Like many other women, Donna Griffin from Green Oaks, Ill., put off having a baby until later in life. She was busy working on her career, relocating around the country and enjoying the challenges in her life.

"I was doing all that I ever dreamed and more," says Griffin. "However, by the time I was 38 years old, I owned a beautiful home in a northwestern suburb of Chicago but was alone and had no one to share my life with. I had always thought I would be married and have children, but at the age of 38, I finally realized that I had to make my personal life as much [of] a priority as my career."

Griffin met and married her husband, and they immediately began trying for children. By this time, Griffin was over 40 and it wasn't as easy to conceive as they had hoped. It took four years to conceive, and the disadvantages of being an older pregnant woman soon became obvious.

"Because it was so hard to finally get pregnant, I tended to worry a great deal and wonder if the baby was OK," says Griffin. "I was nervous at every OB appointment and couldn't wait to hear the baby's heartbeat and get reassurance that everything was progressing OK."

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