Their days are busier, but they are stronger and have more purpose

THE PARENTS: Megan Nielson, 39, and Ricardo Muñoz, 42, of Port Richmond

THE KIDS: Eva Luna, 3; Francisca Xaviera, born Sept. 25, 2022

ENGAGEMENT-DAY GLITCH: When they landed in Puerta Vallarta, they were swept into a time-share sell that gobbled much of their day and didn’t end until Ricardo yelled at the organizers in Spanish, Megan yelled in English, and the two finally hopped into a cab.

If not for Tinder, Megan and Ricardo never would have met. They lived in different boroughs of New York and moved in completely disparate circles. But they chatted via the app for so long that Megan thought, “Is this person even real? Why don’t you ask me out?”

Ricardo had his reasons. “I’m horrible at first dates. I always bomb.” And when he did finally invite Megan to meet at the New Museum, he was so nervous that he looked queasy the entire time.

After seeing the exhibition, the two approached the museum’s exit. “I was ready for her to say, ‘See you,’ and walk out and that was going to be it,” Ricardo says. “But she kind of gave me a second chance.”

They had coffee, then ice cream, then drinks. “Our first date was like five dates, from 4 p.m. to midnight,” he says. By the end, Megan was intrigued. “He was so charming and more relaxed, talking about his family in Ecuador. I could tell he was a very loving, caring person.”

He was also up-front about his passions: Ricardo is an artist/illustrator who loves comic books, owns a small toy collection, and occasionally wears superhero T-shirts. He loved that Megan is an opera singer. “Music is so great and magical, and I cannot do it,” he says. “We both understand that artistic pursuits are endless, and they’re tough, and they need time.”

Megan moved in temporarily with Ricardo and his roommates; in early 2016, they got their own place. Then they adopted a dog, an Eskimo/Jack Russell mix named Lobo. “A trip ends in a week, a lease ends in a year, but a dog is long-term,” Ricardo says. “It was ‘our dog,’ not ‘my dog.’ ”

In August, Ricardo flew to Mexico to hear Megan perform in Don Giovanni. He’d already asked for her father’s blessing, chosen a ring, and found a place in the mountains near Puerta Vallarta to drop to one knee and propose. “It was not super-grand, but intimate,” he says. “We are not big-gesture kind of people.”

That was true of their wedding, a small ceremony in an art gallery in Queens, with a taco truck and a friend serving as DJ. “I didn’t want it to feel like a performance,” Megan says.

Both wanted kids, and given Megan’s age — 36 at the time — they began trying right away. She was returning from a haircut, riding the subway, listening to Brandi Carlile and suddenly becoming tearful when she thought: “Oh, my God, I’m pregnant.”

Though she had intense nausea for the first trimester — New York’s subways and odors were a challenge — she continued to sing throughout the pregnancy, debuting at Carnegie Hall in a sparkling gown during her second trimester.

“I’m a planner,” Megan says, “so a big part of the process was telling myself: I have to let go. Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen.”

In her 38th week of pregnancy, the yoga ball she was using as a desk chair rolled forward, bouncing her into the desk — an abdominal injury that landed her in the hospital for several days of monitoring and an unsuccessful attempt at induction.

Two weeks later, on her due date — her blood pressure was high, and her amniotic fluid a bit low — doctors induced again. Eva was born, “this beautiful little energy ball” who looked exactly like her father.

Initially, they’d figured on having just one child. But when they thought about how spread-out both families are — Ricardo’s relatives in Toronto, Miami, and Ecuador, while Megan’s are in the Midwest — they wanted to give Eva a sibling.

They’d weathered a difficult 2020 — not only the pandemic, but the death of Megan’s brother and a period when the two struggled to communicate well. Marriage therapy helped, and a move to Philadelphia in March 2021 made the prospect of a second child more feasible.

“I felt pretty good about Megan and me as a team: I think we can totally make this work,” Ricardo remembers. “The idea of bringing new life became something that I wanted.”

He was working at home one day when Megan heard a break between phone calls and ran in to announce, “I’m pregnant.”

This time, she suffered nausea and vomiting for six months, along with gestational diabetes and swelling that kept her from being able to sing high notes. “I had to step away from singing and even practicing,” she says. “Having to chase after a toddler. I wasn’t sleeping. It was a lot more difficult.”

She scheduled an induction for 39 weeks, expecting a faster delivery than she’d had with Eva. But Francisca, too, took her time. When she arrived, at 9:52 on a Sunday night, her appearance startled her parents.

“Eva had jet-black hair; Francisca had light reddish hair. Eva looks more Hispanic; this baby looked more like me,” Megan says. “She’s a more calm, peaceful baby. It was so interesting to experience making two completely different individuals.”

Now she marvels at how little time she has as a parent of two … and how much she can cram into those small pockets. “You just figure out a way. I’m more flexible and can roll with the punches a little bit more. I’m stronger than I thought I would be.”

Ricardo remembers his anxieties before becoming a parent. “I had this idea that I would be trapped, that I would have less freedom, less time, less money. I wanted to do it, but I knew it would be a trade-off.

“I actually now have a completely different understanding about it. I didn’t lose freedom; I gained purpose. I want to be better in everything — stronger, more articulate, smarter. [Parenthood] gave me this kind of crazy energy. I want to inspire my daughters. Now I want to be better for my family.”