Met a 48yo who is 5-month’s pregnant with her first child. My thought: “That’s Awesome!”

I’m 58 and have 3 adult kids. I started pretty young and only one (my middle) was planned 😅 my oldest is 40.

Met a lady twice while out with my dog at a local park. The 2nd meeting, yesterday, she told me she’s 5 months pregnant. I told her that’s awesome!

She said she was worried about people’s judgement - she said she’s the only one in her friend group who doesn’t have older kids.

She said she tried and failed for many years to get pregnant but past pregnancies quickly ended in miscarriage.

I told her I was so sorry and I can’t imagine. 💔

I told her how old I am and that, although I already had and raised my 3 kids, I still feel like I have a ton more life left and lots of energy and am in a better financial place than I was at 18 so I would have been a better mom to young kids now.

Her face lit up when I said all that so I just hope she feels amazing and has the best experience she can with her new baby when the time comes.

I don’t regret having my kids young, but it was hard. I have to work for much longer in order to retire because raising kids was so expensive.

Having kids young meant I have to play catch up for a long time.

Still, had I waited until I was older, I wouldn’t have had kids because AS I’ve gotten older I’ve loved having my own life! I love having a career and hanging out with friends and being around my dogs!

My point in sharing this is we should feel free to live our lives however we choose and not feel pressure or guilt-tripped to fit into the tiny, restricted boxes that society tries to confine us to! 👏

Yes, I raised my kids on that mentality. None of my kids have kids and all 3 have never been married.

That’s because they have always felt free to live their lives as they choose - not according to my expectations or societal pressures.