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[quote=Anonymous]Ten years ago, when I was 44, I would have said, "sure, go for it." But at 54, I gotta say... the 50s ain't for the faint of heart, folks.

I loved my 40s. I felt great, was in great shape, really felt no different than I had in my 30s. But things change in your 50s. No matter how healthy and in shape you are, no matter how well you've taken care of yourself, your joints ache, you strain ligaments at the drop of a hat, you're really tired at the end of a long day. Staying up late when your teens are out at night is hard. Your parents get sick and need help, sometimes lots of it. It's hard to see coming, but it *is* coming. Fifty is not the new 30, lol. Not by a long shot. I felt young for a long time, and inside I still feel young, girlish, like the person I've always been. But in your 50s there is no denying that your body is not young anymore, and anyone who tells you differently is lying.

Is that a reason not to have another child? I dunno. Of course there are many families who have beloved children late in life. My DH is one of them, born when his mother was 42. I'm certainly glad she had him, lol. But I will say that by the time DH was in high school, his parents were kinda done with parenting (they had 3 other children as well). (And they were extremely healthy and hearty into their 80s, and are both still with us, in their late 90s. But still... they were 60 when DH graduated from high school. It's not young, no matter how healthy. )

I had my first when I was 32 and my second at 37. (No fertility issues.) I thought about having a third but DH was ambivalent and financially it would have been a bit of a stretch for us. I always feared that there would come a time when I'd regret that we didn't have a third. But now that my youngest is 17, I have to acknowledge that I feel quite a bit older than I did just 5 years ago, when DC1 was 17, and I think about what it would be like if I had a 13 or 14- year- old ad well... and honestly, I'm glad I don't. JMO.

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