd have more children than you'd originally planned or, if thre have been negative impacts, have you re-considered having additional children?) I always thought I wanted 3 kiddos now I'm thinking 2 is plenty.

When it comes to parenting and the house, what is something your partner is great at? Playing with Alicia and he's also recently got good at cleaning.

What is something that still needs work? I can't even think of everything but I know our relationship needs work as well as how we both go about parenting. We are similar in alot of ways but different in a ton. I just need to stop nagging him I think and let him be a daddy. I'm a huge nag these days and never thought I would be that person lol.

Being preggo and all at that time didn't make things easy either so maybe I'm not the right person to answer this.

[BelloFiglioLA]

So, now that we're coming up to 17 and 18 months, how are things going? We are only at 16 months today Things are going pretty well.

Are you back to the pre-baby days with your SO or DH? No, and I don't expect to ever be. Those days were awesome but different.

Did nothing really change with baby's arrival anyway? Our relationship hasn't really changed. Of course our lives have.

Are things still challenging - and if so, what? The things that are challenging for us are non-baby related. We get tired and frustrated but it never lasts long.

Are you having the same, less or more (hey, someone might be, lol!) sex than before baby? Less. I think my anxiety meds play a big factor in that at the time being.

Has negative or positive impacts on your relationship made you re-think your future children plans (ie. if it has been positive, do you think maybe you'd have more children than you'd originally planned or, if thre have been negative impacts, have you re-considered having additional children?) DH and I always wanted 2. I *might* want three someday but I doubt he'll go for it.

When it comes to parenting and the house, what is something your partner is great at? He is great at playing as well. He is terrible at discipline.

What is something that still needs work? We could definitely work on communication. When we get mad, we both shut down and don't talk to each other until someone apologizes.

[LisaS]

So, now that we're coming up to 17 and 18 months, how are things going? Great!

Are you back to the pre-baby days with your SO or DH? Pretty much

Did nothing really change with baby's arrival anyway? Not a whole lot...we just change the timing of when we do stuff.

Are things still challenging - and if so, what? Not particularly

Are you having the same, less or more (hey, someone might be, lol!) sex than before baby? A little more. DH has been working out and it increases his sex drive.

Has negative or positive impacts on your relationship made you re-think your future children plans (ie. if it has been positive, do you think maybe you'd have more children than you'd originally planned or, if thre have been negative impacts, have you re-considered having additional children?) In the beginning with Christian it was hard because he wasn't a good sleeper. Now that he's STTN and a lot more social, we're back to wanting 3.

When it comes to parenting and the house, what is something your partner is great at? He's really good at interacting with the kids and he's good about giving me some "me" time when I need it.

What is something that still needs work? Hmm...the timing of when he wants to DTD. When it's 11PM, I'm just not going to be as into it because I'm just thinking about sleep and getting up the next day.

[who_it_is]

So, now that we're coming up to 17 and 18 months, how are things going? Things with the baby are going well. DH is getting the hang of it. What is really testing us is our 9 year old.

Are you back to the pre-baby days with your SO or DH? sure, I guess. Having older kids, I am not really sure at this point what pre-baby days would look like.

Did nothing really change with baby's arrival anyway? Not a ton changed. Again with older kids around already things were always "with kids"

Are things still challenging - and if so, what? Things are challenging, but it's not necessarily just because of Noelle. I think it's more because we both work full time, have a 13 year old and a 9 year old to also deal with and manage. The 9 year old is quite a challenge these days. We also now have my younger brother living with us so that is a challenge as well.

Are you having the same, less or more (hey, someone might be, lol!) sex than before baby? I am going with less. Mainly because she is in our bed 5 of 7 nights and after dealing with everything else we are both too exhausted.

Has negative or positive impacts on your relationship made you re-think your future children plans (ie. if it has been positive, do you think maybe you'd have more children than you'd originally planned or, if thre have been negative impacts, have you re-considered having additional children?) Nothing that has made us re-think our future plans. We both knew that Noelle was the last.

When it comes to parenting and the house, what is something your partner is great at? He is great at doing thing to help when I specifically tell him what to help with and how to do it.

What is something that still needs work? He is not so great at taking the initiative to do things on his own. He needs to remember to put his darn phone away, stop checking his email and phone games and help without me having to ask him. That one is a definite struggle around our house.

[MomtoCarly&Sofia]

So, now that we're coming up to 17 and 18 months, how are things going? great

Are you back to the pre-baby days with your SO or DH? Not really, it's definately different, byt things are still really good between us.

Did nothing really change with baby's arrival anyway? We argued a lot when both girls were born for the first few months. Seems to take us a few months to adjust

Are things still challenging - and if so, what? Nope things are good most of the time

Are you having the same, less or more (hey, someone might be, lol!) sex than before baby? Definately less, we used to almost everyday, now only a few times a week, if that.

Has negative or positive impacts on your relationship made you re-think your future children plans (ie. if it has been positive, do you think maybe you'd have more children than you'd originally planned or, if thre have been negative impacts, have you re-considered having additional children?) We always said2-3 kids. We'll be ttc number 3 in march. So nothing changed that.

When it comes to parenting and the house, what is something your partner is great at? He's great with almost everything. Discipline seems to be difficult for him.

What is something that still needs work?definately listening to me when I'm explaining something to him. He tends to not listen, then when he ends up needing to know whatever it was he asks again. Annoying since I don't have time to repeat everything.

[~MamaTutu~]

So, now that we're coming up to 17 and 18 months, how are things going? James is almost 16 months and is still a horrible sleeper, so it feels like we're still in that rough "first year" stage.

Are you back to the pre-baby days with your SO or DH?

Did nothing really change with baby's arrival anyway?

Are things still challenging - and if so, what? It's still challenging. My mood is 100% dependent on J's mood, so I'm often cranky. DH is good at just ignoring it now though.

Are you having the same, less or more (hey, someone might be, lol!) sex than before baby? We've had sex once, woohoo! I'd say it's about the same as before James, but it's a lot less than before DD.

Has negative or positive impacts on your relationship made you re-think your future children plans (ie. if it has been positive, do you think maybe you'd have more children than you'd originally planned or, if thre have been negative impacts, have you re-considered having additional children?) No, our relationship was ok. But our second child made us certain that we would not be having any more.

When it comes to parenting and the house, what is something your partner is great at? He is much more patient with the kids, especially with DD when she is having her meltdowns. He's also more rough and active with them. They both love running around and jumping on him.

What is something that still needs work? We're still trying to figure out the best way to discipline. Otherwise, I think we're good.

[sugarloafbaby]

So, now that we're coming up to 17 and 18 months, how are things going? things are really good

Are you back to the pre-baby days with your SO or DH? pretty much- but seeing as I'm 8 months pregnant again, it's different again

Did nothing really change with baby's arrival anyway? everything changed. but for the better

Are things still challenging - and if so, what? right now it's the pregnancy discomfort that is challenging, and dealing with Dallas' constant meltdowns. But relationship wise things are better than ever.

Are you having the same, less or more (hey, someone might be, lol!) sex than before baby? About the same. maybe a little less since I am tired more now.

Has negative or positive impacts on your relationship made you re-think your future children plans (ie. if it has been positive, do you think maybe you'd have more children than you'd originally planned or, if thre have been negative impacts, have you re-considered having additional children?) We definitely want more, even with how difficult Dallas has been as a baby and toddler. We sorta feel like we are prepared for more since we didn't have an easy baby. Having her and going through this pregnancy just brought us closer together. We really try to work together on everything.

When it comes to parenting and the house, what is something your partner is great at? He's good at helping out with cleaning and playing with Dallas. He is also just good at helping with everything in general, esp. now that I can't do as much!

What is something that still needs work? I probably need to not be as nagging!

nothing for us is the smae right now but has absolutly nothing to do with nattie - lol. since he has been gone for 8 months I cant really say if things would change or not honestly.