We were lucky to have any, let alone two. We stopped because my wife didn’t think she could handle any more. Actually, she later said she wished we’d stopped at one. I wanted more. But in order to have more, she’d have to go through the infertility cycle again, and since she was 43 or so, the chances were pretty low that she’d get pregnant again.
We have two right now – we’re envisioning at least one more biological child and one adopted child…after that, we’ll see. To be honest and I only say this now (my perspective may change later), as long as I’m able, I don’t think there will ever be a time that we will say ’ no more ’.
We initially wanted as many as we could afford, maybe 6 or so. However, I have kidney disease, and during my third pregnancy the docs told us “NO MORE”. They finally convinced me that I was risking my life during every pregnancy and that the three kids I would have needed their mom more than another sibling. We stopped then.
Honestly, it’s a good thing. I really don’t think I could have handled more than the three I have!
The only reason I’m not having another baby is that my hubby thinks he’s too old to start over again. And financial reasons… but we could work around the financial thing if I accidentally got pregnant. I honestly considered “tampering” with his condoms, teeheehee, but he really does NOT want any more at this point, so I’m trying to respect that.
Two was what we wanted. We felt that was the maximum number we could handle well. (Emphasis on “well”)
I volunteered for the big ”‘V”. Got it done with no regrets.
I’m not a parent yet but I figure I’ll stop having kids when the work to raise another one outweighs the excitement and desire to have another one. Like @Simone_De_Beauvoir, I want three biological and one adopted. My boyfriend wants seven or eight but as long as I’m the mother of his children, that is not going to happen. My mother laughs whenever I say that I want four but I’m also planning on having some live-in help. ;)
I have always envisioned myself with one child. It wasn’t until she was around 4 that I even starting considering a second and I thought the age difference of 5 or 6 years would be too much – it would be like raising two only children.
@Supacase Not really, although I guess it could depend on the kid… My oldest was 5 when her little sister was born. She took to it like she was trying on motherhood herself. She wanted to help with everything, including diapers, and even gave her baby sister her first bath.
They go through normal sibling bickering, of course, but they’re pretty close, even with a 5 year age difference.
I never did know that. The main reason I only had two was that I didn’t feel I could afford more than that. I would have loved to have many more, adopted, though, because child birth was too painful.
Her first marrage she had a daughter and a miscarrage.
When we married, she had a miscarrage, another daughter, a miscarrage, and a son.
Since we had one of each, and because she was having such a hard time carrying them to term (all three of our kids were premies), we called it.
@cletrans2col This is not a good night for me, and apparently you’re not here often enough to know me, so I’m just gonna leave that judgemental comment alone. Good day.
@JilltheTooth Thanks for that vote of confidence. You are not the only one.
My dad (my mom died young) had one too way back in 1965. It was considered very desirable in a partner. He was a given a gold pin that looked like the “Male” symbol but had a cut at the bottom of the circle.
@worriedguy I had joined the big V club also when that decision was made. It was just the right thing to do and with no regrets. I love the cut symbol pin
My ex-husband also had the big V. We figured I’d gone through enough with all the risky pregnancies and health problems. I really appreciated it! Though I ended up having to get a hysterectomy later on, for other health reasons.
@JilltheTooth: I think you should get one. After all, you couldn’t even get pregnant without a host of doctors, surgeons, drugs and several thousand dollars. Oh, not to mention almost a decade of trying.