How old were you when you had your last child?

[JenC3]

We have 3 children and sometimes I really want 4, but I think the window is closed or closing for me not to mention I'm not quite ready for another. The problem is I'm 37 and really think that dd2 should be my last since she was a stressful pg and I had to have her in the hospital due to my BP rising at 37 weeks.

 

I worry about health risks to me and the baby and if I want to start all over again...I've been continuously BFing since 2003! Financially it would not be a problem. I feel like all my reasons are valid, but maybe some are silly.

 

Anyway, I'm curious as to what age many of you had your last child. TIA!

[fairfarmhand]

28! But I started earlier than most.

[smrtmama]

31 -- I'd have another in two years if not for a combination of financial concerns and some worries about my mental health (I've had increasingly bad PPA w/ each baby). I wouldn't worry at all about the tiny increase in risks due to maternal age.

[Parrothead]

Same age I was when I had my first. :lol: 32

[Mommyfaithe]

I was 39 and 7 mos....

[FaithManor]

I was thirty-two. My baby is now ten! We wanted to have more, but my health was wrecked at the time and so we were done. Otherwise, I would have waited three years and had another.

 

I don't think thirty-seven is bad at all but just to let you know, some obgyn's will treat you like a medical miracle. So, if you choose to have another, maybe you could find a great mid-wife. They have a much better attitude about women having children after 35 or 36.

 

Faith

[Pamela H in Texas]

I was 20 when I had my last. I would have kept having them if I could. I still would do it if my body'd cooperate. I would REALLY be starting over if I had another one! LOL

[MamaT]

I was 35 with the last one I gave birth to, and adopted another one 9 months later.

[Sophia]

41 and 42 for my last two boys.

They are high maintenance little terrors (:001_wub:) but so much fun, too.

[momee]

38!

She is the absolute joy of our family. I wouldn't trade one single second of my continual 9 month sickness, well, take that back. She was making sick starting at 5 1/2 weeks and horrendously so.

 

 

My dh's parents had him at the same age and my children are a blessing to their very old grandparents. My parents, however, had me very young. They are very involved in their own lives, still working, blah blah blah.

My children absolutely adore dh's gps and the gp's them. They are pure delight to all of us. Really, when are children not, right?

(chanting, do it, do it, do it, in the background)

ps we prayed for this last little one and she absolutely is answered prayer to many many people :lol:

[LinRTX]

41 and she has been a blessing!! She was a surprise, my others were 13, 10, and 6 at the time.

 

I would so love another, but that will have to be grandchildren. The children are (as of this coming Wednesday) 10, 17, 20, and 24. Where have all my babies gone?

 

Linda

[Gooblink]

I was 37 and have a friend that was in her mid-40's before she had her first (has 2, now). There may be risks, but I've never heard any regrets. :)

[KellyinAr]

and she is the sunshine in every day! No problems at all with the pregnancy and delivery. :001_smile:

[Crimson Wife]

I hope I'm not done yet, but both my MIL and my paternal grandma had kids in their 40's (42 & 40) with no problems conceiving, being pregnant, or delivering.

[Tenaj]

Our latest blessing arrived last September when I was 44.

 

Side note: When I was 36 I was pregnant with my fourth child and laughed (well, now I'm laughing at the time, not so much) that they labeled my chart "AMA" - "advanced maternal age". Little did I (or they) know then, that I would have that baby and then four more since. No problems with any (other than the last was a stubborn breech that turned out to be my first c-section). They are all blessings (most of the time) and we have no regrets (again, most of the time :) ).

[Giraffe]

I was 39. We are still hoping and praying and trying for #2 and I'm 42. My response to people who ask if DD is going to have brothers or sisters is that God has not blessed us yet. They understand, or at least smile and change the subject.

 

We got a late start. :001_rolleyes:

[ScoutTN]

41! :D

You are not too old! I understand health concerns, but just because one pg was a certain way does not mean all following pgs will be so.

 

I'd have more in a heartbeat, but both of ours are miracle babies (not that all children aren't miracles, but we had major IF issues) and I'm 44. We got a late start - married at 36 and babies at 39 and 41 with the help of acupuncture and Chinese herbs.

[5knights3maidens]

41 and 42 for my last two boys.

They are high maintenance little terrors (:001_wub:) but so much fun, too.

 

I was 41 and 43 with my last two were girls. They are little terrors also...but they are also lots of fun (most of the time). By the way, my youngest cut a fan cord, with scissors, this morning while it was plugged in and on. Blew a fuse and nothing happened to her. :confused:

[BikeBookBread]

38 with last, 36 with first.

[DianeW88]

36 and it was the easiest pregnancy and delivery of my three children. I say, go for it!!

 

Diane W.

married for 22 years

homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

[Jean in Newcastle]

39

[Chocolate Lover]

It took me 13 months to get pregnant with artificial insem...tion. The pregnancy was great. I gave birth at 40 years and 6 weeks, at home with midwives. He was term, weighed exactly 7 pounds, and cried when I gave him a scalp massage!

[Nakia]

I was 28 when Cora was born, but we started younger than a lot of people. FWIW, I take care of lots of mommies in their later 30s and early 40s, and I really think it is great!!

[Dawn in OH]

37. It was both an easy pregnancy and delivery. My quickest recovery too.

[southwind]

I was 43. I had child #4 at age 37 and didn't think twice about my "advanced maternal age." As wonderful as it is to have all five, pregnancy was hard on my body, especially afterwards. I certainly could not go through another one.

 

Full disclosure: the child I gave birth to at 43 was born with Down syndrome. He is a wonderful child and I'm glad to have him. I had no idea how high the risk was at my age -- 1 in 29 -- and it hasn't always been easy. But he is a huge blessing to us in many, many ways.

 

Three of my children are out of town this week and I remarked to my daughter who is still home that some families have this number of people all the time. Can't even imagine how uncomplicated and simple life would be with two. :001_smile:

[Splash]

41

[Laura Corin]

Thirty-seven.

 

Laura

[JenC3]

My kids are spaced 2-3 yrs apart and so with dd2 turning 2 next month I've been thinking about now or never. I'm fearful of having a 4th baby if my midwife could not take me. I've had no BP issues since 6 week pp.

[Starr]

I was 40 and all went well. The only thing no one told me was that I would be 50 when he was 10. :D Ds is the comic anchor to our family.

[Kalypso]

40.5 - You are definitely NOT too old.:001_smile:

[May]

I was 35 when I had my last. I would have liked one more but I realized the risks increase with age. My dh would have been OK with it but when I turned 38, I knew I was done. Now, I'm waiting patiently:001_smile: for that son we never had when our dds marry.

[Alphabetika]

I had a baby last summer at 41. I have friends who had babies at 43 and 45 with no complications.

[Wheres Toto]

I had youngest dd a week before my 38th birthday, ds a month after I turned 36 and oldest when I was 24. The latter two were the easiest. I did have c-sections for both of them but the recovery was pretty easy, especially for my last since it was planned rather than emergency.

 

Sometimes I think about how old I'll be when they are such-and-such age but not too often. DH is 13 years older than me and had no children prior to ours (the last two are his) so he'll be 59 when ds is 10 and dd is 8. He's an amazing father, way more involved than older dd's ever was.

[AnitaMcC]

I was almost 35 when our youngest was born. We would have gone for another if he/she came along. We didn't try to have another nor tried to not have another until I hit 38yrs old. Then that was it... no more.

 

Neither Dh nor I wanted to have a child still in elementary school when we reached 50, so getting pregnant after age 37 was out of the question.

 

Pregnancies are hard on me health wise although Ds#3 was easy compared to the rest and delivery/recovery was a breeze compared to the rest and he was our biggest baby.

 

One thing that made me think twice about having any more is that our kids kept getting bigger... Ds#1 was 4lb 7 oz, Dd was 5lb 1 oz (they were twins), Ds#2 was 7 lbs 8 oz, and Ds#3 was 8 lbs 7oz. That meant the next one would be well over 9 lbs.... Um, no thanks-LOL.

[JudoMom]

5 days after I turned 30. I had my first at 23.

[QueenCat]

26.... I told dh I'd have as many as he wanted but there would no pregnancies after I hit 30... I wanted them out of high school by the time I hit 50. I want to be young enough to really play with and see my grandchildren grow up.

[KnitWit]

He arrived, two weeks late, two days after I turned 40.

[texasmama]

I was three months shy of 39 when my last child was born. After weaning her, I had been continuously nursing or pg for almost ten years straight.

[3littlekeets]

DS- 28

DD with Down syndrome at 31

DS- 31

 

would love to have another now at 40-- with 46 or 47 chromosomes :D

[AnitaMcC]

26.... I told dh I'd have as many as he wanted but there would no pregnancies after I hit 30... I wanted them out of high school by the time I hit 50. I want to be young enough to really play with and see my grandchildren grow up.

 

 

This is my thoughts too. I want to be around and hopefully fit enough to enjoy being a grandma. Now I could easily become a Grand-Aunt in the next 3 yrs or so. Niece is due to get married in the next yr. Dh and I have raised her since she was 11yrs old. She will be 24 this fall.

 

Our youngest is 9yrs old and I will be almost 53 when he graduates highschool. I will be so happy if I am healthy enough to enjoy our kids as adults and our future grandkids.

[FourSweetBoys]

I was almost 35.

[extendedforecast]

We have 3 children and sometimes I really want 4, but I think the window is closed or closing for me not to mention I'm not quite ready for another. The problem is I'm 37 and really think that dd2 should be my last since she was a stressful pg and I had to have her in the hospital due to my BP rising at 37 weeks.

 

I worry about health risks to me and the baby and if I want to start all over again...I've been continuously BFing since 2003! Financially it would not be a problem. I feel like all my reasons are valid, but maybe some are silly.

 

Anyway, I'm curious as to what age many of you had your last child. TIA!

 

My fifth and last baby will be born in a few months. I will be 31.

[chris's girl]

I'll be 35 when I have our 7th in November. It will have to be our last due to gestational diabetes and 3rd c-section.

I've been to genetic testing and trust me, the rise in things like down's syndrome, etc due to age is minute from year to year. last year, when I was pregnant with our 6th, my risk of chromosomal disorders was something like 1 in 282 pregnancies. This year it's around 1 in 240. The arbitrary age of 35 being "advanced maternal age" is just that--arbitrary. Even a 25 year old has a risk of chromosomal problems.

[Evergreen State Sue]

First baby at 37; second (and last) baby at 38-1/2. I'm so happy I'm a mom, but I wish I was younger so I could have more time with them later.

[Denisemomof4]

36 when I delivered my last bio child, 40 when my last child was born. My body changed SO MUCH after the birth of my last child.

[Miss Marple]

33

[lynn]

I was 38 when I had baby girl. No complications.

[mom4him]

I was 25 when my middle child was birthed and I could not have any more birth children. I morned for more/desired/prayed for more and then at the age of 51 the Lord placed our youngest two in my arms and heart.

I will say that being an older parent has not been easy. Would I do it again? YES.

I very much believe that if you were supposed to be done you would not have the desire for more. You would have a total contentment in that area. Maybe that is because once we got our last two that was where I was and have been. I just new that my family was complete in that way.

[Kebo]

I had just turned 44 with my last child.

 

The pregnancy was only a little harder than the first two. It's the raising of her that may do me in ;)

[Elisa]

39