Unexpectedly pregnant with third.

[OneLimePoster]

I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to post but I found out this morning I'm unexpectedly pregnant with what may be our third child. I would love to hear from others that unexpectedly went from 2 to 3 or from others who found out they were pregnant with the third and terminated and why they did (if you are happy to share).

We have a 6 year old and 3 year old. While I've always wanted a third baby, the 3 yo has been sleeping loads better and is more independent so last 6 months I've resigned myself to being done. We were not actively trying anyway and we are both happy with two.

My period was 6 days late (which is not unusual for me) so I took a test and saw the positive sign.
DH and I are in shock as we weren't expecting this and used contraception.

while I wanted a baby, the older and more independent the kids get, the less inclined I am to go through the baby years again. I feel like the lack of sleep maybe beak me. Whilst we have some support from loving grandparents, I would never ask/expect them to help out with three kids - it would be too much.

I'm not sure how we would cope. We both work full time and while maternity pay is generous at work I don't know how school runs would work with three kids. My eldest is very strong willed and often runs off (very quickly) without me leaving the youngest stumbling after him.

financially, we would cope but just about. We would need a bigger car and wouldn't be able to afford the holidays we usually go on. I'm 39/will be 40 when the baby is due.

On the other hand, I've always wanted a big family and always had visions of three. A few of my colleagues have three kids and love it, but their kids are older.

I am also worried about giving birth again.
I am so torn. I wish I could bury my head in the sand.

sorry if this is the wrong place to post. I have no one I can talk to about this in real life apart from DH who is equally torn.

I felt the same. I went for it and so glad I did. But to me, having to do with a bit less or not as many holidays has been worth it. Yes the sleep etc it is hard but it really all does go in a blink of an eye. Your youngest now will have changed again by the time baby arrives also.

If you terminated, do you think you could make peace with the decision? That was a big thing for me and I knew it would probably devastate me and Impact my relationship. It's such a hard decision when you feel torn.

I have 3 kids- 4 yo, 2 yo and 6 months. However 3rd was very much planned. We are in the thick of it with the demands of young children but it’s absolutely amazing. I didn’t find going from 2 to 3 much different logistically.
yes we did need a bigger car (7 seater suv) but as you eldest is 6+ you wont need 3 big car seats like us! Saying that I dont know what car you have currently.
i have a ‘big job’ in London as does my husband and we haven’t quite figured how things will work with my work when i go back from mat leave. However I do wfh 2 days per week, 1 day off and 2 days in office. This is quite flexible for us. My husband will probably alternate his long work days compared to mine. I’m hoping the school we get allocated will be an all through school rather than an infant school first, otherwise yes it will
be chaos as all 3 might be in diffent places. We do have a supportive family forms who helps with childcare and an amazing nursery.

It may sound daunting for you now (I was overwhelmed by it when I found out even though it was planned) but you find your stride and things fall into place. Things will
calm down when your news has sunk in and you will be able to figure it out more.

Congrats and good luck with your decisions

I'm also unexpectedly pregnant with my third. Only found out a few days ago so still in shock, can't seem to get my head around it,
I can't go on contraception due to health and husband kept pushing back having the snip so now here we are with baby number 3 on the way, my other children are 9 and 3 so are quite independent, I got rid of all the baby stuff so will have to start again,

Thank you all for your wise words and @MumDSDD same here, all the baby stuff has gone. I'm going to try and take a couple of weeks to process this before making any decisions.

I had my third when my elder two were 7 and 4, really enjoyed it and no regrets at all, i love having three and he was (and is) definitely the easiest.
But i was ten years younger than you, I'm not sure how I would have coped with the tiredness in my early 40's.

I’m also any time about to have my third. Very unexpected, I have a 16 and 13 year old so this was a massive surprise. I didn’t have anything obviously, a job I am enjoying and all my freedom back to some extent. But now I’m excited and so are the kids. You can only do what’s right for you :) good luck with whatever you decide x

Could I please follow-up to see if you have any updates on how things are going and how you are feeling? I just found out a couple of days ago that I am in the same boat! Pregnant with our third and slightly freaking out and my mind is racing with various worries...

Just to add we had an unplanned third. My husband wasn’t sure. We had a 4 yo and 1 yo at the time (4,2,0 when baby arrived). We had some counselling and I realised I couldn’t go ahead with the termination option it would have broken me.

baby is here and is light of our lives. Almost 6 months now and going from 2-3 kids has been a doddle! Realise we haven’t had to cope with a mobile third child yet so it’s still not a fair conclusion. But honestly it’s been amazing. Older two children adore the baby. My husband adores the baby: it was the right decision for us.

dont ever worry about giving away the baby stuff. You don’t need much and you can beg borrow second hand it all

This happened to me, the 3rd is almost 3 now. I cried and felt so stressed when I first found out, but we just made it work...she slotted right in.

The older 2 were 5 and 9, so luckily toilet quite independent which was helpful.

We had hand me downstairs from family and friends and used vinted for a few bargains!
Don't her me wrong, it hasn't all been roses...we need to move into a bigger house etc but we don't regret it at all x

Thank you for sharing your positive experience!

Thanks a lot. Helps to read about your experience!