In her own words:

In your 30s, you do start asking yourself questions like, “Why am I working so hard? Where will it all get me in the end?” Forget about “finding yourself” after university or mid-life crises. When you are a woman in your 30s, thanks in part to never-ending questions like, “Do you want kids?” along with reading studies about fertility and having friends who already around you are getting pregnant, or already have babies, you really start to question the meaning of life and what you want to get out of yours.

Now, at age 33 and with a rambunctious three-year-old, I often admire woman in their 40s who are raising newborns and chasing after toddlers. I wonder where they find the energy to play soccer with their toddlers and get them ready for bed. I’m always tired these days, at my age. But looking back, I know I could never have had a baby in my 20s. I was too career-driven. I used to get a buzz off stress. I craved fun. Sure, if I waited another decade to conceive, I could have moved to Los Angeles or lived in a hut on a beach in Thailand, both (as of yet) unfulfilled dreams of mine. If I had had a baby in my early 20s, I would only be 40 (the new 30) when my daughter went off to university.

For me, both emotionally and physically, having a child when I did was the right time. I’m still young enough to appreciate cartoons and Happy Meals but old enough to know not to eat all of my daughter’s fries.

Rebecca Eckler is the author of Wiped! Life with a Pint Size Dictator.

In your 30s and trying to decide if it’s time to become pregnant? Canadian Family says:

1. Having a baby in your 30s may mean re-thinking your mental framework, and what’s important to you. That’s okay.

2. You may have to create your own unique ways of balancing work life and this new little person in your life.

3. “Settling down” doesn’t have to be the end to having a fun, creative life.