JFF- Surprise Babies

2 gifts, and 2 requests....

The first was a gift...... not exactly planned, as we had intended to wait until we had finished college (yes, we were married at the time). (Born August 1982)

The second was a request... and born just under 20 months after the 1st one.... (Born April 1984)

The 3rd was a gift..... 2 1/2 years after #2.... (Born August 1986)

Yes, the first 3 were within 4 years. Whew!!!!

We waited a while, and the last was a request....... November 1991.... 5 years after #3.

I work with a unmarried woman who has 4 kids and none of them were planned.
None of them have the same father.

I have one son - and he was planned.
It took 4 years and a fertility specialist (we've never used birth control since we started ttc) but my husband and I are quite happy with the one we've got.

4. No surprises. When last one was born I had a 3 yo, 2yo, 1yo and newborn!!! We wanted them close and that's what we got! All grown now with their own families.

LOL all 4 of our kids were surprises. My husband was a single dad to his daughter (whose mother said that she was infertile - at age 22, as if you would know that that early - and he believed her!), my oldest son was a surprise pregnancy, and then when we got engaged 6 years later, our first son together was conceived while I was on the pill. We had just bought a house and the wedding was still a few months away. Thankfully I had ordered an a-line dress with an empire waist so it wasn't obvious that I was pregnant at the wedding. With our second son together, DH had scheduled a vasectomy and the doc had to re-schedule at the last minute. I got pregnant that weekend, despite being on the mini-pill. I guess he was just meant to be!

The only pregnancy that was planned was when I was a surrogate...it was nice to finally pee on a stick and hope it said "+" instead of seeing that positive result and panicking LOL.

I like the "gift" and "request" phrasing.

I have one child who was very much planned. DH had to have a VR for her and we tried for a year.

My stepkids were surprises. At least to their father.....

I have two, an 8 yo and a 4 yo. My first was a complete surprise. I had been feeling bad for a couple of weeks. A close friend pegged it right off the bat and said "You're pregnant". I was in complete denial. She literally forced me to go to get a pregnancy test. Looking back I can't even believe I didn't see the signs. It never even crossed my mind that I might be pregnant! My second was planned, but it didn't happen quite so easily. We tried for 9 mos before finally getting pregnant. That was pretty stressful.

We tried for 8 years and with IVF had triplets. Then found out I was pregnant when they were 8. I was 10 weeks already. We had stopped using bc 5 yrs before because my doctors were not covered by my insurance for w while and then saw no reason to start anyway. But then, when she was 3, found out I was pregnant again. This time we were using bc. So 2 surprises. (actually had a 3rd in between but miscarried not even knowing I was pregnant).

I was a surprise baby. My parents worked really hard for my older sister. It took them 2 years. Then I was born 1 year, 1 month, 1 week & 1 day after her. My dad did not have relations with my mom until 3+mos after my sister's birth (IKR too much information from my parents lol). So it was almost to the date, if not the date. My little sister was also a surprise. She was born 20 moths after me. That was 3 babies under three.

I personally have 2, 21mos apart. Planned and prayed for. I personally like them to be close in age for my sake. Raising babies can be great but it also feels like doing time. lol …sleepless nights, dirty diapers, all that feeding and vigilance. I prefer to do mine in succession. I don't like to get a taste of freedom, then do time again.

Both mine were surprises. My first is my miracle. I had tried for over 12 years and been through infertility treatment. I experienced 5 miscarriages and had decided it wasn't God's plan for me to have biological children. I knew I had a bladder infection, instead my bladder infection had a heartbeat. I spent the next 7 months in bed (after having a blood clot in the placenta) and took heparin shots twice daily. She arrived a fighter and has been one ever since. She brings me so much joy. I was 36 when she was born.

My son is similar. I had been praying for God to give me peace to raise my daughter as an only. I had siblings and was sad that she wouldn't have that relationship. I never prayed for another child because I already felt I was so blessed and my health and high risk pregnancy issues seemed to be so difficult. God blessed me with a son and I couldn't believe it. I didn't have the clot issues with him but still had to be on heparin. I was overjoyed and couldn't believe it. My son's name means gift from God to always remind me of my answered prayer. I had him at 40.

I am an older parent and am grateful to be. Sometimes I get the grandparent question and I just smile and say nope, late bloomer. 😊. I know I'm a better parent than I would've been in my 20's or 30's. I am grateful to be a parent. I do think there's an irony to going through menopause and puberty at the same time though. Lol! God definitely has a humorous side.

Blessings!
L.

I have 3 sons. The only one that wasn't a (welcome) surprise was the one we adopted. I once calculated that there was about a 0.8% of #3 being conceived if I was fertile 100% of the time, so yeah...I was thrilled about him, but I sure didn't plan on him.

I have 2 kids, 3 years apart, both planned. I did have a miscarriage before I got pregnant with each of my boys. I had wanted 2 years between, but I am very happy I ended up with 3 years. Three year spacing is much more convenient and enjoyable.

A good friend of mine had to have in-vitro to get pregnant with her two girls who are two years apart. Then, at the age of 41, when her youngest child was six, she got a surprise baby boy.

I was a surprise. My mom was 46 and my siblings were teens when I was born.

4 kids. First one was unplanned. Well, we planned on having children, just 5 years later. ;-)

3 kids...no surprises...all 2.5 years apart.

I was a surprise. My brother was 15 and my sister was almost 12 when I was born. It was much like my life now. I'm a grandparent raising grandchildren. I have a friend who chose to start another family with a new husband in her late 40's. Her kids are teens now and she's in her early 60's.

I think older parents do a much better job actually, we see the big picture and don't sweat the small stuff like I did when I was a parent to my daughter. It's totally different.

I have an 8 year old and a 9 month old. While I was on maternity leave with the baby, they fired our HR manager and hired a new one. When I got back I was showing off pictures of the baby and she asked me if both of my kids had the same father! When did that become an appropriate question? I was pretty shocked that she would ask and just said yes, we've been married for 9 years.

I have two kids. The first was planned, the second was a surprise. My kids are 21 months apart in age.

My one and only was not planned. I found out I was pregnant several weeks after breaking off my relationship with her dad. He wanted to get married when I told him I was pregnant, and I told him he must be out of his fucking mind.

#4 surprised us a few months earlier than we would have liked. My cycle was thrown off a bit when weaning #3 and BOOM. We announced our pregnancy at #3's first birthday party. They're 19 months apart instead of the 24-26 month separation we have with the other 3.

3 kids, all planned. My husband lives in FEAR of the "surprise"... LOL I have tried to assure him that it really will not, should not happen... I have a pretty good track record so far after practically 20 years on the same contraception... I'm pretty sure I could handle a "surprise" but he would not!

Three kids, no surprises here, each one was thoughtfully wanted and planned for.