Do your pregnancy symptoms decide how many kids you have?

[Mom2Connor]

No. I will suffer for 8 or 9 months to have a lifetime with another child.

[MrsCrafty]

I had *horrible* Hyperemesis with DS, multiple hospital stays, picc line and TPN homecare nurses. But I still wanted atleast 1 more. This pregnancy hasn't been nearly so bad, fluids just once a week, and at 16 weeks the HG is getting better. I still plan on another. DF asks me if I'm sure when I'm really sick but I think a few months of sickness for a life time with another LO is worth it. Though going through HG the first time I could sleep all day, and this time our kids are at school all day. It would be harder with a LO to take care of. My family thinks we should stop, but I'm pretty set on having atleast 1 more.

[PerfectFifth]

With both pregnancies so far, I've had high blood pressure starting in the third trimester, which turns into at least a couple weeks of bedrest, followed by pre-eclampsia, a c-section, and then at least a week's stay in the NICU for the new baby. It's a really rough road for everyone involved, especially my husband, who I'm pretty sure got some mild PTSD from the first birth. We come from big families and wanted at least five or six kids, but I really don't think we will now. DH is actually done now after two, but I am adamant about having at least three, so that's where we'll most likely stop with biological kids. After that, if our family still seems too small, we'll look into adoption.

[iwiamandaiwi]

Originally Posted by mrspopo We've got baby #2 on the way and we're thrilled. I always knew in my heart we would have at least 2 kids. We go back and forth on whether or not to have more. And it's a little strange not knowing if we'll have more. Both pregnancies have been very planned, but after this one there is a real unknown of whether to keep baby stuff etc. I will be holding the little squishy and not knowing if there will be any more. The open-endedness is kind of nice so we can go with how we feel I guess. But unfortunately both pregnancies have resulted in really icky symptoms. And it occurred to me that that might be the deciding factor. It doesn't seem like that should really determine how many kids we have, but man this pregnancy thing doesn't agree with my body! Less than a week in I started having really bad nausea. By 2 weeks I was basically bedridden agonizing with all-day nausea (sometimes vomiting too). Even with medication and trying all the little "tricks" I was miserable. 8 weeks of being unable to sit upright, let alone stand, for more than 10 minutes. Too miserable to even watch TV. Lots of weight-loss and 2 trips to the ER for severe dehydration. It was in these throws of agony that DH had the nerve to ask "no more kids?" Parking it on the couch all day while the 1 year old runs around all day and cries is not fun, probably even not-funner with 2 running around. The last few weeks haven't been nearly as bad and I've even been able to leave the house and cook a few meals. And I'm only throwing up 5 or 6 times a week - woo hoo! So much better! But now come all the other symptoms. I'm already getting up at least twice at night to pee. A couple of times I've had REALLY bad constipation. There's dozens of other annoying symptoms I'm sure you're all aware of. And now my dreaded pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome. My left wrist is really staring to hurt with very minimal movements. I'd forgotten how much it hurts, it's hard to do things when your hands hurt so bad. Last time it went away instantly after giving birth. If someone tries to tell me I'm glowing I might try to punch them in the nose. I guess I'm just wondering if I should let these pregnancy symptoms be the deciding factor on whether to have more kids or not. I feel so blessed and fortunate to have my health and the opportunity to have healthy children. It feels unfair that I could let those symptoms get in the way when others would change places with me in a heartbeat to get to "choose" whether to conceive a baby or not. Ya know?

I have always had sucky pregnancies with both my boys but this one is SUPER sucky. I found out at my last appt that I have hyperemesis. This in addition to the fact that I have miserable pregnancies anyways plus the fact that i have to have csections which get riskier with each one is why I am having my tubes tied when this baby is born. It is an easy decision mentally but a hard one emotionally. Logically i know that it is best to stop now and be so grateful for my three beautiful and healthy children. And I am. i thank God every day that they are here and they are healthy <3 but as a woman it is a hard thing to make it so permanent. I know i am doing the right thing though and I think that it is a blessing to know before this baby is born that s/he will be my last one. I can savor every moment (even the not so pleasant ones) and when I am exhausted from getting up a million times a night to feed the newborn I can take solace in the fact that this is the last time. i am thinking that reminding myself of that will change me from being miserable about it to enjoying the time we get to spend together getting to know eachother <3 anyways. Short answer to your question would be that yes, I am making this decision based on my pregnancy history

[cristy_1996]

We don't want more than 3 and this is for sure my last pregnancy. I can not do this again. :-/.

[hohaas]

For me, no. Having my kids would be worth going thru anything

[sw.eta]

No. I had almost all symptoms - from nausea and vomiting every day for the first 3 months to hemorrhoid
I gave birth to my first LO 3 months ago and he is so sweet and all that now I want more babies so bad I can't imagine that some discomfort could possibly stop me from doing that again soon

[holly6737]

No, the pregnancy symptoms don't make a difference for me when it comes to how many kids we have. But, I have pretty mild pregnancies. I've had the usual mild-moderate nausea, hemorrhoids and carpal tunnel, but it really doesn't slow me down that much. I'm even still working and I"m almost full term. If I had really bad pregnancies, it might make a difference for me, yes.

[Urchin]

For me, yes.

I have seriously considered only having one baby due to the fact that I had hydronephrosis with my first baby.

While it was painful, that's not the reason I'm putting off having #2...it's just the fear. I count my blessings every day that my DD is here with no issues after all the complications I had. Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't press my luck to try for another. I also have decided that if we do go for #2, I will wait until DD is older. I don't want to rob her of mommy time if I end up in and out of the hospital again. When she's a little more independant and can understand things a bit better, then I will consider #2 maybe.

[chandni3]

I'm in the middle of morning sickness right now and saying I don't want to do this again, at least not for a long long time. But my husband has made it a lot worse. He's been a jerk honestly. The other day he had the nerve to say, "Everything didn't fall apart when so and so and so and so were pregnant" Yea, those two people had no morning sickness at all. We got in a huge fight and I packed up to go to a hotel but he talked me out of it. It think if he was nicer and didn't act like I was making it all up it wouldn't be so bad. I'll see how I feel later, I'd never do anything drastic. I love kids and always thought I wanted 4, but now I feel like I could be happy with just two.