To 3 or Not To 3

My husband and I have been blessed with two wonderful boys.  We both love them with our whole selves. Sometimes I can't believe how fortunate we've been, but still... I long to have a third child.

Simple right? Go for it. We're financially able, we have plenty of room in our home and a third would complete our happy family.  The thing is, both of my boys were born prematurely.  Munchkin was delivered at 36 weeks and Little Bear at 34 weeks. My husband, the numbers guy that he is, swears if we have a third, he'll (yes, I think it'd be a boy) be born at 32 weeks.

The causes of their early births were slightly different.  I had to be induced with Munchkin due to preeclampsia.  He didn't tolerate labor well and after about 5 hours of labor he had to be delivered via cesarean section. There went my dream of having a natural delivery.  He was born at 5lbs, 8oz. While he was the smallest in the nursery, he breathed on his own right away (so no visit to the NICU) and aside from being jaundiced he was a very healthy adorable baby boy.

Little Bear's situation was a tad more serious. I was at the hospital for an ultrasound (because of my first pregnancy I had more than the typical pregnancy).  Everything looked good, but my blood pressure was extremely high (can't remember the number but it was something like 170/100). I was directed to the labor and delivery area where they would do some blood tests.  When the preliminary blood work results came in, my doctor informed us we'd be having our baby that night.  My husband and I tried bargaining for extra time. I promised to stay off my feet and hubby promised to keep me calm. Doc was hearing nothing of it. He told us that the baby needed to come out now. He explained that I was presenting with H.E.L.L.P syndrome and went over all of the problems I'd face if we didn't deliver.  He didn't even want to risk me going through labor, so again I'd be having a c-section.  On top of that, because I had been taking aspirin (doctors orders), I'd have to go under for the c-section, which also meant my husband couldn't be present.  Poof there went my dreams of having an all natural VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). Little Bear was born at a pretty good weight 5 pounds, but his premature lungs were not quite ready.  He spent his first two weeks in the NICU each day getting stronger.

So far neither of my boys suffers from any long term health issues.  They have both achieved milestones on the later end of the scale(which was expected) and obviously were a bit small for their ages (Munchkin has caught up and Little Bear has finally reached the 10th percentile). Everything is peachy with them, but would we be tempting fate to try for a third? A very small part of me thinks yes, just be happy with what you have. However, a much larger part of me figures, you never know what could happen either way, and we've gotten the go ahead from two separate doctors. Sigh... To three or not to three is still the question.