I wouldn’t change a thing. Married at 26 and 34, first baby at 28.5 and 36.5.
I was 41. DH was 44. We were one and done.
Would have perhaps preferred to have been a few (not too many) years younger. I used to think I would have wanted more than one; now I’m not so sure (and D seems to like being an only).
What we lacked in energy, we probably made up for in patience.
Wow, this thread got a lot of responses quickly!
I had what I refer to as “two only children” – the first just before turning 33, the second at 38.
Would have been a bit earlier except that my first pregnancy was a miscarriage.
However, I have no regrets – H and I were able to have our relationship, careers and finances stable before starting a family. I very much liked being able to give full attention to each child in their baby/toddler/preschool years. First was about to start kindergarten when second was born. (I worked part-time or not at all when kids were young.)
Despite being 5 1/2 years apart and different sexes, I am blessed that our kids have a lovely relationship and get along well, and that they and their spouses enjoy spending time together and make a point of visiting each other. (We are all five to six hours apart in different directions.)
Overall would not have done things differently. Kid #1 was a difficult baby and I needed a break before considering a second. Fortunately kid #2 was an easy baby.
We did pay off mortgage, etc. even before their college years, paid for college as they went, are financially fine and H is now retiring. Hope to spend lots of time with kids, etc. in retirement years.
Regrets:
My father died fairly young (heart attack) before my first child was born – wish he could have had the joy of being a grandparent, he would have LOVED it.
My other regret is that it is unlikely I will live as long and as well as I would like – to be able to do such things as attend grandkids’ college graduations, weddings, etc. (have health issues as well as age).
My grandparents were a major part of my life, as they were both relatively young and lived very close by and were very involved with me.
But H and I are making the most of the one grandchild we have so far! 
I sometimes wish that my kids were closer in age. They’re 3 years apart, but S1 skipped a grade in school, so they were 4 years apart in school by the time S2 was in 1st grade. They were only at the same school for 2 years, so their experiences were very different. I regret that they’re not closer now, although they do communicate with each other occasionally.
I was 30, 32 & 34 (that unplanned third that ended up being twins - who are now awaiting college decisions!).
I remember when a close friend had her first when we were ~25, and I was totally not even close to feeling ready to have a baby (still felt like a kid).
I am glad that my kids are all close in age. Even when I had four under the age of 4/5 (oldest wasn’t even 3.5 when twins were born, and there was that 2 yr old in between) we were good. Both of us pretty laid back, and never concerned ourselves with household orderliness (!). (still don’t, actually…)
For the first daughter I was 32 (H was 36), and for the second daughter I was 36 (H was 40). I would have liked for my daughters to be closer in age and for me to be under 35 for my second pregnancy, but had a difficult time getting pregnant with the second. My second daughter has had some health issues (for privacy sake, I can’t disclose the health issues), and I must admit that sometimes I wonder if being an older mom had something to do with it. Probably not, but some regret that I didn’t have my kids sooner still pops up in my head from time to time.
I was 29, married six years with lots of travel and varied work and education experiences. We had a planned pregnancy as soon as my husband had a job that allowed me to stay home with the baby, because that was my choice and our agreement going into marriage. We were extremely fortunate not to have fertility issues and a very healthy pregnancy and child.
Children were a priority for me and I was picking a father for my children as well as a life partner. I was fortunate in my choice and that is just luck as much as anything. I would have liked to have had a child much earlier, and could have picked a different husband, either someone older or someone in a profession making enough money to support a family earlier, but am more than satisfied with my life choices. I prioritized what kind of person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, over having a baby earlier in life. I had my eyes wide open, so no regrets. I just feel spectacularly lucky how my life worked out.
We are really enjoying our empty nesting years. I couldn’t imagine empty nesting with the potential husbands that would have meant earlier babies for me. It might have worked out, but I don’t see it. I never could imagine an old age with them.
luck luck luck - that is how I see my life
I had mine at 29 and 31…Wouldn’t change a thing.
I was 31 with our first D and 34 with our second D. It worked out well for us. We focused on our careers, bought a house and traveled all through our 20’s and were ready to concentrate on parenting in our 30’s. I worked for a very large company in corporate accounting and was one of the first people there to request a part time flexible schedule once I went back to work when my oldest was 8 months old. I was a valued member of the department and was able to do project work for them (much of it from home) for more than 15 years so that I could be there for my D’s. If I had not been fortunate enough to land this job in my 20’s and work hard to show management my worth I would not have been able to work a part time job for so many years.
I was 29 with my first and I don’t think I’d really change anything. The reality was that we couldn’t afford a child much earlier than that. We’d been married seven years by then. The only reason I could possibly see myself wanting to start earlier is that I’m significantly older and further ahead in life now with my D5 than I was with D1. I’ll have more time with my earlier grandchildren than with those of my younger two Ds and that isn’t ideal, but then nothing is. I definitely would not have started later, though.
We are retired, all of our Ds are finished school, grad school, law school, med school and are launched with established families and good careers. My H and I have been retired for a few years and love retired life.
The one benefit of having children early that is a factor in our family life is that I was born when my mother was 20 and she’s still alive, vibrant, active, and is loving her relationship with her great-grandchildren. That is far less likely to be my experience.
First child at 30, wife was two weeks shy of 29. We had been married for three years, and together (though only occasionally in the same place) for about eight. It would have been almost a year earlier, but for a miscarriage. Second child at 32/31. In retrospect, we might have started a few years earlier, so as to have a few more years before my wife’s career really took off, but we didn’t feel ready then.
The grandparents were not that young (my parents were 56, hers were 64 and 63), but had lots of good years of involvement with our kids – they all made it through college graduations, though none was in good enough health actually to attend.
Who knows when our kids will have kids? Kid #2 is getting married this year, at 28, and he and his fiancee both want children relatively soon, but “relatively” could mean 3-4 years. Kid #1 still has a few bridges to cross before she gets to that one. I would love to have grandchildren, but I make do with other peoples’.
@alwaysamom - like you I have a young mom - I was born when she was 18, but my baby brother was born when she was 36. My mom has been able to be part of her grandchildren and great grandchildren’s lives and she is still very active at just 74. My mom has grandchildren that range from 36 years old down to 1 year old and great grandchildren from 10 years old down to 2!
Wow I don’t feel so old now.
I had 3 kids across 3 different decades - mid 70’s, mid 80’s, mid 90’s.
I was 19, 31, & 39.
I would have loved for all of them to have been born sometime between when I was 25 and 32 - but a divorce and remarriage after #1 and life (earning a living) with 2&3.
I was married at 31, had my son at 34 and my daughter at 38. I would have liked to have had children younger, but it just didn’t work out that way. Ideally the kids would have been 3 years apart, but I had some trouble getting pregnant the second time around. My younger child is on the autism spectrum, and I sometimes wonder if my age and my husband’s (he’s a year and a half younger) were contributing factors. I would love to have grandchildren, but it’s unlikely my daughter will get married and have kids, and it could be awhile before my son settles down. If he’s around the same age as we were when we had kids, I’ll be 68. My mother (who had me at 24) was ten years younger when she became a grandmother.
I was 29, 31 and 39. The first two were planned and the 3rd, a surprise blessing. She is keeping us young. Nope, wouldn’t change anything.
Yes, we have no idea if and when we will become grandparents as neither child is in a serious relationship presently and they are 26 and 28 so it may be awhile for each of them to find partners if they want them.
We have touched on it a bit, and if we want to think as well about “your age when you had your first grandchild” then I was 60, while my mother was 53. During the pregnancy I kept thinking I’ll never be able to give the kids the hands-on physical help my mother gave me, but I can afford to arrange for full time help to make up the difference. However, the other grandmother had the same idea and arranged it before I could. Great minds think alike. And, all things considered,I think it was probably much better for the mother of the mother to do this than the mother of the father. There was no possibility I was seen as doubting anyone’s parenting ability and I just get to keep praising them to the skies about what a super job they are doing. My daughter-in-law has asked me several times how I did it and I keep telling her the only way I did it was with lots of help and that how she is doing it is obviously perfect since her child is so obviously perfect.
I graduated from college at 20, was married 6 days later, had my first child at 21, then two more at 25 and 28. I was divorced when my kids were 14, 11, and 7. When the youngest of these was 19, I adopted (as a single) the first of “Phase 2”: 4 kids from 3 different countries. Now my oldest is 46 and my youngest 13. I also have 6 grandchildren and 2 nieces, all between the ages of 17 and 11. Though I have no regrets, I will strongly encourage my younger kids, as I did my older ones, to work and live on their own for at least a few years before getting married and having children.
I had to plans to have 4 kids by the time I was 32. In my own naiveté, I was looking at 32+18 = 50. Then H and I could rejoin the land of Mr + Mrs Chuckle and leave Mom and Dad world. Oh, the things we don’t really know… I had S at 28; we had tried for about a year, then Desert Shield kicked off so we decided to wait. Of course 4 months later I was pregnant. We had D when I was 32 - three days away from my 33rd BD. We were on the military waiting list for the fertility clinic because we had started ‘trying’ when I was 30. I was thinking 28, 30, 32 and instead we had 28 and 32. I got pregnant again 4 months after having D- which ended up being a miscarriage and a tubal pregnancy at 12 weeks which stopped us from trying again.
I had thought having kids 2 years apart would be best but found out that the 4.5 years difference between the two was great- as one finished high school, the other started and when S finished college, D started. It helped immensely- otherwise financing college would have been very difficult to support.
At the rate my kids are going, I’m never going to see grandkids since neither one is in any kind of relationship. Both kids point at each other when the kid topic comes up. Which is okay by me, I’d rather they be in healthy committed relationships before thinking about little people. Of course, I’ll probably be dead by then… 
I had S1 when I was 36 and S2 when I was 40 and 10 months. They are now 32 and 27 years old, both in committed relationships.
S1, who is about to get married, mentioned that he didn’t want to wait too long to have kids since I would be old. I told him he and his wife-to-be need to have kids when it’s right for them, not for me!
My father was 80 years old when S2 was born. It would have been nice for my kids to have had grandparents around, but it is what it is. We can’t always make these things perfect. Life happens.