We wanted as many as possible as quickly as possible.
This is what I wanted when we started having kids. Our oldest was a high-needs baby, but by 6 months he was spending lots of time looking at books and playing with toys independently. I figured it would be smooth sailing with him for awhile and that I could handle another baby.
But by the time our second came along, our oldest, who was about to turn two, became a complete nightmare. For the next two years, he had incredibly high energy, high need for mental stimulation, high impulsiveness, no sense of caution, a strong will, and some SPD-like issues.
My younger son is really sweet and imaginative... I wish that I had had more time to enjoy him as a baby. But every time I diverted my attention from my older son, he would do something crazy, like drag a chair over to the key rack, take my car keys, go into the garage and start my car. Or plug up the sink, turn on the water full blast, and flood the kitchen. I was always afraid that he was going to seriously injure himself or destroy my house. And I really struggled to take him anywhere because I could not contain him and/or deal with his over-reactions, while also attending to a baby.
I was a complete wreck by the end of every day.
Fast forward to now and things are a lot better. DS4 still has high energy and high need for stimulation; but at least I can channel it into tolerable activities, like math and geography and hiking. He is still very strong-willed, but I've learned how to manage that, too. Plus, he's hit the social milestone where he is motivated to follow rules even when I'm not looking (huge relief!!) DS2 is awesome. He is very intense, but he has high social awareness. He finds joy in everything and he talks in paragraphs; it's just amazing. He's a good playmate and foil to DS4. Also, I think he has helped DS4 get over some of his space issues and aversion to noise.
If my older son had been more like my younger son, I'd probably have lots of kids by now.
But as it is, I feel completely burnt out on mothering. This is a disappointment; however, I have entrepreneurial and philanthropic aspirations that I plan to focus on instead. Plus I'm going to need time and energy to deal with any educational challenges to come.
