If you had your first child at 38+

[KnobwithaK]

.. how was the birth?

Pregnant with my first and will be an "older" first time mum. Obviously I'm doing "proper" research too but interested to hear others' experience.

I was 41 at birth, 40 at conception.

6hr active labour after failed induction, had gas and air. Was up and about immediately after and didn’t even need a paracetamol.
Absolutely breezed through pregnancy, had GD but diet controlled and didn’t have any issues.

I was 38 when I had DD. The pregnancy was fine and uncomplicated (after subfertility due to PCOS, needed cloud). No more nausea than could be dealt with by finger biscuits, Labour and birth took about 8hrs total, not too bad, just had a TENS machine and didn't even get to needing gas and air.

Had my one and only at 40. Planned c section as DD was breach. Pregnancy was fine and c section was OK.

I lost a lot of blood in the section and had low blood pressure for a while after the birth.

My mum had me at 44 and she was OK But She did have high blood pressure towards the end of the pregnancy and was hospitalised. However that’s all the complications.

Pregnancy (at last) was fine. Dr advised an elective caesarean as baby was breech. All good. Xx

Straightforward. Baby’s heart dipped as I was preparing to push and so I needed to push in a theatre while surgeon used forceps to pull him out. Breastfeeding was very painful due to his latch (severe tongue tie) but manageable. I found recovery good as I am fairly fit and didn’t gain much weight during the pregnancy.

I had my two DS's at 41 and 45. Both short labours and straightforward births. Birth plans, however, went out the window as I arrived at hospital too far progressed to use the birthing pool. I couldn't have cared less by then though

@KnobwithaK
No I don't recall knowing she was around the wrong way, but it was over twenty years ago and they and my memory is hazy. I don't have any experience of giving birth as a young woman but I have no regrets at all, it's been wonderful. Having a younger husband helped though!

38th birthday. Planned c-section next day (brother had a huuuge head and I'm petite), but girlie had other plans
Me: Underweight
DD: 8 lbs. 3oz.
Low blood sugar. Skin to skin and lots of blood pokes later and she was fine.

I was 41.Private/consultant led care because I had just migrated to UK and though I had paid the NHS fee (can't recall the term), wasn't entitled to NHS. All went well but had failed induction, baby's heartbeat was erratic so EMCS. The emcs itself was fantastic. Chatted with the anaesteologist like mates at a pub while the consultant and his team pulled a human out of me.

My DD was due on my 37th birthday but she was 10 days late. She's my first and Labour was very quick, 1 hr 40min!! My pregnancy was ok, had aches & pains & was uncomfortable at times but don't think any of it was due to age.

Had my first a month before 38th birthday. Pregnancy was easy, only mild nausea and heartburn, the usual. I read up on the risks of VB vs CS and requested an ELCS. IIRC there's a pretty high chance of ending up with EMCS at 35+ first birth and I was worried about all the possible damage like prolapse, tears, incontinence from a VB. In the end the CS was medically necessary anyway as my son was footling breech. Painful but back on my feet within a week, back to normal after 2-3 weeks.

Second pregnancy at 40 much harder but that's because it was twins! I had another CS, even easier recovery surprisingly.

I have one neat scar below my bikini line, everything else in perfect working order. Very happy with my choices.

Thanks all - really interesting to read these.

@lifesnotaspectatorsport yeah, I'm considering an ELCS for similar reasons (hospital is supportive of me making the choice). Currently swinging towards vaginal but if I become aware of any problem (breach, back to back, need an induction etc) then choosing a c section instead.

So many factors to consider!

38 with first and 40 with the second. I had terrible sickness with both - vomited every day from 6 weeks to labour! Developed high blood pressure from 36 weeks both times and was in and out of the hospital with both. DC1 was born after a short natural labour on my due date, dc2 went into labour on due date but labour stalled after waters broke and I was then induced - dc was born an hour after drip was started.
I was bad at pregnancy and it was really rough.........labour was a doddle!

As I recall, he was back to back on scans before the birth and I tried a lot of dangling around trying to turn him but he didn’t fancy it. Induction took ages and then there was méconium in the water so it was all a bit far of my dream whale music and lavender oil plan but, frankly, forgot all about it the instant he was in my arms

Posted too soon! Dd was also induced, so lots of whatever it is they give you in the drip to strengthen contractions and it was still absolutely fine-mobile albeit roped up to the drop and the TENs machine held it all fine (until the last minute!) and she was born in a huge rush. Made my eyes water but just wanted you to know that even inductions can be easy peasy and even if they’re not, you’ll forget it all straight away. Good luck!

Had second at 42 with a much easier drug free labour. However I was very fit and I think that helped. My first birth at 29 was horrendous and lasted 3 days. You can't really guess what's going to happen. I begged for a section given my previous experience. Thanks to an excellent midwife, I had the sort of birth that we all hope for. Good luck OP.

38. Induced when 10 days late, 26 hours of labour with no real results and a c section. I've subsequently found that my interior design isn't favorable for giving birth naturally and that probably had a lot to do with it.

Having said all that, I'd do it again, it really wasn't that bad!

I was 43, pregnancy was really easy and stress free (didn’t even know I was pregnant until 10 weeks - wasn’t ‘trying’ & assumed no periods was the start of the menopause ).

Did have an EMCS as I was overdue & after induction baby was a little stressed, but that was fine & recovery straightforward. Was slightly annoyed as I had asked for an ELCS but had been told it wasn’t necessary- would have saved the NHS a lot of money rather than doing the EMCS. That was nearly 20 years ago, I would hope hospitals are more receptive to CS requests now.

One at 39 and one at 40.
Induced both times as overdue but straightforward (quick) pool births, would do it again in a heartbeat. Massively recommend pregnancy yoga to help with breathing as well
Good luck!

38 for DS1 - easy pregnancy and standard pool birth in midwife-led unit.
40 for DS2 - easy pregnancy again, and unplanned home birth, delivered by me while DH was with DS1 and on the phone to the ambulance as midwife didn't answer her phone! All went well though.

Glad to hear your hospital is supportive of your choices OP! You don't generally hear that on Mumsnet.

Text book pregnancy, went overdue and had to be induced. All still perfect until contractions when it went pear shaped. Baby hated contractions, I hemorrhaged, lost baby heart beat and was whisked through for a crash caesarean and he needed to be resuscitated. All ended well, back on ward late afternoon (born early hours) and we now have a strapping teenager. I was 37