Nikki Preston: Good age to have a family

According to Statistics New Zealand, there will be 4000 more babies celebrating the milestone this year than in 2015. Photo / iStock

Nikki Preston joins large group of 30-somethings.

My son Lucas celebrates his first birthday today.

According to Statistics New Zealand, there will be 4000 more babies celebrating the milestone this year than in 2015.

Although I had never really thought too much about the arrival of all these precious bundles last year, from my own experience there were suddenly a lot.

Many of us who had met when we first became mums in 2013 were suddenly talking about how we would juggle two, or in some cases three, kids, in 2015.

And this surge in new friends for Lucas was not isolated to our small coffee group.

All at once, friends who had waited years before deciding to have number two were expecting, while others were entering motherhood for the first time.

And as the statistics suggest, all these women were in their early- to mid-30s and it wasn't because we were suddenly really fertile, but instead thought it was a good age. They had established careers, financial security, had found a guy they liked enough to have a child with and, like me, had decided they were finally ready to enter the big scary world of parenting.

And the good news doesn't stop there, as according to Statistics New Zealand's life expectancy calculator, I will be able to enjoy motherhood for another 66 years.

Wee Lucas and his pals, meanwhile, are expected to celebrate another 93 birthdays or so.