TSB4 said:
“He says finances are going to get better, but I’m not only concerned about money. I have other concerns about having about her child right now.”
The thing is, if you have enough money, you’ll be able to buy help if you don’t have either friends or family who are willing to help out. You can hire a cleaning lady to come in once or twice a month and you can hire a high school student or college student to help you manage your kids and you wouldn’t have to cook every night. Also, you’ll be able to take better care of your mental health. Money is actually extremely useful for that sort of thing, and if your husband is right about his business taking off, then you could be in a much better position by the time your baby arrives. (We were able to afford a lot of college sitters when we had a 2-year-old and a baby and it was a sanity-saver.)
It sounds like your husband is working really hard to support your family. Unfortunately, a lot of men in his position will just curl up in a ball when unemployed. He, on the other hand, is rolling up his sleeves and doing his best to earn a living. Try to show him some appreciation for that. I know from your previous postings that he is far from perfect, but this one thing he gets right, and it’s a really important thing to get right when you have a growing family.
I announced my pregnancy with my third baby when my older kids were 9 and 7. I had some bleeding that turned out to be a subchorionic hematoma, so I had two weeks of bedrest starting around 15 weeks and then spent the rest of the second trimester on physical restrictions. We had to make the announcement to the kids that we were expecting a baby at 15 weeks to explain why I couldn’t wait on them as usual, which up to then I had been doing. At that point, we explained to them that we were expecting a baby, but that the baby might not live (we were initially told we had only a 70% chance of safe delivery), and that we needed them to pitch in and do stuff like making their own lunches and put away their own laundry. That was a pretty dire situation and my kids were both pretty big at the time, which helps a lot, but I would encourage you (once you’re safely to 12 weeks, which will be soon), to talk to the kids, explain how you feel, and to ask for their help. It’s OK to turn to Mr. TV for help at times–it will keep your house cleaner. This isn’t going to be forever.
One thing I did with my big kids that was really educational and reassuring for them (because they were naturally very concerned about the baby) was to look at those monthly updates that you can find online about fetal development. Your bigger kids will get a lot out of it.
And definitely work on your mental health. That’s probably the most important thing you can do right now.