We adopted one, unplanned. It's been kind of hellish - she has this huge problem that causes tons of problems and it sucks. I wish things had worked out differently.

Anonymous wrote:I love my bonus baby!

+1

Too funny, pp! We call ours "our gift from God" too. He has brought us such an incredible amount of joy, I would never have believed it!

We call our bonus baby our gift from God. We are not overly religious but it seemed fitting.

I love my bonus baby!

I often fantasize about having a "bonus baby". I only have one and always wished I could have another.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. 38.

38 was when I had my first. I hardly think that's a "bonus" age.

oy

OP here, and it's not my age so much that makes this feel like a "bonus," it's that my current youngest is 9 - will be 10 at the birth and I will be 39. I had my first two kids pretty young (25 and 29), so it's a big change in our family. And my DH is 45. Didn't mean any offense by the term.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. 38.

38 was when I had my first. I hardly think that's a "bonus" age.

oy

My bonus baby is 15 months and things are getting easier, though we did have to make the switch from both working to me staying home.

She's a delight though. I love spending my days with her. I am on work travel right now and this thread really makes me miss her!

Anonymous wrote:Our bonus baby is 10, his siblings 20, 20, 22. DH and I are 52. Our lives are very full and very happy. We feel like we've never been given a greater gift than this child that we didn't know we needed.

This seriously made my heart swell.

Hi, pp

What a wonderful story about your 'bonus' baby....so happy that it worked out for all of you!

Our bonus baby is 10, his siblings 20, 20, 22. DH and I are 52. Our lives are very full and very happy. We feel like we've never been given a greater gift than this child that we didn't know we needed.

OP here. 38.

How old are you, OP?

If you had a "bonus" child, perhaps unplanned or just with a big gap after what you thought might be your last child, how is your life now? If you struggled to adapt to the change in your family, when did it get easier? I guess I'm looking for encouraging stories, since we will be In this situation soon with an oops baby. Just looking for some perspective.