Being a Mom of "Advanced Maternal Age"

I watched the doctor write "AMA" in my chart. She asked if I had any specific questions before she sent me for my blood work to verify HCG levels. So, I asked her. What does "AMA" mean?

Advanced Maternal Age. I stared at her. What? Advanced Maternal Age? I'm only 36, not 46! Truth be told, I felt 26. So, she explained to me all the things that studies have shown can go wrong in a pregnancy after the age of 35.

Increased chance of miscarriage, increased chance of Downs Syndrome, increased chance of birth defects, gene defects, placenta defects. The laundry list went on and on. My head was spinning. What happens when a woman hits 35? Is there some hidden switch inside of her that says, "Ok, she's old, let's start rotting those eggs!"

I did a lot of research after that meeting with the doctor. And one thing I noticed, all the studies that were done had far more 20-30 year olds than 35-40 year olds in their test groups. How can the numbers be correct? Obviously, women want to have their babies earlier, when they're mature enough to handle the responsibility, but still young enough to not run with the geriatric crowd. Wouldn't this skew those research results? It would be of my opinion that, in order to have a true picture of the differences with being pregnant at 25 vs. 35, you would need the same number of participants in the test group. If there are far fewer women in the 35-40 year old group, every test would be grossly inflated in percentages and averages, wouldn't it?

As a result of my "AMA", I was booked for several ultra sounds and so much blood work that I felt like a human pin cushion. I stressed so much during the first trimester...the "danger zone" if you will. I dreaded my ultra sounds. When moms-to-be are going in to see their little ones on the screen, anticipating it with excitement, there I sat praying to every god known to man to just let her be ok. With every blood test I stressed over the results, every twinge, pain or bout with heartburn had me worried sick. How is this GOOD for a pregnant woman?