A "geriatric" pregnancy

At the time of our pregnancy, I was 39. My husband and I had gotten married the year prior and started trying to conceive in January 2020. I had been having some mid-cycle bleeding, so after a few months of trying with no success, I did some diagnostic exams with a Reproductive Endocrinologist to see what might be going on. She found polyps in my uterus, which was the reason I hadn’t been able to conceive. I had the polyps removed in May, 2020 and two months later we were pregnant!

We had been actively trying to conceive so I knew pretty early on that I was pregnant. About ten days after our conception date I had an acupuncture session. My acupuncturist checked my pulse and told me that she thought I might be pregnant and to take a pregnancy test. So of course I did, and she was right. I was pregnant! I was overjoyed.

The night before, my husband and I had gotten into a huge argument and I was boiling with rage, which was very atypical of me. And so when I got that positive pregnancy test, I knew immediately that the rage had been hormone-fueled. It was going to be one heck of a pregnancy if that rage was any indication. Luckily for me (and my husband), that wasn’t the case.

Despite being considered high risk or “geriatric” due to my age, my pregnancy was fairly smooth. I had some nausea and fatigue that was present throughout my entire pregnancy, as well as quite a bit of first trimester spotting. My OB/GYN believed the spotting to be from a subchorionic hematoma that would resolve on its own, which it did.

I had a wonderful prenatal care team comprised of an OB/GYN, a Certified Nurse Midwife, a fertility acupuncturist, a prenatal chiropractor, and a birth doula. I was able to alternate visits between my OB/GYN and Certified Nurse Midwife. I did acupuncture and prenatal chiropractor sessions about once a month, and then increased the frequency towards the end of my pregnancy.

I loved being pregnant. I loved my body, feeling my baby move, my bump - I loved dressing it up. I researched everything I could about pregnancy – the science behind what your body does to grow, birth, and then sustain a baby is fascinating. I felt like a superhero! Pregnancy was an incredibly beautiful and empowering phase of my life, and I hope to go through it again someday soon. My goal was to plan for as natural of a pregnancy and birth as possible - my son and his birth story had other plans.