Question About Pregnancy in the Late Thirties

K.,

I realize that I am a little late in responding, but I am always a little late any more.

I had a son at 20, a son at 22 and a son at 30. All easy pregnancies. I gained a bunch of weight, took forever to get it off, but alls well the ends well.

Second marriage, fourth and unexpected child at 37 and, TA DUH.... A GIRL!! I did have gestational diabetes but I controlled it with diet and ended up gaining only 3 1/2 pounds and she weighed 8 1/2 pounds. (somehow I left the hospital weighing more than when I entered. she's 16 now and I still haven't figured out how that happened) Anyway my point is I had no problems being as I was an older Mom during my pregancy or during the early days afterwards. I worked right up until she was born and went back to work at 6 weeks unfortunately for me.

The big thing now is likes to tease me about being so much older than all her friends mothers. It seems like somehow she 's made friends with everybody who's mother became a at 18 or 19 or something. I feel like I could be their mother!

J.

Yes, there can be additional risks with pregnancy as you age, and your doctor can likely give you the best information. I will tell you though, that I got pregnant with my first at 39 and my second at 41 and both pregnancies resulted in perfect babies! I did have some health issues when I was pregnant the first time, but none at all the second.

Good luck!

I am 36 and in the 2nd trimester of my second pregnancy. I had my first baby when I was 34. I am expecting twins, which was a total shock to all of us since twins do not run on either side of mine or my husband's families. There is research that says (and believe me I researched the heck out of this one) that your chances of having multiples as you get older do increase, but not by a whole lot. I just happened to be one of those that got a two for one special with my pregnancy! There are health concerns that your OB will want to keep tabs on if you decide to have another baby. If you feel uneasy about having number 4, ask to have a consult appointment with your OB. He/She has your medical history and will be able to give you an honest opinion if having #4 is the best option for you and for your future baby. Good luck!

I didn't have my first until I was 37. Since you've already had other babies, that is good.

The only problem I had then and with my second one was, swelling of my legs!!!!!!!!! It didn't cause any serious problem, just made my legs look fatter yet.
Within 2 weeks after delivery, my legs were back to normal.

You should also be aware that one of the factors involved in calcualting your "risk" of having a baby with down syndrome when they do the early blood testing will be your age. They will probably insist on you having amnio. If you do not want this procedure, you can refuse. I was 38 with my last, and the tripple screen indicated an elevated possiblity of downs, and an amnio is routine for women over 36, but there was no reason to take the risk for us, we did not feel like we needed advanced warning if the baby was downs, so to us, it did not seem that the small risk of miscarrying outweighted the benefit of "knowing". You can refuse.

M.
PS the baby did not have down syndrome!

I agree with KT, the older you get, the more the complications & risks increase. My first was at 34 & the second was at 38. I already had high blood pressure, which was controlled with meds. But, with the second, I developed gestional diabetes. I was unfortunate enough, however, to get a doctor that seemed to deal with the worst case scenario. For some reason, they seemed convinced that I was going to have a big baby, which can happen with diabetes, and insisted on telling me all the things that they would do, just incase. Well, CLaire was only 6# 12 oz & was born with no problems. Both of my children were and are very healthy. Talk to your doc & get all the info you can, but be sure to take someone with you. Maybe two people. It can be a lot to absorb. It seems that women are having babies later in life & everyone is happy & healthy. Good luck.

K.- I had 2 babies in the last 20 months at age 37 and 38. Due to my age I had gestational diabetes with both pregnancies which was very difficult to deal with. I had many more visits to the high risk ob throughout the pregnancies. Luckily both children are fine. I do not want to have any more children due to the diabetes issue. Good luck with your decision to have #4.

I don't believe it is true that multiples happen more after 35 - naturally. The idea behind that is many women who are older, due to declining fertility, turn to fertility specialists who use various drugs to stimulate follicles (eggs) and ovulation. Whenever those drugs are used there is somewhat of a chance to have more than one egg develop per month.

Quick biology lesson - female babies develop all their primary follicles while in the mother's womb and when they are born they start to die. Initially there are approximately 400,000 follicles at birth but only about 10,000 by the time a girl hits puberty. Each month about 10-15 follicles 'vie' to become an actual 'egg'; as you know usually only one follicle is the 'winner', gets the hormones needed to grow into an egg and be ovulated and the other follicle 'contestants' simply die. This explains why when a woman reaches her mid-thirties her chances of having a baby are greatly decreased as opposed to when she is in her twenties - she just doesn't have as many follicles as she did earlier.

That being said, it isn't impossible to get pregnant after 35. Obviously, many women have had safe and healthy pregnancies without complications. Consult with your OBGYN and learn all you can about it. Good luck to you!