Has anyone had their first child after age 35?

Question

Did anyone have any complications?

Answer 1

Hi

I have had my first baby at 38 years of age. It has been a divine experience for me. My pregnancy went very well with no complications. If you take good care of your health there are good chances of you having a healthy baby.

Medically: I kept a close watch on sugar levels ( to avoid gestational diabeties)I monitered my blood pressure levels and weight level as well.

The first tri-mester I had to be careful about spontaneous abortion....which is due to reduced progestrone levels. I had to take progestrone supplement. I steered clear of progestin ( the synthetic form) and relied on natural progestrone cream.


As I was past 35 I had to go through an Amnio centesis to rule out chances of Down's syndrome( Phew !!) at 22 weeks of pregnancy.

Diet : Eating right and healthy is important. A wholesome vegetarian( lots of veggies and wholegrains) diet, a tbsp of flaxseed oil ( omega 3 fatty acids), one inch square of raw coconut everyday. Minimum caffeine and no sodas at all.

Exercise: Walking and gentle yoga. Squats and stairs climbing in the last 15 days to enable a natural bith.

Meditation: or just connecting with the divine and living in gratitude. Emotional graph fluctuated like crazy and I tried my best to keep it manageble.

Last miniute: Anything can happen !!! Expect the unexpected.

I kept a close watch on the baby's movements. I felt the number of movemens reduced. The ultra sound showed the cord around the babys neck, so I was left with no choice but to have a cesearian ( C- section).

I had a beautiful baby boy on July 28th 2006.

Life is beautiful.

Answer 2

My mother had five children...all of us are six years apart, except the youngest (me) and the sister up from me, (we are 4 and a half years apart) the doctor told my mother that she wasn't able to have any more children after her first. She was also in early post menopause with my sister, and Late post menopause with me. There was no complications with my sister and myself, she had the complications with my other sibs though. She was almost 42 when she had me, and mom was about 36-37 with my sister. I think that if you are healthy and keep active (with Dr's permission) that there shouldn't be any higher of a risk of complications than any other pregnancy. If there has been a run of high-risk pregnancies in your family I would talk to you doctor about the risks. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

I had my daughter at 35 - great easy pregnancy, midwife care, planning a natural birth, a bit of a scare in the middle when I went into early contractions at 5 months. I had immediate and wonderful care and a few weeks of bedrest - no further problems.

Then she wound up being ten days overdue and had to be induced - I was in labour for about twenty-four hours (most at home) - when they did the second application of induction gel (because I was stalled at 3 cm) the doctor in charge said my pelvis was too narrow (cephalo-pelvic disproportion, I believe) and I wouldn't be delivering naturally. So they scheduled me for an 'emergency C' at that point and four hours of agonizing and useless contractions later (no pain med because after all, I was going to have to have an epidural - I was given no other choices) I was wheeled in, had the needle in my back, and was cut open.

Horror story aside, I forgot EVERYTHING when they put my perfect-faced, sweet-mouthed, beautiful ten-pound-four-ounce daughter in my arms for the first time and she looked up at me through the longest dark lashes...

So - any 'complications' weren't due so much to my age as to the fact that no one picked up on the 'exceptionally narrow pelvic arch' compared to the size of the baby - and yes, unfortunately we do blame my midwives for not having even presented the possibility of a disproportion earlier..

I should also say that my mother began having her children at age thirty and proceeded to have eight of them in ten years. She tells me that she had no difficulty with any of them except the last (which was a ten-pound child and an emergency C - at which point the doctors 'strongly discouraged' her from having any more children as they believed it to be a threat to her life...) at age forty. None of the children suffered from any birth defects or chromosomal abnormalities.

If you are 35 or over, and expecting a baby or hoping to conceive, you should know that more and more 'mature primagravidas' (older first-time mothers) than at any prior time in recorded medical history are successfully (without harm to mother or baby) having healthy children - at least in North America and Europe. Do your research, choose your health care practitioners wisely, and then be prepared to be flexible and accepting. Best wishes - Bardmistress

Answer 4

I know of a lady who had her last 3 children at the ages of 38, 40, and 45. (They had 10 children altogether, same biological parents).

She didn't have any complications.

Answer 5

my sister-in-law was either 38 or 39 and she had MAJOR complications.
she had jordan in novemeber of last year and she wasn't due until february. she was over 3 months premature.
it was a very scary experience for the whole family, but my niece has pulled through and is a very healthy one year old!

the biggest issue, we think, is that her OB did not make her a high risk pregnancy, which any woman over 35 should be. we feel if she was monitored better, then they could have handled any issues better.

rule number one....
always be comfortable and feel good about your OB when pregnant.

take care.

Answer 6

I had my second child at 39, no complications, only I had to have a c section

Answer 7

I had mine at 32...no complications, my best friend had her first at age 40, only "complication" she had was choosing disposable diapers LOL. They didn't have such things when her and I were kids.

Answer 8

It is a 50/50 chance. I know someone that was 42 and had a baby and she is beautiful and healthy