Advice on taking the plunge

[decisionsdecisions15]

Apologies in advance for a rambling post! I was hoping you all might be able to offer some sage advice. Both my DH and I have started feeling ready for a baby. We have been together 12 years - married for just over a year. I'm 29 and a City lawyer.

My question is, how did you decide to just go for it and start TTC? There are so many factors that mean I don't HAVE to do it now, but then when?

Career-wise, I am coming up to 2 years PQE - quite junior, though various bits of advice has led me to believe taking time off now is better than when I'm 5 or so years PQE and your departure might be felt more widely (clients know you/partners rely on you more). But at the same time, I could wait a bit.

I imagine having more than one child, with around three years in between them - with absolutely no offence towards anyone who has had children later, my mother had me at 39 and I just feel that's not right for me. As it is, the first one wouldn't be born until I was 30 or so anyhow, so number 2 and any subsequent dcs would be born in my mid 30's anyhow.

We are financially stable (though I'm worried how much of an impact a dc could potentially have on this!).

Am I over thinking it? Should I just go for it? I know there's never a 'right' time, but I'm finding it really hard to make a decision!

Thanks in advance!!

My advice would be go for it! There is never a 'right' time and it sounds like you are in a better position than most. Plus you never know how long these things can take. I'm 33 and waited until the time was right, as soon as we decided to try I had an abnormal smear test and had to have some treatment. It was all fine but set us back a few months. I have now been ttc for 12 months and nothing has happened yet. When I started all this I was very naive and although the Doctor told me that it was perfectly normal to take a year or more to conceive, I just thought to myself 'No not me, it'll take a couple of months at the most' as this was the experience that a lot of my friends have had. But here I am 12 months later trying to stay positive!

I'm not trying to scare you but if you think you are ready then you probably are and although it could happen really quickly for you (hopefully it does!) there is a chance that it might take a while.

Good luck! x

Thanks heyarnold! I think the fear factor of just doing it is a little bit scary, but you're right in that the reality may not be that straightforward. I wish you all the best, and a happy, healthy baby!

DH and I recently had the "it's terrifying but we're as ready as we'll ever be" moment. And it's nice because right now we're quite relaxed about it so it might take a month, a year, or more but we might kick ourselves if we waited another few years and found that we were ttc-ing for years as well and we're more conscious of time pressures.

Good luck whatever you choose.

were more conscious* not we're