More and more women are waiting to start their families, but many fear that their “biological clock” might run out before they are ready to get pregnant.  This leads women to eventually wonder if they are too old to get pregnant.  This video will go over things to consider if you are thinking about starting or expanding your family in your late 30’s and 40’s. Hint: you are NOT too old!!!     Read below to learn more….. OR, watch this video.

 

Age is just a number.  You can have a very healthy 35 young year old who eats well and works out daily. Or you can have a 25 year old who has  multiple medical conditions that might make her a sick individual.  So you see, so age is not the ONLY thing to consider when you want a baby.    But, in medicine, they had to draw a line somewhere to  say when a woman is of “advanced maternal age.”    So they drew the line at 35.  Ok.  So what does this mean for YOU!

Age is just a number.

First of all,  egg quality DOES decline as you age, so there’s a greater chance that a positive pregnancy test might not lead to a healthy pregnancy.   Poor egg quality means you are more likely to have an egg with a genetic disorder that can lead to a miscarriage.   So your chances of miscarriage increases the older you get.  In 25 year old’s your chance of a miscarriage is about 10 percent.  It increases  to around 15 percent by the time you are 35, and then climbs to around 40 percent in your mid 40s.

One of the things that some women worry about is the increase risk of Down Syndrome the older we get.  So lets talk more statistics:   So at 35, the average risk for having a baby with downs is about 1 in 350.   It’s not like we have No risk of having a baby with down syndrome at 34 and then “BAM” our birthday hits and we suddenly have a 1 in 350 chance.   No, our chances gradually increase.  When we are 21, the risk of having a baby with Down Syndrome is 1 in 1500.  At 30, our risk is 1 in 1000.  When were 34, 1 in 450,   So the chanesc gradually increase over time, and continue to go up the older we get, but even at 39.  (FYI, I’m 39 and pregnant)  our chances of a having a Down Syndrome baby is less than 1 in 100.  So there’s over a 99%  chance that everything will be fine.

Chances of having a baby with Down Syndrome gradually increases over time.  

Down syndrome which is Trisome 21.   We USED to test for Trisome 21 with amniocentesis, where we stick a long needle through the tummy, through the uterus and amniotic sac and collect a sample of anmniotic fluid to test.   This is a very old fashioned test, it’s rarely done anymore, because there are much better and safer testing.  You can do  First trimester screening that they do around 12 weeks, where they measure the thickness of the babies neck with ultrasound, this is called nuchal translucency, along with some blood tests.  This combinations of tests  really  do a good job at narrowing down what the risk is for your baby.    You can also do DNA testing at 10 weeks. which is just blood work, get the results in about 10 to 14 days but THIS test only checks for trisomy 21 whille the first trimester screening test checks for other genetic abnormalities as well.

You can do  First trimester screening that they do around 12 weeks

Bottom line is if you want to have another baby and you are in the upper half of your thirties or into your 40, don’t let people tell you you are too old to do that, because YOU AR E NOT!!! There are some things that might make it more difficulty, but it is still doable for many women.  It’s not just about your ago.  It’s really about your healthy,  how well you take care of yourself, your lifestyle choices you make before and during your pregnancy to promote a healthy pregnancy.   AND where your family is right now.   I got married when I was 30.  My two kids are younger.  I have a 9 and 6 year old so having a new baby, and maybe even one after this fits nicely with where our family is.

Don’t let people tell you you are too old to do that, because YOU ARE NOT!!!

My friend who, is my age, got married at around 19 or 20  and had 3 kids right off the bat, 1 girl then a set of twins.  Today, her daughter is married and her twins are graduating from high school next year, so her family is in a very different place than ours is.   But, you  know, it’s up to you and what fits with your family.  Now we tried to for 6 years before having this pregnancy and needed help with in-vitro fertilization to help us get here, which we are grateful for.  I think I’m going to spend some time talking about that in the future, so if you are interested in that topic, follow my blog and watch for theses upcoming posts.    But if you are over 35 and considering having another baby, go see you doctor, talk about your concerns but I hope this post answered some of your questions and good luck!!!!