I have a 7 year old & a 17 month old. I have 2 1/2 years left of college before I start my teaching career. In my state, teachers do not get maternity leave. If you want to take off work after having a baby, you have to use your saved up sick days. Obviously I’m not going to have 6 weeks worth of sick days saved up for the first few years of my career. We wanted to have another baby before I finish college that way I can stay home with the baby for at least a year like I get to with my 17 month old. Plus, I don’t want to have to take off work especially for 6 weeks or longer during my first 5 years of my teaching career since those years are crucial. I also want to have another baby before I start working because I had such a hard pregnancy with my 2nd child that I had to quit my job so I really don’t want that to happen again. But at the same time, I don’t feel like I’m ready to have another baby. Not that we aren’t financially stable or anything, I just personally feel like I’m not mentally or physically ready to have another one. And I’m afraid I’ll never be. I definitely want more biological children but my 2nd pregnancy was traumatic. I’ve always heard that it gets worse with each pregnancy. Any advice?