pregnant in 40s ?

[Lynnie]

Anyone been pregnant at 40 or 41 ??

If so, how was it ??

(no new siggie or anything here, just having one of those last ditch thoughts about going for #3 before its way too late. feel free to refer me to the how much harder is three than two thread !!)

[janeybwild]

PG at 39 count? No difference there for my 3rd vs my 1st except that I'm a bit more tired now. But, I think that's to do with having 3 though not my age per say. I had gestational diabetes with my 2nd which returned with my 3rd. Age has a place with that, but its not the only or main factor. Apart from that, I think body/physical changes are related to just being PG 3 times and not getting back into shape after each one. I wouldn't (and obviously haven't :) ) let age be the deciding factor in this decision. Oh yeah, I did opt for fetal screening on my 3rd PG based on an increased risk of issues. HTH.

[babystuffbuff]

Well, not me, but my mom had my brother when she was 43. I don't remember how her pregnancy with my sister was (I was three at the time), but she had a great nine months with my brother. No complications, she felt good and taught her first grade class until just before her due date (he was born three days late), had an easy and *quick* natural birth - he was born 26 minutes after she got to the hospital. :)

My grandmother actually had her youngest when she was over 40 as well. She was fine also.

Sarah

[Emmas Mom]

Haven't done it but if we have a 3rd I will most likely be 40 when I deliver. I'm not afraid. ;) I'm 36 now & my husband is going to start 3 years of grad school in August. We don't really want to have another child during school but I'm not convinced I want to stop with two. There's something about three that keeps popping in my head. I have to think (like PP said) it's more about your body having been through childbirth before than your age. I'd like to think I lead a healthy lifestyle, so hopefully we'll have #3 someday. :) Good luck with your decision. I'm interested to see what others have to say on this topic too.

[juliasmom05]

Not technically, but I was 2 months shy of 40 when I had DD. I opted to have the first semester combined screen (NT plus blood tests) as well as second semester blood tests and level II US. I decided not to have either amnio or chorionic villus sampling. Every pregnancy is different, but I had no problems at all with the pregnancy.

Marci

[dogmom]

I was 38 with my son and 40 with my daughter, so I can't really compare it to being pregnant when in, say, my 20's. I already came to the pregnancy with other problems (hip, neck) plus I had a physical demanding job (ICU nurse, rotating shifts).

Yeah, it sucks, I don't think your body is really at its best having a baby at middle age. However, I think if I was pregnant when I was in my 20's I'd be suprised by the physical demands of pregnancy. I've already had some minor health problems that caused some chronic pain, so pregnancy was breeze compared to that. I think the most important thing is to understand how the stats really change at this age (much higher miscarriage rate, higher rate of trisomy disorders, etc.). Then there is the whole how easy is it going to be to get pregnant issue. I think those issues are much more overwhelming that just being pregnant at 40.

Jeanne
Mom to Harvey
1/16/03
& Eve 6/18/06

Oh, here is a thing a posted a while back about early risk assessment, not invasive, vs. amnio.
http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=37&topic_id=277989&mesg_id=277989&listing_type=search

[bubbaray]

I just had DD#2 and am 40. Had DD#1 @ 37. Honestly, I am waaaay too old to be PG and dealing with toddlers. I know other older moms don't feel that way, but is definitely how I feel. I wish I'd done it at least a decade ago. I don't do PGy well and a good part of that is my age. There is, of course, higher risks for genetic problems and all the associated testing that can go along with that. I kinda feel like I'm going from PGy directly to menopause. Ugh.

For me, the worst part is that I go to moms groups and I could easily be the grandmother of the other babies there/the mom of other moms. I just find that really hard to cope with.


Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: 01/2007

[cindys]

I had my second son at 43 (my 1st son at 28) and it was a breeze. I worked fulltime up to the day I had him. I loved being pregnant and we are trying for one more.

Cindy
Mama to Zach(16) and Zane (1)

[Eloise36]

I was pregnant with DD at age 40. It was an easy pregnancy and delivery, though I was more tired in general because I had to take care of a toddler.

[erosenst]

Does pg at 43 count? :)

In general, I had an easy pregnancy. No real complications, and worked full-time throughout.

I was EXHAUSTED the first 10 weeks, but suddenly woke up one day. I also had "all day sickness", but never threw up and it rarely kept me from doing much. She pressed on a weird nerve, but that wasn't age related.

Things that WERE somewhat age related - I had a low-lying placenta, which has a higher occurence in older women. My OB wouldn't allow me to go past my due date, so I had a scheduled c-section...with an incredibly easy recovery. (Was supposed to be induced, but she turned transverse at the last minute.) I bled seemingly forever after delivery - 12 to 13 weeks, which may or may not have been age related - the jury is out on that one.

I also elected to have CVS, as the risk of chromosomal defects were 1 in 13. Oh - and I conceived through IVF, FWIW.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

[C99]

My mom had my sister at 41. She had me at 26 and my brother at 32.

We have had MANY conversations about it. She has always maintained that having a child in her 20s was easiest physically, one in her 30s was easiest emotionally... and the only easy thing about having a child in her 40s (which had more to do w/ having a third child than her age) was labor. She had GD in her pregnancy with my sister for the first time. I was 15 when my mom was pregnant with my sister and I remember her being rather miserable all the way through the pregnancy. However, I think a lot of it for my mom was/is less about age than about the huge age gap between her kids.

[StantonHyde]

If I already had 2 healthy kids, I wouldn't push it. I had DS at 37 and DD at 40. I had amnios with both (my MD won't treat moms over 35 w/o one, just so you have a heads up on any complications). PG is not good for me--delivery was a piece of cake. BUT, DS had to come a month early because of hypertension--age related. DD, no problem. I did get induced a week early with DD and she was huge. My MD will not let moms over 35 go past due. The area I live in has a lot of moms having their last few children late in life, so we have very experienced OBs. But then there was the one who called my friend, "Grandma". She switched MDs. I was exhausted. Chasing after kids at this age is tiring. BUT I would have been an awful mom in my 20s and I didn't get married till 35 so getting pg earlier wasn't an option for me. AND DH and I are able to afford many more conveniences since we are older and paid off debts etc. We do date night every week, I bought a second bassinette without blinking an eye etc etc. I love my kids and I am pushing myself to stay in shape so I can be there for them. But if I already had 2, I would just count my blessings. If you really wanted to do so, you could adopt.

[Kyras mom]

My daughter was born when I was 41. She's 3 now. I worked full time until about 2 weeks before birth. Uneventful pregnancy, labor was induced about 1 week past due date. I had amnio. I had 2 miscarriages before. Someone that I work with had triplets at age 43 (IVF). She had a pretty normal pregnancy. Worked full time til the end.

[jayali]

I had my son two months after I turned 41. I feel like I had a great pregnancy, which I credit to having a great OB. She also had her children later in life, so she was wise about things that I was feeling. I had gestational diabetes, which may or may not have been age related. Probably more health related - I was not in great shape when I got pregnant - very overweight and not physically fit. I controlled the gd with diet and felt great right after my first trimester. I did do CVS, which I am very glad we did. I miscarried about a year before we conceived our son and found out that our first baby had genetic issues. So we really wanted to know upfront if we were going to be facing difficulties after delivery.

Both my husband and I never really wanted children until we were well into our 30s. I am a little sorry we didn't start earlier because I would have liked to have a second, but feel like I couldn't do it physically now - having two toddlers at 44. I could easily go through the pregnancy again.

Good luck with your decision.

Oh and about having three, while I have no first hand knowledge, my Mom (mother of three) always used to say if you do 2 you might as well do 10 because the second is such a big change from 1 and any after that is like a walk in the park.

[Nooknookmom]

I am about to have #2 at 36 (not too far from 40), had #1 at 25. I notice a HUGE difference in this pg. I'm exhauseted, had a lot of eary on contractions, etc. Not the fun pregnancy I remembered. But keep in mind that everyone is different too.

Melissa,

I worry about being the oldest when this one hits pre-school age. My Mom had me at 40 and was always the oldest in the field trip pool, I got made fun of alot too.

I hope I'm not classified that way when my time comes!

[spanannie]

Cindy,

Totally off subject, but my DS is Zach and our hypothetical #2 son is Zane :-)