"I had my tubes tied after the birth of my daughter."

People often ask if I will be having baby number three. My answer is a pretty definite ‘no’. So many people say ‘Oh but accidents happen’. What they don’t know is I had my tubes tied after the birth of my daughter. Of course there is still a small chance of pregnancy, but in reality my pregnancy days are behind me.

When I was a baby and child I had kidney problems. I required frequent hospital visits up until 6 years of age, where I was finally given the all clear. I still remember the doctor telling my mum and I that all should be fine. However, having children may be an issue as it could place extra strain on my kidneys. I wasn’t devastated as I was so young but it always stuck in my mind that I may not be able to have children.

Fast forward 25 years and my husband and I were in a position where we wanted a child. I became pregnant with Hudson after a miscarriage and he was born six weeks early. I then became pregnant with Scarlett after a very early miscarriage and from 25 weeks they thought she may come early. She was born full term but there were a lot of scans and worry throughout the pregnancy. My kidneys were never an issue but I carried both babies very low and breech. I also had an incompatible blood type with Scarlett so there was a concern my body would reject her. My Ob/Gyn advised that this could get worse with each pregnancy.

At my last appointment before my c-section I was offered to have my tubes tied at the end of the procedure. He said it would be 10 minutes extra, no extra pain or costs.

When our team felt like terrible mothers. Post continues after the video...

I had never thought of this, but after speaking to my husband I decided to go ahead with the procedure. The main deciding factors for me were:

•  I didn't want to take the pill anymore or have synthetic hormones in my body.
• My husband was carrying-on about having his tubes tied. He believes he wouldn't be as manly anymore. I really didn't want to have to deal with nagging him.
• While the thought of a big family appeals to me, the cost of raising children is huge these days.
• I have two healthy, happy children. I didn't want to risk another pregnancy where something could go wrong. Especially when I thought I may have trouble having even one baby.
• I was 32 when I had Scarlett and didn't want to add the age factor in as a risk with a third pregnancy.
• If I ever desperately want another baby, I can still have IVF. I highly doubt this will happen, but it's good to know your options.

Am I happy with the decision I made? Yes I am. Sometimes I think about the fact that I won't have another newborn yet, I am grateful and happy that I have have two children. There are some women who never get this opportunity in life. I am also now one of those women who loves to give other people's babies big cuddles (then give them back to mummy or daddy when they cry or poop). I look forward to the next phase of life with my family; my children growing up, learning and discovering the world.

I have had no side effects, there was no extra pain and I feel just fine. Of course, as with anything. This is a very personal decision and everyone's experience is different. Overall my experience was a good one. I wanted to share my story, you hear so often about men having tubes tied but not many women ever speak about it.

How many kids do you want? Would you ties your tubes to make sure you didn't have more?

This post originally appeared on The Mummy Code.