Calling all parents.......

[mrskitty]

A few questions for you(if you dont mind)....
1)(single child).....Do you plan to stick to one child,and why?
2)(multiple)......how did you determine the age gaps between your children?
3)Did you have your child(ren) just because you were broody, or did you have it all planned out?
4)Did you save up/buy things before your pregnancy?during the pregnancy or later on nearer the birth of your baby(s)?
5)Did you have any of your planned children without being financially stable and just scraped by?
6)Was it important to you to be confident of having absolutely everything money-wise etc?
7)We wouldn't change our children for anything in the world, but do you sometimes think you should have waited till you were in different circumstances before having your child(ren)?
Please add lots of comments (essay style if you wish!)
Thankyou in advance xXx

[onlyme]

kitty, shall we make it easier for ya and take a vote whether you should have another one yet or not?

lmao

[mrskitty]

oi wench......watch it il come round n use up all your tea bags if you keep being like that!

[onlyme]

ya welcome to, ya not getting any hot water tho

[mrskitty]

Originally Posted by onlyme

ya welcome to, ya not getting any hot water tho

your so mean!
Anyway get back to the topic misses

[Gayle]

For a long time I'd said that if I hadn't found the right man and had a baby by the time I was thirty five I would just go out and do it anyway.

Fortunately, the right man appeared when I was thirty three, and from the outset knew that I wanted to have a baby soon - he didn't run away - and I had Maddie two days after I turned thirty five.

We had agreed that if we had had a boy first we would definitely have gone for another but if we had a girl first then we'd wait and see. For most of the pregnancy we thought we were having a boy so when a girl came out, although we were thrilled it was a bit of a surprise. We had planned to have another baby after about two or three years but I hated my job so much that we decided to bring it forward a bit. Both were born pretty much on target for when we planned them as we had aimed for October babies which Maddie was but Zack was a couple of months off target in January (still not bad planning though).

We were fairly financially secure but I don't think that was particularly a factor. I wanted children, I found a man who wanted them and we got on with it, I think we'd have done that regardless of how financially stable we were. No question of doing anything differently, I wanted children when i wanted them and that's when I got them!

[mrskitty]

Originally Posted by Gayle

For most of the pregnancy we thought we were having a boy so when a girl came out, although we were thrilled it was a bit of a surprise.

Thankyou for your reply....how long did it take for the shock to go when he turned out to be a she?had you bought lots of boy stuff that you had to change? merely interested because it happened to a lady who was on the ward with me when i had Jack (boy instead of a girl) and it severely shocked her for days

[Gayle]

We hadn't really bought anything in advance so no problems. It wasn't a shock, just a surprise and adapted within minutes.

We'd made a decision not to ask them at the scan what it was going to be so we didn't know, all we were basing it on was old wives tales (i.e. the way I was carrying it) and a midwife who'd jokingly said it must be a boy because of all the trouble it was giving me. So although we thought that we were probably having a boy we didn't know that for sure and hadn't been told that so it wasn't a big deal.

[panther]

1)(single child).....Do you plan to stick to one child,and why?
dont have 1 got 2
2)(multiple)......how did you determine the age gaps between your children?
wanted a long gap dont think i could have coped with 2 screaming kids at the same time
3)Did you have your child(ren) just because you were broody, or did you have it all planned out?
I wanted both my kids
4)Did you save up/buy things before your pregnancy?during the pregnancy or later on nearer the birth of your baby(s)?
during and after, whats the point before the pregnancy, it may never happen
5)Did you have any of your planned children without being financially stable and just scraped by?
ya a nosy ****** arnt ya?...lol...we got by!
6)Was it important to you to be confident of having absolutely everything money-wise etc?
not really as long as the kid as love....
7)We wouldn't change our children for anything in the world, but do you sometimes think you should have waited till you were in different circumstances before having your child(ren)?
NO WAY!!.....

[mrskitty]

Originally Posted by panther

5)Did you have any of your planned children without being financially stable and just scraped by?
ya a nosy ****** arnt ya?...lol...we got by!

6)Was it important to you to be confident of having absolutely everything money-wise etc?
not really as long as the kid as love....

Lol yea i am nosey,if you dont ask ya dont get

as for as long as the child has love....no good if you cant afford nappies because your council tax bill has just come in lol

[MUMMIBOO]

1)(single child).....Do you plan to stick to one child,and why?
Not got 1 35 weeks pregnant with 3rd!

2)(multiple)......how did you determine the age gaps between your children?
First 1 was very planned, when rebecca was less than 12 months old found out was pregnant with jack now hes 6 we wanted another before i got too old so tried for near a year got pregnant and lost it last xmas 3months later pregnant again and she is due 29 December. So didnt determine thats just the way it went.
3)Did you have your child(ren) just because you were broody, or did you have it all planned out?
First and 3rd planned 2nd a beautiful surprise gift.
4)Did you save up/buy things before your pregnancy?during the pregnancy or later on nearer the birth of your baby(s)?
Got stuff while pregnant bits and bobs throughout except this one i had bought nearly everything by 6 months because i knew i was due at xmas and got 2 other children to buy for so got baby stuff out of the way and because where i work has a baby section i couldnt help myself!
5)Did you have any of your planned children without being financially stable and just scraped by?
Just got by didnt scrape by but got by.
6)Was it important to you to be confident of having absolutely everything money-wise etc?
No things just fall into place it would be council tax 2nd children 1st if needs be! Nappies needed now council tax can be paid later, you sort prioritys.
7)We wouldn't change our children for anything in the world, but do you sometimes think you should have waited till you were in different circumstances before having your child(ren)?
No because you never know whats round the corner you may never get to that special place in your life that we all dream of or you may have an accident/illness that would prevent you from having children in the future if its more children you want then go for it now not when in furture when you may have a better job (You may not get it) or when you get a better house (you might not get it!) You have to think of now thats what i think anyway!

[Yolanda25]

A few questions for you(if you dont mind)....
1)(single child).....Do you plan to stick to one child,and why?
I have one son who is 2 and a bit and im really desperate to have another one, i have been on the inyeccion for 2 years so is gonna take a while for my body t go back to normal
2)(multiple)......how did you determine the age gaps between your children?
3)Did you have your child(ren) just because you were broody, or did you have it all planned out?
I had it planned, i was 24 and thought it was a good age to have a kid as by the time im 35 i want to have my family complete
4)Did you save up/buy things before your pregnancy?during the pregnancy or later on nearer the birth of your baby(s)?
I bought few things while i was pregnant but didnt want to get to excited, you never know what could happen, my bf family and mine bought the rest and some things given so i saved loads of money
5)did you have any of your planned children without being financially stable and just scraped by?
We were a bit tight on money when i got pregnant but then my bf started getting more money and then i started working so it was all steady
6)Was it important to you to be confident of having absolutely everything money-wise etc?
I was very skint once and coudnt afford nothing at all and kept borrowing money from people but then i learned to be really careful and always to put my child 1st in everything
7)We wouldn't change our children for anything in the world, but do you sometimes think you should have waited till you were in different circumstances before having your child(ren)?
Im glad i had my son when i did,i woudnt change nothing at all, everything up to now is perfect
Please add lots of comments (essay style if you wish!)
Thankyou in advance xXx[/quote]




There you go hope this helps!

[West Ender]

I go a lot further back than most of you but the relevance is just the same.

I married young (age 19) and we wanted children early. I had my first, planned, child when I was 21 and my second 18 months later. We bought, begged and borrowed what we needed for number 1 when I was pregnant and most of it was used again for number 2. For a few years we were pretty hard up, with only 1 salary, but the plan was that I would return to work when they were close to grammar school age. Not having new cars or holidays abroad didn't matter as the children were more important.

I returned, on a casual basis, to my career when my children were aged 10 and 8 then 2 years later I was in the process of being fully reinstated when I became pregnant again, totally unplanned this time and a big shock. I put my job on hold again for another 9 years, had to start afresh with all the baby equipment, but my husband was earning a lot more, comparatively, than when the others were little so it wasn't a struggle - we had a nice house (thanks to his very good DIY) and a company car but still no holidays abroad for a while.

I'm glad I had my children when I did. The only thing I would have changed, if these things were possible, is that if fate said we were to have a 3rd child I'd have liked the gap to be shorter.

[nikkival]

1)(single child).....Do you plan to stick to one child,and why?
Yes, because I can give him more support both timewise & financially. I suppose I'm comfortable with my lifestyle too and have more 'me' time now that he's older & more independent.
2)(multiple)......how did you determine the age gaps between your children?
Only have the one, if I did have another I'm looking at a 14 year age gap!
3)Did you have your child(ren) just because you were broody, or did you have it all planned out?
My son was a surprise, not planned at all.
4)Did you save up/buy things before your pregnancy?during the pregnancy or later on nearer the birth of your baby(s)?
I started buying bits & pieces from 3 months and bought the bigger items from 7 months onwards.
5)Did you have any of your planned children without being financially stable and just scraped by?
He wasn't planned and unfortunately I was made redundant and split up with his dad when I was 3 months pregnant, so things were difficult for a while - I had to make personal sacrifices but it was worth it.
6)Was it important to you to be confident of having absolutely everything money-wise etc?
In an ideal world - yes. However, living in the real world - no. Luckily I've got a fantastic family who helped out when times & money were tough.
7)We wouldn't change our children for anything in the world, but do you sometimes think you should have waited till you were in different circumstances before having your child(ren)?
No, because things inevitably change anyway, you just learn to adapt more quickly because you have children to think about. If I hadn't have had my son when I did, I probably wouldn't be where I am now, which is happy & content with a clever, thoughtful & wonderful son!

[harwood red]

1)(single child).....Do you plan to stick to one child,and why? got two
2)(multiple)......how did you determine the age gaps between your children? was told it was unlikely I would be able to have children due to ops - decided to start early just in case we had to go through whole fertility, adoption etc.... only to catch straight away!! I was just 21 when he was born...thought it might just have been a fluke so once he was settled I knew I didn't want a huge gap so started trying again...you guessed it, caught straight away again...so only 17 monhts between my two and it was hard work but has been best way for me in long run (getting back into a career and all that)
3)Did you have your child(ren) just because you were broody, or did you have it all planned out? Definately all planned out - if your broody borrow someone elses baby for a bit and see if that changes how you feel
4)Did you save up/buy things before your pregnancy?during the pregnancy or later on nearer the birth of your baby(s)? bought bits throughout pregnancy and ordered bigger items later on...same with second although obviously had head start with stuff from first
5)Did you have any of your planned children without being financially stable and just scraped by? Financially we made a big decision for me to stay at home with the two boys even though at the time I was the bigger earner, so yes at times we scraped by but things did improve
6)Was it important to you to be confident of having absolutely everything money-wise etc? no no and no, money isn't everything, as long as you are careful with what you have, giving your children all the care, time and love in the world is far more important
7)We wouldn't change our children for anything in the world, but do you sometimes think you should have waited till you were in different circumstances before having your child(ren)? Hmmm not sure about that one, sometimes I think I had mine a bit young (1st at 21 & 2nd at 22) but they are 14 and nearly 16 now and great lads in fact I am so proud of them. Doing well at school and are polite, respectful and loving so maybe I did do it the right way for me. Now I am persuing my career and also in my late thirties getting my own life back as they are so much more independant