Week 16 comes with no morning sickness, renewed energy, and feelings of serenity and happiness. This is certainly a lovely change from waking in the morning feeling sickly, spending the entire day wishing I could climb back into bed, and not being able to stay awake past 8pm! My children are certainly appreciating the changes as well, I guess it must be a little distressing to see Mum so tired and ill all of the time, as much as you try to soldier on as usual the first trimester at 47 years of age is hard.
I am very fortunate because we have our own business and my husband has been able to take on most of my duties on days when I felt too ill and really just needed to rest. I think if I had worked for an employer I would have had have to set up a small tent with a bed next to my desk that I could crawl into at various times of the day for a quick power nap, but I imagine this probably wouldn’t have gone down too well. Having been pregnant in my twenties, and then again in my thirties I can tell you there is a definite difference in my energy levels with this pregnancy.
My first pregnancy as an optimal 20 something year old was a breeze and I worked full time right up until the last two weeks before my due date, I was two weeks over due so ended up having to wait four weeks until I got to hold my baby, four weeks I remember being very long and so tedious. Having gone from being very mentally and physically active at work to just sitting around waiting for the baby to arrive was quite a big adjustment to make. Having two more babies in my thirties was a little more tiring but I was still fit and active. I only worked part time with my second pregnancy and then because I had a young eight month old not at all with my third.
At 47 I am still fit and active but at a more sedate pace. I am walking every day down to the bottom of our farm and back up the hilly terrain, and I also fit in a half hour of pregnancy yoga as well. Even on days when I feel like my bum should stay glued to the couch I force myself to walk and do yoga because I know the accomplishment comes with a real sense of physical and mental well being. I also know that the fitter I am before the birth, the better I will recover after my C-section, and the more energy I will have for my new baby and my family. Being in the second trimester is a real blessing because although I am still tired I am no longer battling morning sickness which makes everything seem far easier.
I am slowly getting over not wanting everyone to know that I am pregnant at my age, which is kind of necessary given that I am beginning to show my beautiful little baby bump. I guess some women might be proud of being able to get pregnant naturally at my age but I kind of feel like everyone might judge me for my poor family planning skills. The few friends who do know have joked about how they couldn’t think of anything worse than going back to sleepless nights, nappies, and learning times tables all over again. I don’t blame them because prior to getting pregnant, and even for some time after finding out I was pregnant, I felt exactly the same way! My husband is the complete opposite and he boasts to outright strangers about our fertility prowess. It mortifies me to hear him tell me these things and I am so glad I am not around to listen to his much exaggerated claims of less than 1% of oldies like us getting pregnant naturally… cringe… but he is happy, so that makes me happy.
The younger two of my children are quite surprised at how quickly the baby is growing and have become more interested in what is happening to my body and the baby’s development. To watch the baby bump getting bigger every single week is kind of an amazing thing to share with older kids, my eldest who is studying medicine is fascinated with the ultrasounds. His perception of a baby at 12 weeks
was totally blown away when he saw the images, he had assumed a fetus at this stage was just a bunch of cells and would be hardly recognizable, he was shocked to see an actual baby in there, which made me laugh out loud. He obviously hasn’t covered that part in his course work yet! I have invited him to attend my 20 week scan where I expect he will be glued to the monitor fascinated with each and every perfect detail. It is odd to think that when the baby is his age, he will be 50, but we are all exceptionally close and this baby will have the benefit of so many loving mentors as he grows up, a very fortunate wee man he will be.
Dear Diary, I'm 47 and pregnant! 