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It's scary thing for us to just be like "we'll have as many God bless us with!" Our respective families only have 2-3 children so I always felt that 2 is enough. I am not closed to having more though; but I think beyond 3 will need a lot of planning and a lot of faith!

My SIL is pregnant with her 8th right now (her oldest is 11, so they're super close in age) and they're having as many as God will allow.

She's also very serene and just happy to be a great mom. Her kids are also super calm (i think because of her calmness).

I wish I had the faith that she and my brother have. They've been amazing planners financially and my SIL is able to stay home with the kids. They're an amazing family and an amazing example for me to have as DH and I start trying to plan!

She did tell me before we got married to take NFP BEFORE the wedding (which they didn't...and they immediately got pregnant) but I'm pretty sure she hasn't practiced it at all. She EBFs so the kids have been pretty naturally spaced.

DH is 1 of 8, and I really love going to see his family because of the dynamics. But, only 3 of 8 are married and there are only 3 grandkids (26, 2, and 3 months) so I'm sure it's going to get a little crazier when the rest star getting married and having kids.

I love it, but we will probably only have 3-4 kids, maaayyyybbee 5 if we are really enjoying it.

Many people that I grew up knowing (partly through religious background and partly through homeschool background) come from large families and some that did, had parents that don't believe in using birth control. My mom and I have had many discussions about this because while she is fine with birth control, she thinks it's a wonderful thing for a family to not use it and say "whatever happens, happens" whereas I adopted a philosophy that it is borderline irresponsible if you cannot provide for the children feasibly. Most large families are very creative with money though and choose to live in more rural areas to save, and I can't say I know a large family that wasn't able to feed their kids...

Anyhow, suffice it to say I am so thankful for all the birth control options women have and I utilize them. I am not sure if we'll be one and done, two and through or potentially more. But I do know that if we had been blessed financially (I mean very blessed) I would likely have 2-3 bio kids and adopt a sibling group. I would probably have 6-8 if money were no object at all whatsoever.

I agree with the sentiment that large family gatherings are fun! I am one of 6 and I love our holidays. They are so special.

I live in a pocket of the northeast where big families are actually really common. When we bought our car last year, the salesman remarked that they never sell the smaller cars because a lot of the familiies that come in need seating for at least 6 people.

@Mrs. Jacks: I think it's so funny how three seems big anymore! I came from a generation of Catholics where everyone had 8+ aunts and uncles. Now my kids will have fewer for sure. I'm wondering if my husband's family of 4 will seem huge to them!

@Looch That's totally true! In some areas of the northeast I think large families are a bit of a status symbol (not that the kids aren't wanted or loved).

@Mrs. Jacks: it would be a whole different ballgame if it was the norm in your culture and in that time and place. In some ways there would be less anxiety and internal conflict I think (also though less support if you took a different path). I think I would like being a housewife with 8 kids a lot more if I didn't have other options and everyone I knew was doing it.

My husband is an only child and I have one sister. I never dreamed that I would have four. I would love to adopt again but my husband thinks I am crazy. So I think we are done. As far as finances go we know we won't be able to save enough to fully fund college but we are doing our best to save some and instill a good work ethic so they can pay their own way. We also don't do a ton of extravagant things like big expensive trips but we have a great time camping and road tripping.

We want a large family and don't plan on using any birth control beyond NFP. I'm not sure how many kids that will mean for us but I'm guessing at least 5 if not more. I'm not really interested in having kids past age 35 though so at that point we may consider someone permanent like vasectomy...

DH and I want a large family (like, at least 4) but we are on the "whatever will be, will be" train. Iwe both grew up with fairly large families (I have 3 siblings, he has 5). we always shared rooms, didn't often (ever) have big family vacations, and are expected to pay our own way through life. I have my college loans, DH paid his in full... we paid for our own wedding, saved for our own down payment etc. so I guess we come at parenting from a different financial perspective from the "norm" these days. we would love to be able to help our children as needed, but we won't limit our family size because of that, if that makes sense! obviously we don't want so many children that we can't feed them, but that's different!

like @Beyond2: I don't want to be having kids past around 35, so we're going to have to figure out some more permanent BC then!

I think 3 is large!

I think 6 or more is a large family. I knew families with 4 & 5 kids growing up though 3 seemed to be the most common number. I think they used birth control or some sort of family planning - I just think they wanted a bigger family.

If money were no object and I were guaranteed a housekeeper & a nanny, I'd have 4 or 5 because bigger families are a lot of fun. But doing it on our own, and having to think about college etc, I think we will be good with 2. Maaaybe 3 but I doubt it.

In theory we are one per uterus and done (that's 2 for those keeping track) but I'm open to changing my mind down the road because I have a feeling I will miss the baby stage and my wife is a couple years younger so she should have plenty of child bearing years left in her. Obviously we can't just let whatever happens happen we have to take an active role but we are also open to sibling groups in the future so you never know! I'm starting to think bigger is good because my kids won't have any cousins.