Why does everything change when you are pregnant at 35?

babyroe888 · October 2013

Just pregnancy test shows we are expecting, have my first doc appointment next week, once the nurse looked at my age she said, "the doc wold want to see you sooner since you are at 35"... Just curious how everyone who is 35 feels about the increased attention due to having a baby at 35?

kelley72 · October 2013

35 yr olds are youngin's in my book! I'm 41 so to me the scare of ama beginning at 35 is a joke. Statistically the risks start going up as you age as we all know so there has to be a starting point somewhere. When I was 25 having my first child, yes 35 sounded a bit old to begin.... wow how perspectives change in 10 years. Other than my insurance company covering some additional testing no extra attention has been given me except by me Congratulations and I hope you have a wonderful pregnancy

LucyRicardo3 · October 2013

It's all relative.. My OB said it's just a benchmark. Women in their 20's can have the same problems, but risks slowly increase with age. Has nothing specifically to do with 34 vs 35, 36...

But, my insurance has covered some of the newer screenings (Harmony) simply because of my age (37) that otherwise they would have denied.
And, I'll shamelessly admit that sometimes, it's nice to pull that "over 35 and pregnant" card when you get further along and just want a break/nap

Congratulations! This board is a wonderful place to gather info and support each other!

jbelle · October 2013

LucyRicardo3 said:
And, I'll shamelessly admit that sometimes, it's nice to pull that "over 35 and pregnant" card when you get further along and just want a break/nap

Smart! My DH said to me the other day "you should really pull the pregnancy card more often, we don't have it for very long!"

I have been surprised in the opposite way: no one acts like anything is out of the ordinary. I don't live in a city where women typically wait to have kids, either.

I admit, what I'm really curious about is how old I'll feel once my daughter starts school!

psychgalbride · October 2013

I'm 36 and with the exception of qualifying to take the early maternal blood screening genetic tests, my pregnancies before 35 and after 35 have been pretty much the same. I honestly thought it would be a bigger deal but not at my OB's office. Congrats and H&H 9 months to you!

Jackapatamus · October 2013

Every office/dr is different. I am 36, pregnant with my second (first @33) and my dr./nurses haven't mentioned my age at all. It is a "benchmark", but focusing on a healthy pregnancy is much more important.

Naniebeans · October 2013

I am 35 and I am much healthier physically, mentally and emotionally than I was in my twenties. My doc at my a/s scan even told me I was the healthiest lady he has seen! That was last week. I understand that risks go up. I was a little annoyed at first about having "advanced maternal age" but I am loving the extra attention and ultra sounds. One of my "younger" friends was jealous because of all of my ultrasounds. I told her it was because I am old and crunchy. ;-) I am having an easier pregnancy than many of my friends who were younger when they conceived. Everyone is different. I am just grateful and have positive thoughts everyday for a healthy baby!

lrmrtn · October 2013

My dr. is very easy going about it. Even before we were TTC I asked about the age thing and he said women in their early 40s have healthy babies and women in their 20s have trouble conceiving. he said you don't know until you start trying and he was right because it wasn't an issue for us thank goodness. When I went to my first appt. and asked about being over 35 and what I should be worried about, he said that they used to be more concerned with the age thing but they're really not as much anymore and to just do the first tri screening and go from there.

synergy_gd · November 2013

No one has mentioned my age at any stage and I'm 8mths. I think it's quite common for new mums to be in their 30s

trixiekid1 · November 2013

I love all the attention! I am over 40 so you get tons of ultrasounds and much more attention from my doctor and nurses at the OB's office. You almost feel like a celebrity mom.

Reynar1229 · November 2013

My first OB referred to me as "of advanced maternal age"... two days after I turned 35. I quickly figured out that she was not the Dr. for me. My current OB took that fact that my previous pregnancy was completely normal - as is this one, so far - into consideration and she has not requested anything different, no advanced testing, nothing. I'm grateful for that.

marleybarne · November 2013

I have loved the extra attention too. I had my first at 24 and then faced six + years of infertility TTC #2. After a loss halfway through, had my second at 36. Now pregnant w/#3 at 39. My Dr. with #2 was great about the age; only age-bias I've encountered is with an OB I tried before getting pregnant w/ this one. She wanted us to go the reproductive specialist route, even though we had been there and done that during the six years of infertility and to no avail. We just wanted to see what happened. I got pregnant without any of that six months later and dropped her! New doc is great, no mention of age whatsoever. They do ultrasound every month up to 20 wks.

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