re: If you started having children later in life...

Quoting Back to Noob Status:" Oh, but we are so fat, I think that cuts twenty years off our lives.   I do feel pressured, not ... [snip!] ... from my biological clock. I would be devastated if I found out that I couldn't have any children because I waited too late.  "

I live in the south, we're fatter and have kids even younger   lol

And your biological clock is just fine. Women have healthy babies allll throughout their 30's and many into their 40's. I'm not saying you need to wait that long, but seriously, at 22 - you have time.

Quoting Back to Noob Status:" I live in the Midwest, and people get married here a lot younger than places like Massachusetts, New York, California.....and to be engaged at 19 is perfectly the norm. "

Yep. I'm in Indiana and I was engaged at 19, married 2 weeks after I turned 20.
I had my son at 19 as well and that was LATE compared to a lot of people around here.

I had my 1st at 28 and my 2nd at 29 and NO I don't regret waiting at all. Honestly, I don't feel like I started "later" in life, most of our friends that are our age either just started settling down to have kids or haven't started at all. But I'm so glad I got to spend most of my 20s being free to be as wild as I wanted, to travel at the drop of a hat, and just be a free spirit in general. I had so much fun! Now this chapter of my live is amazing too, but in a different way and I'm glad I got to experience both ways.BTW I'll be 30 next week and I still feel and look young!

I was 25 when I had my first, 27 with my second and I wont be TTC my third until I am 31. I am 29 and I am so glad I waited.

Of most of the girls I went to school with I'm the youngest to have children and I had DS at 28. Most of them are only just getting married now and settling down, they were for the most part more interested in having careers and fancy things. I know that a lot of them don't even want kids at all because it would impede their lifestyle.

Quoting Back to Noob Status:" For those of you who didn't start having children until later in life (say 28-30+), do you regret it? ... [snip!] ... until one is older outweigh the risks of infertility or have to say "adios" to the idea of having that third or fourth baby?"

I don't regret it. I would like to have more kids than we will end up having BUT that is really due to losses & not age. And the issue that causes our losses has nothing to do with age either & would have been there at any age, it has to do with chromosomes. I guess if we were younger maybe Dh would change his mind & want more if given enough time, but I doubt it. He doesn't want to go through any more of the drama around it all...and if we do, it will be once more, which for us will likely mean 1-4 more pregnancies... So I don't think he'd be willing to think differnetly on that at our age now or if we were 10 yrs younger. He says he just wants to be happy now with our family & not open ourselves up to any more hurting. I get that.

I can't fathom not having had the years we did to do other things & finish our educations & such. I never thought that was an option & I've never thought a lot about how that would have played out. I did meet Dh young though, so we have been together all this time, we just didn't start TTC until about 30. We were together (not married all that time, but together) 14 yrs when we had our older son. MUCH longer than most people are when they start having kids...lol

I had my kids at 17 and 25, first was unplanned, second was planned.
Dont regret it, although i would never condone for teens to get pregnant, it was MUCH easier the second time around when I was fully ready....and i believe it is best to wait until you have some work experience, education, a stable marriage/relationship, and income, and know how to function and live independantly from the nest.

And...uhh....old spinster at 22? You are still somewhat of a kid, you aren't even really fully developed until 25. The whole bio-clock thing is more of a middle-aged getting near menopause thing lol....I just turned 33 and I feel pretty young, although sometimes i feel kinda old when I converse with other Moms and realize they were children themselves when I had my first baby, lol.
But really, I feel like I truly started coming into my own person and growing into a self-actualized woman in my late 20's and early 30's....old at 22....lmfao.

i had dd at 28. that age was perfect for me; i was financially stable, in an established career and in a wonderful marriage. i was a completely different person at 20, 22, even 26...i can't fathom the idea of me having a child at those ages.
and 22 is not spinster territory, lol.

I had my son when I was a few months shy of my 31st birthday. He was actually due two days before I turned 31 but came super early in May. My angels were at 24 and 33.
There are pros and cons.
For me, the pros are:
I was able to experience my life, get an education, travel, no worries...
I was full of life, healthy and vital. I am better equipped to care for him now than I would've been back then.
The cons:
Mostly my cons are health related. I've been diagnosed with several debilitating diseases/conditions and I'm not able to do a lot things with my son like I'd like but thankfully his dad takes him outside--The sun exacerbates my condition--and lets him play, swing, etc.

I didn't have trouble at all conceiving my babies although none were full term.
If I could redo it, I wouldn't because my conditions could happen to anyone at any age. Mine just happened to show after he was born.

Quoting DisneyMommyTTC#3:" I had my kids at 17 and 25, first was unplanned, second was planned. Dont regret it, although i would ... [snip!] ... coming into my own person and growing into a self-actualized woman in my late 20's and early 30's....old at 22....lmfao."

Idk about kid territory, but I definitely feel a bit....older on baby gaga. I kind of wish that I could start having children now. My mom didn't start having children until her late twenties, but because she had been on BC for so long, it took a while (and some drugs) until she had her first. She was 29.  

Quoting SweetAshMama:" I had my 1st at 28 and my 2nd at 29 and NO I don't regret waiting at all. Honestly, I don't feel like ... [snip!] ... but in a different way and I'm glad I got to experience both ways.BTW I'll be 30 next week and I still feel and look young!"

I'm the exact same as you, and I feel the same way!!

I got asked if I was 18 by a chashier at target last week. It was wonderful lol

Quoting Back to Noob Status:" Idk about kid territory, but I definitely feel a bit....older on baby gaga. I kind of wish that I could ... [snip!] ... twenties, but because she had been on BC for so long, it took a while (and some drugs) until she had her first. She was 29.  "

lol You make a sad face about people having babies when they're 29! It's starting to get a little insulting  I guarantee you that when you're 29, you won't think you're "old"  

<blockquote><b>Quoting !!Katie!!:</b>" I'm the exact same as you, and I feel the same way!! I got asked if I was 18 by a chashier at target last week. It was wonderful lol"</blockquote>




I love that feeling   ill be 30 soon too.

I had my first at 27- I'm 34 now and SO glad I waited. SO, SO, SOOOOOO glad.


I got to be young, go to school unburdened by kids, date, go out, do the bar/club thing to my heart's content, travel alone, be young.

Quoting !!Katie!!:" lol You make a sad face about people having babies when they're 29! It's starting to get a little insulting lol I guarantee you that when you're 29, you won't think you're "old"  "