More and more women are choosing to have children in their later years. By this, I mean; mid to late 30s and beyond. Some chose to follow a career first and have children later. Some did not get the opportunity to have children until later in life. Many women have some children earlier in life and then more later. There are many different reasons and situations, but they are becoming more and more common.
There is the big fear of complications at a later age, issues with development with the child and the parents being too tired and in pain to keep up with a little one.
Complications with birth can happen at any age not just at an advanced age. (this is kinder term than geriatric which is the medical term for mothers 35 and older!) The technology these days is amazing. Many women go to the doctor for testing before trying to get pregnant. For some, they are able to become pregnant naturally, while others need help.
There are Facebook groups and blogs full of success stories of mothers with healthy babies and toddlers all born while the mother was 35 of older.
I can talk first hand about having a child at a later age. I would have loved to have children when I was younger, but I didn't meet my husband until I was 36 and he was 40. I focused on my career when I was single and I don't regret that. Things happen for a reason. I was obviously meant to meet my husband later in life.
When we first started dating, my husband and I laid everything out on the table. What we wanted and didn't want out of life. Our thoughts on religion, morals, marriage, children as well as how we felt about solving problems that might come up. We also talked about if we had children how did we plan on raising them? Did we have the same ideas on how to parent? How to treat misbehavior, how to get through the challenging times and very importantly not to disagree about important issues in front of children, but in private.
We married when I was 39 and were fortunate enough to get pregnant just after I turned 40. I was definitely nervous, worrying about all the information I had been reading about getting pregnant later in life. Everyone has a different situation and different health. It's important to remember that. I had a wonderful doctor who was not concerned about my age at all. He said I was healthy, active, was eating well, taking my prenatal vitamins. I didn't drink or smoke.
I had genetic testing done and everything came out just fine. My ultrasounds, blood work and any other tests all came back normal. The baby developed normally and as planned each visit. Other than being tired and taking evening naps (I normally could not sleep during the day) and some morning sickness every so often, I had a really good pregnancy. I continued to work and country line dance (that's how I met my husband!) I also did most of the packing and moving of boxes and small furniture from our apartment to a house myself.
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| Me at 38 Weeks |
Due to my age, they did not want the baby to get too big and I was scheduled to be induced for a natural birth at 38 weeks. I went into the hospital and after I pushed all day and the baby repeatedly hit my pelvic bone, it was decided to do a C section. This went very well and our daughter came screaming into the world, just before the craziness and fear of a pandemic started.
I was very fortunate with my experience with pregnancy and child birth and my family is another success story that you can indeed have children, even your first, at 35 and older.
I will have future posts about motherhood late in life and motherhood in general.
Disclaimer: Not all mothers have had a positive experience with getting pregnant, pregnancy and child birth as I have, no matter the age. My heart goes out to these women.
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