Calling all moms! I'm doing a study...

[bluegreysky]

I do independent studies for fun because soemtimes I'm a little bit of a sociology junkie.


I have many facebook friends who are parents now and a few that want to be but are still within a few years of my age. I chose to observe 10 that seemed to get the hottest cases of baby fever and what I discovered was this:
-4 of the 10 were teachers.
-2 of them were nurses
-2 were a wedding and maternity photographer
-1 was married to a male nurse
-the only one who doesn't have kids yet is an OT but she works with alot of OT's who are mommies

-The youngest was 24 when her first baby was born. (she's turning 27 now and has a 2nd baby) She is one of the photog's. She was also married youngest, at only age 20.
-The 2 oldest are almost 30 and had their first baby at 26 or 27 and just had the second one at 29.
-One of the teachers had to adopt since she couldn't have her own baby but she has adopted 3 already.

The trend? It appears that most of the baby fever cases catch on people that work with children all day or have to care for others like they are children (because they are sick which means they are somewhat helpless and need extra TLC) and a few cases happen to people who are around newlyweds and new moms all day.


Ok now there's a few women I know who don't have children or had later in life children and here's their statistics:
-One woman has been married at least 10 years now and has wanted kids off and on but hasn't had any because she or her husband have chosen to put it off due to money issues or fertility issues or something of that nature. If they REALLY REALLY wanted them, I know they would have found a way by now. She is an insurance agent and her husband is some type of salesman.
-One couple who has been married 2 years now and both are 2 years younger than my husband and I don't want kids for a long time and the husband works at a hotel and the wife is leading a college ministry. college. as in ... not little kids.
-A co-worker at another branch of my bank job got-remarried last year and is just now having her first child at age 41. She had to get envitro and will need a c-section. From what I understand, a combination of a rocky first marriage and focus on her career prevented her from ever really wanting a baby until just recently. She is a bank manager.
-Me. I have only been married a year and I also work at a bank. I don't have anything against kids but I don't want them yet. A banking environment exposes me to people with children but not the way a school or a hospital would.

So now I'm calling all mom's. Especially those who planned a baby because they really wanted to be mom's.
What career were you in and at what age did baby fever strike?

Let's see if y'all either prove my theory or disprove it.

 

[.chrys.]

I was 21. An accountant.
My husband also 21. A system's admistrator.
We weren't "baby fever'd" though. We simply wanted to start our family. We wanted to be young while our children were young, and alive when our great-grandchildren are born.

 

[bluegreysky]

So your child is 24 now? did they also have a child at this point?

 

[mkgal1]

When my husband and I got married I had told him I didn't want children. We married when I was 26 and he was 29. BUT.....I changed my mind one evening after being at a friend's barbeque and a little toddler stole my heart (he'd clung to me all evening and even didn't want his mama and daddy to get him ready for bed---he asked for me to do it). I told my husband that night that I'd changed my mind about children. I was 28 when our daughter was born.....and even though she's always been the joy of my life, I never got that urge a second time. I was in banking as well (and didn't have much experience with children at all).

 

[.chrys.]

So your child is 24 now? did they also have a child at this point?

No, my eldest is now 23, and she hasn't even had so much as a first date. So, nope, no kids of her own. My youngest is 19 and while he has had a couple of "dance" dates, he hasn't yet had a steady girlfriend. And as far as I know, neither one of them is actively seeking a partner.

 

[annafullofgrace]

I worked at a bank dealing with retirement funds. My husband worked in IT...still does. I was 23 when our first child was born. No baby fever either, we were just ready to start a family and wanted to have our children before we turned 30. We had three children in 3.5 years and I haven't worked since.

 

[Odetta]

I was a marketing manager for an engineering firm. I married when I was 28, and we decided from the beginning to begin a family at the 3 year mark (to give us a little bit of time for just the two of us). Which we did on schedule. Baby fever hit a few months that 3 year mark because I was anticipating it.

 

[ChristianGolfer]

I've always loved kids and knew I wanted them. I wouldn't say there was ever a time in my life where I had "baby fever." It was just something I knew I wanted.
I am a lawyer. Married at 34. Had my first baby at 35. Pregnant again now at 37.