Despite its upsides, very few people would likely call parenting an easy or straightforward task. Just askMichael Phelpsand his wife Nicole.
“I have to give myself time,” Nicole, 33, says of what keeps her sane as a soon-to-be mom of three. “Thereis always guilt, no matter what— do the laundry, clean the sink, put away the kids’ stuff — but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that it will all be there later, but the time for me to be a healthy parent and a healthy wife is right now.”
For the 23-time Olympic gold medalist, unsurprisingly, exercise is the way to go in dealing with stress. “If I’m in a bad mood and I go for a swim, I’m better 99.9 percent of the time,” says Phelps, 33. “It’s part of my DNA, and it will always be that way.”
Michael Phelps and family forParentsmagazine.Daymion Mardel
Michael Phelps and sons forParentsmagazine.Daymion Mardel
As for their third child, expectant dad Phelps says the spouses are “excited” and prepared to “tag-team” to get all their parenting tasks done with three kids under 4.
“There was an initial ‘Oh my gosh, what are we doing?’ feeling,” the former Miss California USA says oflearning she was pregnant again. “I got pregnant with Beckett a month after Boomer turned 1, and I got pregnant with our third a month before Beckett turned 1.”
“But weboth have always said we wantthree kids,” shares the mom-to-be. “A week after coming home from the hospital with Beckett, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m not done, I want more.’ ”
Michael Phelps and family coverParentsmagazine.Daymion Mardel
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The transition, the couple share, from one child to two was difficult in the sense that “Beckett would not sleep and wanted to nurse 24/7,” Nicole recalls.
“Itried every sleep method you could imagine. I was ripping my hair out for months!” she says, noting that her younger son began sleeping through the night between 9 and 10 months old. “I just did whatever workaround I could so that I could function the next day.”
Daymion Mardel
They’re “much more relaxed now” as parents, with Phelps revealing that his wife “is probably more laid-back than I am at times” — but theyboth can’t help wanting to check inwhen they are away from their little ones.
source: people.com
