Hi Ladies,
Well, I am 45 and use no contraception. It took a full year of solid medical intervention for us to have our second daughter. I was 42 when she was born. Healthy beautiful girl.
We do not plan on expanding our family. I've been having weird menstrual cycles. Usually spot on, but some of them have been a little bit early. Well, right about now, I've been having some off and on crampiness, but no bleeding. How many people do you know that ended up pregnant, even after having fertility issues?
I guess I thought since it took such intervention for Baby Two, I haven't thought this would ever happen naturally at this point.
What's your opinions on the subject?
E.
This morning, I received a visit from AF. All this weekend, I was beside myself with anxiety. We live here in Atlanta, GA, roughly 2300 miles away from the nearest blood relative, and therefore 2300 miles away from ever having the ability of "Gee, mom and dad, can you watch little Susie and Billy for us for the day?" or "hey, sis, here's that opportunity you always wanted to spend time with your beautiful nieces!"...... you get the point. In six years, my husband and I have never had the chance to go away for so much as an evening, because we have no one to watch our girls. This weekend, coincidentally, has been exceptionally challenging, not just for the lingering pregnancy question, but also because my husband is studying for his annuities license and that is some DRY, BORING STUFF to study about. That falls right behind the basic crap of bills, kids and everything else. If I ever really wondered whether a 3rd babe was something we would shoot for, I basically have answered my question. For the women who have become pregnant in their mid-40's, I congratulate each and every one of you. I am blessed with the beautiful family I have. That is more than enough for us.
Odds are always lower the older you get but I know many many mums getting pregnant in their 40s. Hundreds. In fact, here in seattle, it seems to be more the norm. ((I was the only mum in my son's K class in her 20's, and there were only 1 or 2 women in their 30's. The rest were 40's & early 50's.)) Growing up, my best friend was adopted. Her birth mum was in her mid to late 50s and was already several years into menopause.
I'm aware of numerous change of life pregnancies.
The women thought they were in menopause and couldn't get pregnant, but surprise! They weren't trying to get pregnant which added to the surprise, but they all went on to have healthy and beautiful children. My daughter has a cousin who is 18 and her sibs are well into their 30's. So it does happen.
Best wishes.
My Grandma had a surprise pregnancy at 47.
After years of contraception, I am a convert to NFP. In my old age I have come to realize & accept children for the gift they are. My fourth child was born when I was 41y/o and with my conversion of heart, it was the best experience of all. NFP has been a blessing to my marriage & family.
For your health concerns, contact Dr. Kathleen Ravielle. She is in the Atlanra area and extremely knowledgeable.
God bless!
I know of a number of them -including my own mother who was born to her mom when she was 43. My mom's best friend suddenly found herself pregnant at 45.
Run what you're doing by your doctor and see what he/she says! Given your history, it's highly unlikely, but it certainly can happen. NFP is just dandy if you don't care about getting pregnant again, but if you don't want to have anymore kids -you need to do something permanent or very reliable (like an IUD).
Also -sometime people who have had terrible difficulty conceiving once never have anymore difficulty. Your body starts releasing more eggs the older you get, which is why older women are far more likely to have naturally occurring multiples.
Good luck with whatever you want to happen, but if you don't want more kids -you need to use something!
I was just reading that the "odds" are very low that you would conceive with your own eggs at age 45, but it certainly could happen. My grandma conceived my uncle at 44, and my mother-in-law herself is a a "late in life" baby (was born when my husband's grandma was in her 40's).
So . . . it is entirely possible! Back then, though, moms had many more children so I always wonder if they had more eggs available later in life (because ovulation was "paused" during their multiple pregnancies). My grandmas had 8 and 5 children each. This is just my own thought . . .
In any event, good luck - exciting!
I'm late responding to this post but I have a 'it happened to me' story to share. My husband and I met in our mid-30s and started trying for a family around our 1st anniversary. I did get pregnant but that resulted in a miscarriage which was followed by 3 years of fertility treatments (including 3 IVFs) which resulted in our beautiful boy/girl twins. Our story is included in the book 'Pregnant with Hope' that's available through amazon.com.
I was 40 when the twins arrived and after so many doctors over so many years had told us we'd never have kids and how much work it had been to have the twins I never really took the need for birth control seriously following that pregnancy. However, we did get pregnant - the 'old fashioned way' - last fall. Baby #3 - a girl, and fortuantely only 1 baby - is scheduled to arrive on July 1st! It was a huge adjustment to absorb the news of this pregnancy - it just didn't feel real or possible - we didn't share the news with our families until December because that's how long it took us to come to grips with it first.
I shared the news with my reproductive endocrinologist (#2 doctor at Cornell CRMI at NY Presbyterian - one of the doctors who developed IVF procedures). I not only shared the news of the surprise pregnancy but asked if anyone is doing research on 'fertility after infertility'. He was genuinely happy for us (great guy) and reported that there is no research that he is aware of - he reported these pregnancies are pretty common and attributed it to 'physiological changes'.
As we've shared the news of this pregnancy it's amazing how many others have had the same experience. I'm sorry there isn't more research in this area - I can't tell you how much it would have changed my outlook during those 3 years of dealing with not being able to get pregnant to know that one day it actually might happen spontaneously!
We thought we were done with 2 wonderful kids - now we're ready to welcome baby #3. This size family may not have been the 'grand plan' but it will be wonderful.
Just take a test. Could be pg, could be a weird cycle, could be the start of menopause. Good luck!
