Number of children you have

[Crimson Wife]

Growing up,I always said that I wanted 4.

 

Now we don't have any pre-determined number but are taking it one baby at a time. We want to have as many as we can responsibly parent. We do hope that God blesses us with at least once more, but first DH has to land a permanent position with benefits. He's been doing consulting projects but the work is intermittent.

[Homeschooling6]

I thought I'd have 12 or 13 but have 6 :D. I would have like to have more but my last two pregnancies scared my dh and were very stressful for him (with my last the doctors said I would miscarry, it was a hard nine months, always waiting for the next appt. to see if my baby was still alive). We agreed to not have anymore.

 

*When I mean stressful for dh, it's because the delivery of our last two were VERY stressful, he didn't want to lose me or a baby.

Edited April 15, 2011 by Homeschooling6
*

[Sue in WI]

Dh wanted 2, and I wanted 4. We decided to stop at 3, but were given a special surprise when we found out we were going to have our little girl, (who I hope will be born in the next couple of days!). We both are very excited, and happy with this change of plans. She will definitely be our last. I will be 45 in July, and this has been a very challenging pregnancy for me.

[ScoutTN]

Nope.

I had hoped for a houseful - 4 or 5 or even 6.

DH and I were older when we married and had IF issues. We have two healthy children when all the docs said "impossible" or "1% chance" . so we are happy and thankful.

 

But I think the longing for more babies will never completely go away. Just part of the sadness of life in this fallen world. We trust God for our family size and are trying to be good stewards of the two lovely little people he's given us!

[MamaT]

I actually did not want any children when I married. My dh had to agree to that before I would marry him. When my first child was born (was a surprise), I looked at him and knew mothering was what I was born for. All of my friends from high school act like they are going to faint when they find out I have 6 and am homeschooling them! Goes to show you never know.

[Lostinabook]

No, I wanted 4. However, dh has the number he always envisioned. :)

[Mommy22alyns]

I have 2; I always figured I'd have 2. But I would love just one more...

[JVA]

We wanted 6 or 8...but with my fertility issues, we are satisfied with 5. Each pregnancy and new baby is an absolute miracle. I will never tire of seeing pg moms and little ones. God has RICHLY blessed us....in children, love and material needs.

[Desert Rat]

I wanted 3, I have 2. I'm okay with it now but last year I mentioned to dh how long it took me to get over the fact that he didn't want any more and how I struggled with all my friends having babies when I knew he chose for us to be done. He looked at me and said, "Hon, I thought you were kidding about wanting another. I didn't know it was that big a deal. I would have considered it." A little piece of my heart broke off. We were laid off at the time; I'm going to turn 40; my youngest is 8. I don't want to start over but there will always be a part of me that misses that third little one.

[sewingmama]

Before I had children I wanted 8. After I had my first I wanted 1. :lol: DH wanted 6.

 

It took 4 years to conceive our first - I was 30 when she was born. I had the next two quickly after that. I have had two M/C's since our last baby.

 

I would really like one more but I just don't know. Since our youngest is almost 2 and no more babies have arrived - I'm getting used to not having young babies around and most of the time I like it :001_smile:

 

So if God sees fit to send us another I'll be happy - if he doesn't I feel satisfied with what I got. There was a time we thought we would have no children - and then we were blessed with 3 - so I'm happy (and maybe done). I'll probably always wish I had more though but God had other plans.

[WiseOwlKnits]

Before I got married, I always planned to have 2. After I got married, I thought 4 would be perfect. After 2 Hyperemesis pregnancies, we decided to stop. God had other plans and we're expecting another DD later this year. We're DONE after this. So I guess I don't have the number we planned on no matter when you judge by, but we're happy either way. :)

[Tammyla]

We've got two blessings, and would have been happy with more.

[Mommyfaithe]

We only wanted one....at a time...lol:D

When we had one....we needed a sibling...had another girl...

Then had to have a brother...so we had 2 brothers..lol....so we had to have a tie breaker....I then had an awful 2nd trimester loss...and begged God for one more. We got him...we were the Brady Bunch! But God had plans and sent the cherry on top! Now we have 7. I am done having babies...physically, but we have discussed foster care or adoption.

 

I really am moving more into grandma mode though.....

 

Faithe

[ecj98]

We wanted 4 and are currently pregnant with number 4, who will be our last unless we have a surprise. As a child, I wanted 6.

[Violet Crown]

When dh and I first married, we talked about three as a perfect number. Then, after first dd, nothing ... and nothing ... and nothing ... and we talked a lot about how special only children are, and how perfectly happy we were with one. Then, surprise! And, surprise! And here we are with three, just under the wire. :)

[Aquinas Academy]

As a child I wanted at least 10, probably closer to 12. When we got married DH and I figured we'd probably have four. I'm pregnant with our seventh. :)

[SonshineLearner]

Wanted 6 by 30; had 2 by 32 :) Oh well.. pregnancy equals sickness all day for me... (pretty much all the way till done) and my deliveries are... well... horrible. (But great results both times :))

[Danestress]

I'm not sure I ever thought about having children. I think I assumed I would be a working girl. I wanted my own apartment. I started wanting my own apartment when I was about six, and continued to let that be my primary dream for about 20 years until I married a guy who already had a child.

Edited April 16, 2011 by Danestress

[justamouse]

I planned on none and I got 7, and there's not a one that I'd send back. :001_smile:

[12Stars]

We have 3 girls, 2 boys, 1 in heaven, and expecting another boy in two weeks.

I attribute our change of heart to having more children to our reversion back to the Catholic Church and understanding Theology of the Body. We would not have had any of the boys if we would have continued on the path we were on. I am so grateful that we are open to life, although it is hard at times our marriage has been blessed abundantly.

[jujsky]

I wanted 3, I have 2. I'm starting to get over not having a 3rd.

[J-rap]

***

Edited February 19, 2023 by J-rap

[tadbhoward]

Growing up I never thought about it. I did not plan on having any children.as a young adult. When we first got pregnant I think I just figured I would have a boy and a girl and be done. I am currently 39 weeks pregnant with my 5th girl. :001_huh:

[Aubrey]

I always wanted 4, but when I got older--college age--I wondered about maybe more than that.

 

So right now, I have the absolute. perfect. family I always dreamed of as a kid. But more wouldn't necessarily upset that.

 

(Too bad I wasn't smart enough to "dream" of wealth!) :lol:

[journeytolily]

I always wanted a BIG family - as a teenager, I thought 12 would be good! I also wanted to marry young, and be a loving wife and mother, primarily. Of course, life doesn't always go as planned. I did marry young, but it ended in divorce. We didn't have children. I ended up with no children(and very little hope of children as I had endometriosis, then had to have a hysterectomy),and a nice career into my late 30's. Not by choice, though.

 

Finally, I met my soul-mate. He wanted kids - I thought the relationship was doomed. Then he asked if I would consider adopting. Wow - truly the man I had been waiting for!

 

We now have 3 beautiful children thru adoption, and are in the process of adopting one more. Hopefully, I will end up with 4 - not nearly as many as I had dreamed of when I was young, but many more than I eventually thought I might have! I feel blessed every day.

[KrissiK]

We have three, through adoption. I really wanted 4 (maybe 5) but with foster care rules and just a whole host of absolutely stupid things going on with the foster care system in general (can you tell I am a little fed up and bitter?:001_smile:) we will probably only have 3. And I am thankful for my three. They are wonderful children and I am really working on being content with what God has blessed us with.

[felicity]

We have four; two boys then 2 girls. Growing up I wanted five, but I'm not sure why. My dh is done and though it's taken me a while, I'm good with that. Now I just hold all of my friends' babies. So far I've always given them back.

[nukeswife]

Yep, dh and I when we met online said we both wanted 3 and that's what we have. DH had to go through the big V to make sure we didn't end up with more, because I'm a fertile myrtle and we had to be really careful to make sure we didn't end up with a dozen.

[Clover11]

I have five children and when I was young I envisioned myself with 6. We had our first 3 but with the last was determined that I would not have any more children. I mourned that lose for several years. Finally found peace with it. Then in my early 50's, my husbands mid 60's we decided to start doing foster care. Very quickly I felt that we would adopt and it would be a sibling group. I guess I assumed it would be a group of 3.;) We had several things against us though, age being one of them, we were primarily caring for Native American children and we are very white(this was a biggy), AND we are Christian which also didn't follow well with placement of Native American children in our home on a permanent basis.

 

Well, God had a plan. We had our two youngest placed in our home and after over 1 1/2 yrs and great turmoil and heart ache, we were allowed to adopt them. Any way you look at it God preformed a miracle.

 

We only had one other child in our home after we adopted our two and realized that season was over for us. I asked the Lord one day where my 6th child was going to come from and it was almost like He chuckled and told me, "Think about it My daughter, I gave you "T". He is worth 2." Boy has that ever played out right.:001_huh::lol::001_huh::lol::001_huh::lol::lol:

:lol: Thanks for sharing!

[jenniferlee]

I'm amazed at how many people want/wanted more children than they have!

I never wanted to have any.

Now we have 5:D

Yes, I know how it happened. And yes, I'm happy to have a big family at this point. But it was not what I thought I would have.

[kidsnbooks8]

When I was young, I wanted to have 3 sons. I did not want any girls, I thought girls were such a pain!(this was as a teen, I had 2 sisters and I was the oldest):tongue_smilie:

My dh wanted 4, that is what his family had 2 boys, 2 girls.

 

Well we have 5 girls and 4 boys. And I love the way this has worked out. 2 girls, 2 boys, 3 girls, 2 boys Definately not my plan but I am very happy:D

[Elinor Everywhere]

I always wanted four, but was told I couldn't have any. Neither could my husband. Three weeks later, I took a pregnancy test - and my daughter was born months later. Yay God! :-)

 

But, we couldn't have any more, and when my daughter was 6 years old, we adopted a 6yo boy. An instant twin brother! It's worked out, but I still wish I had been able to have another.

[Ravin]

I'd like to have 4-6. But since I'm not going to TTC again until I'm done with law school, unless pg #3 is twins (actually not terribly unlikely in my family), #4 may have to be adopted.

 

You never know what life will throw at you, though. I have a younger brother and sister 30 and 31 years younger than me, who my mom and stepdad are in the process of adopting.

[texasmama]

I pictured myself with two kids or, if I was really feeling adventuresome, three kids. I have a lovely surprise. I have four.:D

[Peela]

I really didn't think about it when I was younger- I only knew I would have one, because that drive was very strong in me- but I honestly never thought beyond one.

Dh was clear he wanted two with me- and close in age. So they would have each other. (He has an older dd as well).

 

But having had the 2, I wanted another one, and possibly would have had another 2 if left up to me. However dh was very clear he would have no more. The yearning is still in me and i am almost 44. I presume it will die down when I go through menopause and the hormones change. Hopefully. Right now- I would probably have another one if dh would say yes- its been 15 years since my last.

 

My brother has 6 kids. I really never considered such a thing- but as he and his wife have 6, and as I have been exposed to so many big families through homeschooling- I do love the idea of a big family.

[In2why]

As a child I figured I would have one child, or no children. I was the oldest child, and didn't really feel the desire for children.

 

Now I have 5. :D 3 by birth and 2 through adoption. I always thought people with lots of kids were a bit nuts. But once I was a Mom I figured out I enjoyed it, was pretty good at it, and like the lifestyle that kids bring. Having experienced adoption, I wish more people who love being parents would adopt instead of continuing to give birth. (not that there is anything wrong with it, just a personal wish)

[kimnc]

When I was in college, I wanted 3. DH wanted 1, so we have 2.

I'm mostly ok with that now. At 46 I don't want to try again now.

[golfcartmama]

I always wanted 3, but have 2. I wouldn't necessarily say I'll never have the 3rd (we're not going to do anything permanent), but we've said we're done.

 

:iagree: Us too.

[soonermomma]

Definitely not!! We were done after our first two daughters, and then we had a surprise pregnancy and it was b/g twins!! I also never imagined I would be homeschooling or be the kind of mom that I am.

[CalicoKat]

We wanted 5. We couldn't get pregnant. BUT we have adopted 5 times and so have our family of 7. And we've been fostering our 6th for 1 year.

 

When he has to go home (soon) we want another permanent member. :D

 

6 is going to be enough.

[Tap]

Dh is the middle of 3, so he said NO ODD Numbers. LOL He hated being a middle child.

 

I am the baby of 9, I did not want a large family.

 

 

We were surprised by Ds16

We planned dd12 and were very happy and content with 2. We never, in a million years, expected to have 3.

 

 

We agreed to foster dd4 for family, it unexpectedly turned in to adoption, so she was a bit of a surprise too. LOL

[dakarimom5]

When DH and I met he had 1 and I had 2. We have 3 together, and thought that was enough. Fast forward 3 years after his vasectomy...DH decided to become Catholic (it will happen the day before Easter this year!!) and he had his vasectomy reversal. We are now trying to have more...I'm thinking 12 is a nice round number.:D

[justamouse]

When DH and I met he had 1 and I had 2. We have 3 together, and thought that was enough. Fast forward 3 years after his vasectomy...DH decided to become Catholic (it will happen the day before Easter this year!!) and he had his vasectomy reversal. We are now trying to have more...I'm thinking 12 is a nice round number.:D

 

Wow! That's an amazing conviction to live out.

[Sparkle]

Did not plan on having any. Ended up with four - 2 boys and 2 girls. I actually think it's perfect, and I couldn't have planned it any better if I'd tried. I would not mind adopting a couple more though, if I wasn't so old.

[Osmosis Mom]

Well, I wanted six kids by age 30 -which I got by 6 weeks! A few years down the road the urge came for one (possibly two) more and we got ds and then dd. Now I am done unless we have a (welcome) surprise and am looking forward to not having a baby in the house unless it is a grandkid!!

[MrsBasil]

We wanted at least 4, this pregnancy will bring us to 2 and will probably be our last. Both pregnancies have taken a toll on my health, including HG for the first one and not quite as severe but pretty bad morning sickness. Bad enough that caring for myself and DS has been difficult and I've needed help. DS hasn't had the mommy that he needs and I feel like I can't keep putting my family through this. :sad: It's been hard to face up to this while pregnant.

[BBarnes]

Four always sounded good, but three turned out to be our lucky number.

[5Wizards]

I didn't want to get married or have kids, even into adulthood. I knew that my DH really wanted children, but that he was willing to give up that dream in order to spend his life with me. At some point I decided that having a career wasn't all that I had built it up to be in my mind, so we decided to go ahead and have 1 child (and that I would stay home). We now have 3, and we would have more if we were both younger. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would have multiple children and HOMESCHOOL. :lol:

[ocelotmom]

I never thought about it much. I wanted to have kids someday, but it wasn't a subject I dwelt on.

 

For a few reasons, I suspect I would have said 3. That was definitely how I felt after I started having them. And that's what I have at the moment.

[Koerarmoca]

I always wanted 3 girls and 3 boys like my Grandmother. We have 4 girls (5 counting my step dd) So I started thinking maybe we would have 4 boys come along at some point in time. However we have been unsuccessful getting (and staying preg. over the last 2 years we have had 3 mc's) So we are stuck in what ever happens, happens land. If we go another 2 years with out a successful pregnancy I pray the Lord provides the means for us to adopt. While I only wanted 6 when I was younger I know their is room in my heart for many more.