Why having a new baby wasn't nearly as hard as I'd feared.

Meanest Mom: I had my kids close together ... real close. A week after adopting my newborn daughter, I found out that I was pregnant with twin boys.

Many moms who have their kids close together don't have any more children after that initial first set. There is a good reason for this; namely, the couple years of new parenthood are a fuzzy (not to be confused with warm and fuzzy) blur. The difficulties of the first few years cannot be understated: we love our children, but the task of caring for two or more small children at the same time leaves even the most efficient multitaskers frazzled, shell-shocked, and exhausted. The last thing that many of us want -- or think we can handle -- is another baby.

But let me give you a reason to reconsider. When my older children were 5 years old, I had a surprise pregnancy. I cried for three days straight. My best-laid plans were ruined! I could taste freedom on my lips; all of my kids were headed to kindergarten in the fall. The new baby changed all of that.

Throughout all three trimesters, I worried about what I thought for sure was coming: another trip through the Twilight Zone. After my son was born, I was shocked to discover that what everyone told me was true: caring for one baby was infinitesimally easier than caring for three. Besides being an older and more experienced parent this time around, I'm also considerably more relaxed.

I love my older kids and wouldn't trade them for the world, but it wasn't until I had a "straggler" that I was able to enjoy having a baby.

Jana Mathews is the mother of "four under five" and the author of The Meanest Mom blog.