Hands up, how many of us have an unplanned pregnancy?

Yup, me.

Planned , Accidents or whatever to me they are always gifts to us once we know another set of tiny feet are on their way.

I did.
I started going out with my husband when I was 16. It was absolutely imperative to not get pregnant, as my parents were very strict Roman Catholics.
We married when I was 26. I had always had long, (10 days) agonising, extremely heavy periods, but assumed I was just unlucky. I was on the pill on and off, during that time, but did try the cap and the dreaded Femidom!
We had been married exactly a year, and were struggling with the enormous rise in the mortgage rate, ours was 16 and a quarter percent! I realised I might be pregnant, very much unplanned, as I was the higher earner, so my salary was vital.
It turns out that I’d conceived on our first wedding anniversary! A failure of the Dutch Cap.
Even though this was a shock, we were delighted and very excited and welcomed our beautiful daughter in June 1982.
I switched from days to nights as a Night Sister, and only had six weeks off after the birth, because we needed the money.
I never got pregnant again, but didn’t seek any treatment, she was in and out of hospital regularly with severe asthma for her first 10 years or so, so we were preoccupied with her health.
Fast forward to 2013, when I was 49, the periods had become even worse, which I didn’t think was even possible, and the gynaecologist recommended a hysterectomy, after monthly injections, the Mirena Coil etc had done no good at all.
At my six weeks check up, he told me he had taken the uterus, tubes and ovaries, because everything was all stuck together with extremely severe endometriosis. He said he’d never seen it so invasive, right in the tubes and all over the pelvis.
He then said it was an utter miracle that I’d ever conceived!
When I told him we hadn’t been trying, he said that it was a total miracle! She is most definitely our miracle ??

Yes, first pregnancy complete shock as I was on the pill.

My DH had mumps when our first one (planned and wanted) was 9 months old. Doc said that if we wanted another we should go for it straight away in case mumps had wrecked sperm count. Fortunately it worked and our second was born 11 months later. 18 months was a smaller gap than we'd planned, but it all worked out fine. No more babies, whether to do with mumps we can't know, as I had a coil after second baby.

My first was the result of the aftermath of an awful bout of listeriosis from a cook chill lasagna in 1988. The last thing on my mind was whether my pill would work.
Second child was very much planned after a couple of miscarriages while on the pill. Third child was conceived on the pill. And a further ectopic pregnancy while using the mirena coil led to me being allowed to be sterilised afed 28.
Out of 7 conceptions only 1 was when i wasn't taking contraception. I think i was very fertile.
Having a baby at 17 gives you a lifetime of responsibility. I've worked very long hours in low paid work to feed, clothe nourish them.
I found FSM very humiliating as a teen as we had to line up in a seperate queue. My children never had FSM. But my blood boils at the thought of kids being hungry. And at millionaires declaring they are doing enough for families while filling themselves up with taxpayers subsidies.

My third was an 'unexpected pleasure'. 9 years after two planned children. Never quite sure how he managed to arrive 30 years ago as told by doctors I wouldn't be able to have any more. Was 18 weeks pregnant when I found out and he was born at 36 weeks.
He is an absolute joy and his partner is now expecting. Fate is a wonderful thing.

I'm another Spartacus too - all three of them . After No.3, I made sure there were no more 'accidents' and booked to be sterilised while I was already in there .

Apparently I was an unplanned war baby or as my late Aunt informed me "You were a mistake"! So I grew up knowing that and wondering what "Rendells" had to do with it - she said they hadn't worked.

I was the fourth child and they had another "mistake" 7 years later when my brother appeared! Not sure if Rendells featured there too!

NB Rendells were- soluble quinine pessaries used as a 20th century contraception.

What kind of person says people shouldn't have 'children they can't afford'? Do they have no imagination? A planned baby might well be born during times of relative affluence but circumstances change. Most people lucky enough to be in work are only two pay cheques away from poverty.
I had an accidental pregnancy at 18, very soon after the abortion act kicked in. To say the treatment I received before and during the termination was barbaric would be a massive understatement.

My daughter tried for 3 years to conceive after 2 miscarriages. She then used he fathers legacy to fund IVF which worked first time resulting in Joe. 8 months later she had a surprise when she became pregnant again . Jack arrived. 17 months between them. They are now nearly 8 and nearly 6 and a half. A whole new meaning to ‘Buy one get one free’! . I call them ( to myself ) Dishy ( conceived in a dish ) and Woopsie ( a very happy accident ) Joe and Jack.

The first one was planned the second conception happened when first was 7 months old. Lovely surprise so both girls grew up together and are good friends, now in their thirties. Both got good careers one a doctor the other a brow specialist in Dubai and Abu Dhabi very successful

I'm Sparticus.

(and six weeks after my second planned pregnancy I had my tubes tied.)

My first child was unplanned,and we married when I was 5 months pregnant. We had been together for about 3 years with, sad to say, lots of impulsive sex .Very little contraception. How we managed that long is a miracle. We had such a shock that it took us 5 years to have another. That was over 55 years ago.

Both my two were planned; got pregnant with my eldest the first time we tried and got pregnant with the next child the second time we tried. I spent the rest of my fertile years scared to death of getting pregnant again, as I appeared to get pregnant very easily!

Sort of planned unplanned.

DH was told he'd be part of the Air support for the Falkland's war, I was on the pill so we said we'd wait.

Ha Ha Ha, little did we know I was already pregnant, we were happy about hat but it was a very trying time.

That must have been one hell of a surprise!
How lovely.

After 2 adoptions my unplanned pregnancy was a miracle! (To the absolute delight of his 2 big sisters). It was so unexpected that I had no idea until 15 weeks!

One of my twins was unplanned ? ...... and I've never quite worked out where their brother came from ten years later.

Galaxy

Out of interest are me and Lava the only ones who were utterly reckless in their approach to contraception in their youth? A lot of these sound like contraceptive failures rather than no contraception .

Looks like it! I was on the pill as soon as I was sexually active. I was very sensible, when young. However, less so as a middle aged women.

I had a scare, at 42 with my bloke. He swore he'd had a vasectomy (he has) but I didn't totally believe him when we were first together. I made him buy condoms but in the heat of the moment...

Then 2 months later, missed period. When I hit the roof and threatened to take his pension, he stormed off and bought a pregnancy test AND a menopause test. Perimenopause.

My third was happily unplanned. The world would be a worse place without her.

I was conceived on the Coil.
My son was conceived while I was on the pill
And I miscarried on the implant.

Oh that's interesting, I thought it was more of the youthful it will never happen to me type of thinking. In the same way that I took risks with my personal safety that I wouldn't do now.

Galaxy

I didnt but I have absolutely no idea how I got away with it in my early twenties.

More luck than judgement with me, too. I remember writing in my diary once ‘am I pregnant: do I want to be’. In later years I reached the conclusion that when we’re in our late teens/early twenties there is an overwhelming desire to procreate.