Things I Learned. #1
1. Twenty-nine is OLD.
I have always thought that 29 was still a good age to have a baby. I mean, most of my friends don't even have kids yet. But in my first appointment, my first OB called me "old" when I complained that this pregnancy was more difficult than my previous 2. By OLD, she didn't mean old, but she meant older than the usual women. I thought she was kidding, but 2nd and 3rd opinions by OBs agreed - 29 is apparently not "young". Which was odd. When I was 12, I always assumed 28 onwards was the marrying age.
*Sigh* Though the final cause of CDH is not yet fully known, the suspicion of some studies suggests that aside from genetic reasons (mother and father's chromosomes combined), there might be a secondary trigger, possibly age. Because if your first child has CDH, there is a high chance the next one or the third one will have CDH as well. Not 2% as other sites mentioned, but a much higher chance.
Therefore, I am grateful now more than ever that I had my children when I was young. And even though it's financially difficult, I do regret not having my last child sooner.
I have always thought that 29 was still a good age to have a baby. I mean, most of my friends don't even have kids yet. But in my first appointment, my first OB called me "old" when I complained that this pregnancy was more difficult than my previous 2. By OLD, she didn't mean old, but she meant older than the usual women. I thought she was kidding, but 2nd and 3rd opinions by OBs agreed - 29 is apparently not "young". Which was odd. When I was 12, I always assumed 28 onwards was the marrying age.
The risk of having a baby with chromosomal disorders increase as a woman grows older. The most common of these disorders is Down syndrome, a combination of mental retardation and physical abnormalities caused by the presence of an extra chromosome. At age 25, a woman has about a 1-in-1, 250 chance of having a baby with Down syndrome; at age 30, a 1-in-1,000 chance; at age 35, a 1-in-400 chance; at age 40, a 1-in-100 chance; and at 45, a 1-in-30 chance.(http://www.babyhopes.com/articles/birthdefects.html)
*Sigh* Though the final cause of CDH is not yet fully known, the suspicion of some studies suggests that aside from genetic reasons (mother and father's chromosomes combined), there might be a secondary trigger, possibly age. Because if your first child has CDH, there is a high chance the next one or the third one will have CDH as well. Not 2% as other sites mentioned, but a much higher chance.
Therefore, I am grateful now more than ever that I had my children when I was young. And even though it's financially difficult, I do regret not having my last child sooner.
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