I gave birth for the first time one month after my 42nd birthday. This was 14 years after I'd first decided I wanted to have a child.

The baby was conceived naturally without any medical intervention at any stage. I was drinking loads of coffee when I conceived and was highly stressed, taking no vitamins but all turned out well. I had been told that my only hope of a successful pregnancy at my age was to go on IVF. They were wrong.

The pregnancy was a really easy one - no morning sickness at all - I glowed throughout the pregnancy and looked better than I had in years. The birth was a bit on the hard side but I don't think that had anything to do with my age.

If you do succeed don't listen to any OB's who scare you with all the risks of giving birth over 40. I was told I'd probably have to stop work at 20 weeks and most likely be flat on my back for the rest of the pregnancy. I was told I'd be at high risk of giving birth prematurely. I was also told I'd have BP problems due to my age. All this from a female OB, you'd think she'd know better. Obviously I had to get a new OB and the new one thought my risks were no greater than anyone else as I had no health issues. I worked full time up to 37 weeks at a desk job and didn't ever get high BP. I gave birth vaginally 1 week and 4 days before my due date. I was fully recovered physically 3 weeks after the birth.

We did have a DS scare when the risk came in at 1/37 but the amnio showed no abnormalities and bubs was born "normal". You can expect to end up having more scans than normal, I had 8 in total, but many younger women have to have extra scans too.

I wish you the best of luck for the future.