The older mom on the block

Someone asked me the other day if I wanted to have another baby. People like to ask parents that question. (I don't know why, as it is really none of their business, but they ask.) I have my standard answers:

• We are one and done as I have provided the heir to our family fortune.
• My son is perfect and I couldn't possibly imaging having another one.
• I'm well into that "high-risk pregnancy" category now, so I'd rather just stay with the one child.

That last point isn't one that I always lead with, but it is something that I think about often. Would I want to have a newborn at the age that I am? (That's a personal question you can ask yourself, but for me the answer is no, I don't want to be that older mom on the block who can't keep up with her children.)

The truth is that a lot of women are delaying having children, as the overall age of first time mothers continues to climb in the U.S. - at least according to this NPR study. 

My Mother actually sent me that story link and I would like to think that she sent it to me as fodder for my blog and not because she would like another grandchild. (Thankfully, she reads this blog, so I am sure that she will send me a text and let me know the answer.)

But let's talk about that study for a moment: The age for first-time Mothers is now 26 years old. And that is not old, but it is definitely a shift away from the teenage mom scares of my youth. In fact, the increase in age is mostly attributed to fewer teen moms in the U.S.

So, that is good news in general. But for me, I'll stick with my one.

Here's another personal question: How old were you when you had your first child? Tell me the magic number in the comments.