@How many kids do you want?

[dulcemariamar]

How many kids do you want if you didnt have to worry about money?

How many kids do you think you are really going to end up having?

Just asking because it seems here the new trend in Spain, is being one and done.

[travelingturtle]

I would be ok with one-three, maybe even four if money weren't an issue. But, since I don't like being pregnant even though my pregnancies tend to be easier than others, I think 2 is going to be my limit.

I just found out that if you have 7 kids in Germany, the chancellor of Germany will be the godparent of the 7th kid.

[popcorn]

May 25, 2012 4:55:32 GMT -5 travelingturtle said:

I would be ok with one-three, maybe even four if money weren't an issue. But, since I don't like being pregnant even though my pregnancies tend to be easier than others, I think 2 is going to be my limit.

I just found out that if you have 7 kids in Germany, the chancellor of Germany will be the godparent of the 7th kid.

Looks like we'll be having 7 then. Who wouldn't want that?

;D


In all seriousness I think we'd like to have 4 if money were no concern. In reality I think we'll have two close together and then later down the road if we can afford/still want more we would have another two also close together.

[anna7602]

Two, regardless of money. It's my time, energy and desire to do other things in life that keeps me from wanting any more than 2. We've been able to travel and do so many awesome things in the last 4 years with DD that I don't think we would have dared to do if I'd had more kids in quick succession, even if I had hired more help. A 4-5 year difference in age is what I started out wanting and it's what I still want now.

I think the age you start having kids makes a big difference, too. While I theoretically want 2 kids, the reality is that we may be one and done if we wait too long to TTC again (or it could be too late already, for all I know).

[Deleted]

Two at the most, regardless of money for the reasons Anna explained. My H and I are only children so I've always thought that having two would make it better for them once we're not around anymore... Maybe it's silly to think that?
I must say I don't think about progeny too often, there are just too many things to accomplish first so we might end up being another one and done couple by the time we decide to conceive.

[irish]

Before we had any kids the answer was 2 children. Now that we have one, the answer is slightly altered to 2 full term pregnancies... we both come from relatively large families (5 & 4 kids) so couldn't imagine being one and done (though that thought has crossed our minds at some bad times!!)

With the strong history of non identical twins in my family (both my parents, some cousins) there is a high chance of twins. Added to the fact that I'm now 38 increases this further. So, if we'd have had twins last time that would have been it. Now we are ttc again and this pregnancy will be the last one... twins or not!

[violetsmommy]

If money was no issue definitley two. I think for some reasons that anna mentioned I woldnt want more. I love being pregnant though lol I was lucky enough to have easy pregnancy and labour. I would love for DD to have a sibling (she asks for a ssister now). Course even if money wasn't an issue right now I would still want to wait a few years. My friends TTC her 3rd now...she's alnost given me that baby fever lol

[bugabean]

I will not be pregnant again, no matter what our finances are.

If DH were open to adoption, I would love to adopt more, but he's not… so two it is.

[frlcb]

I have 2, would love 3 but will probably stay with 2

[Deleted]

One if any are even possible. I'm having my cervix removed on Monday, soon amount of money will help things.

[clogged]

May 25, 2012 4:55:32 GMT -5 travelingturtle said:

I just found out that if you have 7 kids in Germany, the chancellor of Germany will be the godparent of the 7th kid.

Um, is that a threat?

*****

I would have 8. Or 12. Or 27. How many before your vagina just falls out? One before that point.

[Cheesecake]

1, but ask me again when I have one, the number might change after I've been pregnant and have a child. Money doesn't factor in - if I had all the money in the world, a giant house with room to expand and enough cash to send 25 kids to college, I still probably only want one.

As long as DH and I both still work, I don't think having more than 1 would be great for us or the child. We both have odd hours/long days and will need to seriously work hard to have enough family time if we have 1. If there'd be more it'd probably be too hard for us to make it work and give each child the attention they deserve.

If we had all the money in the world and we wouldn't actually work anymore, I'd have to see what pregnancy does to my body, and if it's not too hard, I could go for more than 1.

[potatopie]

On our first date DH said that he wanted two kids of his own and to adopt two more. That had always been my ideal so I blurted out, "Ok! Now we can get married!" and immediately turned red realizing what I had said.

Now that we're thinking about starting a family, the number might get a little more realistic. But definitely try for one or two of our own and adopting in the near future.

[crimsonandclover]

May 25, 2012 8:05:07 GMT -5 clogged said:

May 25, 2012 4:55:32 GMT -5 travelingturtle said:

I just found out that if you have 7 kids in Germany, the chancellor of Germany will be the godparent of the 7th kid.

Um, is that a threat?

*****

I would have 8. Or 12. Or 27. How many before your vagina just falls out? One before that point.

I suppose that depends on who the current President is (and a slight correction to the original statement, it's not the Chancellor (Bundeskanzler/in), it's the President (Bundespräsident) who becomes the godfather). Right now he's a Protestant minister and seems to be an all-around nice guy, Joachim Gauch. The last one? Christian Wulff? Not so much.

And I'm with clogged in that in an ideal world, I would have as many as possible. I LOVE big families and always thought it was kind of sad that I only had one brother. However, considering we will have to fly with said family over the Atlantic, buy a house to contain them, send them to school, etc, we've said that financially we'd like 3-4, although sometimes my mind does wander to 5.

In our case there's another constraining factor, though, because I had HELLP and a c/s with my first and a m/c with my second pregnancy, and if I end up not getting my VBAC, then the number of kids we have could be limited to the number of c/s the doctors say I can have safely. Or, if DD was a miracle and we just didn't know it, I could end up with repeat losses. We'll see how it goes.

[clickerish]

Two. Maybe adopting if money were no option. But I am pretty sure it'll be one pregnancy per (unless there are complications) and done. We both work a lot of hours, love to travel, and want to incorporate the kids into it. My parents did a lousy job of it, and I wouldn't like to repeat their mistakes.

[mrsukyankee]

Until I met Roy, I didn't want one. Now, I'd be happy to be done with one. Never wanted more kids than my arms and am a big fan of not over-populating the world.

[blushing]

Biologically I would live to have 3 kids. And then be a foster mom.

My granny and grandpa were foster parents and saw their foster kids as their own. I remember them always having families of foster kids and always kept them for a really long time, usually until they were grown up. My uncle posted something on FB the other day about them having 43 kids (and only 3 were their biological kids) and how each child was treated the same.

[dpdw]

We stopped at two. I used to think I wanted to 3, but after actually having kids, I'm quite happy with two.

I think expat families here tend to be larger. Our friends have a saying that living in Asia adds a child to your family - because live-in help is so affordable. One of my closest friends is PG with her 4th. A mom in DS's class is PG with her 6th.

[NomadicMama]

In a perfect world? Two.

My reality is one and done. LO is an IVF baby. I ended up quite sick at the end of my pregnancy (see signature) and postpartum was awful. My OB wholly encouraged our being one and done. Plus, I'm forty, with a deploying husband, and we'd have to do IVF again to get pregnant. All signs point to one.

I'm good with it.. Just before I met DH, I had a freak-out about getting married and having a family, but then realized that I'd rather be alone and have control over my life than to tie myself to some guy, just to have a baby. So, I have more than I'd dare hope for.

[loveday]

We are 2 and done. My kids are...spirited. I didn't think I could handle another, although originally I did want 3 little beans. H got the snip last year, so we are permanently done now.

[wise_rita]

May 25, 2012 7:13:58 GMT -5 @blessed said:

Zero or one

I like hearing this from an only child. As a non-mom that is sceptical of the whole parenthood thing, one sounds more attractive every day (if I ever do decide to take the plunge).

A point someone else made: Buying flights for your brood. This is a huge thing to consider. We will always have side of the family somewhere far, far away, or possibly even both sides if we stay in Oz. Without even considering travel for pleasure this will be a huge expenditure, so one child sounds even more attractive.

[CakeLover]

I've always wanted 3. Then we moved here to Oz and I would be happy with 2 because we don't have help and its so, so far away from family and a network. When we knew we were expecting #2 DH said 'yeah, we're done'. Recently he's had a case of the crazies and said perhaps 3. Now the roles are reversed and I'm trying to convince him that we would be okay with just 2. His exact words are 'after #2 we'll play it safe for 6 months and then roll the dice'. He's loco!!!

[clogged]

May 25, 2012 8:11:46 GMT -5 crimsonandclover said:

Right now he's a Protestant minister and seems to be an all-around nice guy, Joachim Gauch.

Nice enough to convert to my religion so he could even be considered eligible to be a Godparent in the first place? Damn. Germany really has loosened up in recent years! LOL

[amy726]

We have always wanted 3 together with a total of 5 including DSD and DSS.

[pittpurple]

When I was growing up, I always said 6 (2 bio, 4 adopted) but then I started thinking realistically. DH and I have always talked about 1-2 bio kids and 1-2 adopted kids (I volunteered in a foster care agency for a couple of years and it's been important to me ever since) but we're already 32 and it's taken us 2 years to get to this point. Pregnancy has not been easy for me on any level so far so if this pregnancy results in any children at all I'm one pregnancy-and-done. If we do end up with 2, we'll be done for a while - like Wise-Rita pointed out, paying for more than 4 tickets to go see famiy sounds pretty impossible!

[crimsonandclover]

May 26, 2012 0:49:12 GMT -5 clogged said:

May 25, 2012 8:11:46 GMT -5 crimsonandclover said:

Right now he's a Protestant minister and seems to be an all-around nice guy, Joachim Gauch.

Nice enough to convert to my religion so he could even be considered eligible to be a Godparent in the first place? Damn. Germany really has loosened up in recent years! LOL

Haha - I have no idea what the Catholics would do in this case. It's pretty much just an honorary thing, anyway, although once a year he invites them all to his palace Bellevue and has a party for them.

[crimsonandclover]

May 26, 2012 4:46:51 GMT -5 pittpurple said:

When I was growing up, I always said 6 (2 bio, 4 adopted) but then I started thinking realistically. DH and I have always talked about 1-2 bio kids and 1-2 adopted kids (I volunteered in a foster care agency for a couple of years and it's been important to me ever since) but we're already 32 and it's taken us 2 years to get to this point. Pregnancy has not been easy for me on any level so far so if this pregnancy results in any children at all I'm one pregnancy-and-done. If we do end up with 2, we'll be done for a while - like Wise-Rita pointed out, paying for more than 4 tickets to go see famiy sounds pretty impossible!

Pitt, I always wanted to adopt in addition to bio kids, too. We'll see how things go, but even when we were dating I mentioned it and DH was pretty against it and hasn't seemed to have changed his mind since then, so we'll see. If we end up not being able to have any more bio kids or maybe even only one more then maybe he'll change his mind...

[elenetxu]

I want the familia numerosa card, but I guess if I want that I should start soon. Given the state of the Spanish economy and DH and my "precarious" employment situation, that's not going to happen.

I'd love to have three or four kids.

[dulcemariamar]

I want one for now and I will consider two after we see how one goes.

I always go back and forth between having one or two kids. I grew up with a brother and even though we are not close now, we were as children. It was fun to have someone at home.

However, one is less stressful and you have more money to spend on them.

[housegeek]

If money allowed, I'd have a full house. I would love 4+. But as it is, we have 2, and sadly the cons of having a third are outweighing the pros.