Any older mums out there?

[jellycount]

Hi all, I'm 47 and expecting my second child - 33 weeks today. I already have a toddler and just wondered if there were any other older mothers out there. We don't have hands on family support because both our mothers are in their 80s, so I wondered how others manage? Thankfully my DH is very hands on but because of my age I am having a planned c-section on 9th October (as my DD was too) and just mulling the recovery this time with a 2.5 year old too. I'm not asking for sympathy, just to see if there are any others in the same boat and any tips or advice you might have? Thanks!

I had mine at 41 and 43, and two friends had one each at 45 and 46. The former was unmarried and it was hard financially but her family helped with that (though not in any practical sense - no babysitting). The latter it was a surprise after 17 years of marriage but they were delighted. Her DH was several years older and she was able to become a SAHM.
Anyway that boy is now 24 and the other one is 16. Parents are healthy and being older hadn’t seemed to have stopped them from fully being present in their kids lives. Many of my friends had kids in their 40s it isn’t that unusual these days.

I was 45 when I had DC now 16. I am v young for my age, don’t look 61 and didn’t notice anything different between me and other Mums in primary - our common ground was our children but lots of other common interests - fitness, politics, work etc. I made lots of friends and age just wasn’t an issue.

DC has definitely kept us young - we go to gigs and do things most people of our age would consider behind them. I am v close to DC - we laugh so much and often go on city breaks, theatre trips etc. We have a better relationship than many of their peers.

Age isn’t just a number - I am sad that I wasn’t younger when I had her but that wasn’t my choice or fault. It is what it is. There are pros and cons but I have never felt as if I was missing out socially because I had done all my partying. I’m also glad that DC won’t be in their 60s like me with the responsibility of elderly parents. My DGM was 20 when she had my Dad - he was faced with caring for her and finding a home for her when he was in his mid 70s and she was well into her 90s!

We had no family nearby but we survived! I only have one DC so can’t speak to recovery time with a toddler but I had a C section because DC was breech. It was tough and painful but I felt better remarkably quickly - I was up and about the next day - pretty gingerly -
but within a few days that was all much easier.
One tip I have is try to protect yourself from thrush! The antibiotics I took caused it and it was in my breast tissue - it was unbelievably painful after feeding and it ended up being passed on to DC via breastfeeding. That made a stressful and tiring time much worse.
Congratulations OP - you’ll be fine and at a gig at the O2 before you know it!