067. After having four children in her 20s and 30s, Kiersten found herself starting over at 42 with the love of her life and a “joke” about a baby that turned into a beautiful reality. Discover the intuitive ways she prepared her body for a natural pregnancy and how she navigated the unique experience of being a 42-year-old expectant mom in a busy blended family of seven.
On episode 67, Kiersten shares the heartwarming and unexpected story of how she navigated a natural pregnancy at age 42. After having four children in her 20s and 30s, Kiersten met the love of her life at 41 and began a lighthearted “joke” about having a baby together that quickly evolved into a serious, faith-led discussion. Kiersten reveals the ways she intuitively prepared her body for conception without even realizing it at the time, offering a refreshing perspective on letting go of stress and trusting the timing of her journey to motherhood later in life.
Kiersten also opens up about the unique challenges of being “the only 41-year-old pregnant woman in the room” and the physical hurdles she faced leading up to an incredible labor and delivery experience. Now a mother in a vibrant blended family of seven children, she reflects on the joy of her three-month postpartum journey and the vital role of a supportive birth team. Whether you are blending a family or seeking encouragement for your own 40+ pregnancy, Kiersten’s story is a beautiful testament to the power of preparation, faith, and the surprising ways life can expand when you least expect it.
About the Guest
Kiersten is a dedicated health and fitness enthusiast and former personal trainer of 20 years, originally from California and now residing in South Carolina. Her long career in fitness not only fueled her passion for wellness but provided the flexibility needed to raise her four children—a 14-year-old daughter, a 7-year-old daughter, and 6-year-old twin boys. Having completed her family in a previous marriage, Kiersten truly believed her chapter of pregnancy was closed until she met her soulmate, Chris, at age 41. While blending their lives—including his two grown daughters, aged 21 and 22—the couple began joking about having a child together, a lighthearted conversation that eventually turned into a deep, prayerful journey. Despite her initial doubts about conceiving at 41, Kiersten’s story is a powerful testament to new beginnings, and she joins the show just three months postpartum to share how she navigated this unexpected and joyful late-life pregnancy.
Connect with Kiersten:
- Instagram: @kmd.8.28
Key Topics
- Intuitive Preparation: The lifestyle and mindset shifts Kiersten made (unconsciously at first) that supported a natural conception at 42.
- Faith and Fertility: Navigating the decision to “put it in God’s hands” and finding peace in the outcome.
- The “Only One” Syndrome: Dealing with the isolation of being an older expectant mother in traditional medical or social settings.
- Labor and Delivery Success: The impact of having an amazing labor nurse and how Kiersten navigated her induction and birth.
- Blended Family Dynamics: The joy and logistics of managing a household of seven children while in the postpartum phase.
Resources & Links
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Transcript
Jamie: Kirsten, welcome to the show.
Kiersten: Thank you. I’m happy to be here.
Jamie: Wonderful. And Kirsten is joining us to share her pregnancy story at 41. And you gave birth in August, so you’re about three months postpartum. So tell us your last pregnancy, you had twins. Mm-hmm. So, so tell us, how did you get to your daughter?
Kiersten: That, yep, that’s correct. I’m now 42, and I am a mother of five kids, biologically, seven in total. I had been married before and, I ended up meeting my soulmate, love of my life at 41. And when we met I had my four kids and he had his two. So he has daughters, they’re 21 and 22. And then I have a 14-year-old daughter. 7-year-old daughter and twin boys that are six.
Mm-hmm. So I actually thought I was done. I had never planned on having any more kids and really thought that that chapter of my life of being pregnant and all that was closed. And so then I met Chris and. We kind of, at first, I think, kind of joked about it, like, oh, that would be really cool. And then we thought, well, that would actually be really cool if we could have a baby together.
But honestly, I didn’t think I could get pregnant at 41. I didn’t really know of many people that had. And so we, we kind of, we thought about it, we prayed about it, and. I ended up getting pregnant a few months after we talked about it. Yeah.
Jamie: Wow. So tell us what were you doing before then to prepare?
Kiersten: Yeah, so I wasn’t really trying, before that I wasn’t really trying to get pregnant at all, but I was being at, being that my background is in health and fitness, I love. And fitness and learning and trying to do all the things. And so at that time. I remember I would get up every morning and after I dropped the kids off at school, I would sit on my back porch, just in the beautiful sunlight and have my cup of coffee.
And I’d usually like read the Bible and pray or you know, just kind of think about my day. You know, just a chance to kind of talk with God. Mm-hmm. And and just to be outside. It, it was just a great way to start the day. So I was doing a lot of that and I’ve since heard that getting that morning sunlight is, has a lot of health benefits.
I didn’t know that actually at the time, I wasn’t doing that knowingly. Mm-hmm. I just was doing that more because it just felt really good. And then I was eating really healthy. I was drinking raw milk. I’d never really tried it before.
Jamie: Mm.
Kiersten: But I was getting raw milk. I was getting food from, I forgot what the thing is called. It’s a it comes to your door and it’s from local farmers. So I was getting like local meat. I was buying grass fed meat from a local. Farmer local vegetable. I was just really eating healthy. Yeah. And, and then I would work out on my own at home, usually about 20 to 30 minutes a day doing weights.
Jamie: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: Looking back on it, even though I wasn’t actively, you know, doing anything, trying to conceive I think looking back on it, all those things. Definitely helped prepare me to get pregnant.
Jamie: Yeah, definitely.
Kiersten: If I had known I, those are probably the things I would’ve done.
Jamie: And you were already doing them.
Kiersten: And I was already doing them.
Jamie: Amazing. So were you like timing ovulation or did you get to that level?
Kiersten: Nope. Didn’t get to that level at all. It was really a, you know what, if this is what God, I mean, we really just put it out to God. We really did. We said, if this is something like God, if you want us to have a baby, we would love it. But if that’s not in your plan for us, you know, we have six kids between the two of us. I have to do the math in my head all the time. The Brady Bunch Really? Mm-hmm. We have a lot of children already. We’re so blessed. So it wasn’t like, I felt like, oh, I absolutely need to, it, so I think that helped too.
Jamie: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: Just not attached to the outcome.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. I could totally get that.
Kiersten: Yeah. So I wasn’t, I wasn’t doing any, you know, ovulation predictor kit or anything like that?
Jamie: No. Mm-hmm. So a few months later, what happened? Your cycle was late?
Kiersten: So the weird thing about my cycle is, so I got my first period at 16. It’s probably, I don’t know, TMI, but maybe not for this show. But I only get like six or seven cycles a year.
Jamie: Really?
Kiersten: Yes. That has been my norm. And I remember with my first daughter when I was trying to get pregnant with her, so this was 15 years ago. I remember going and talking to the doctor and she said, I don’t think you’ll be able to have babies on your own. Yeah.
Jamie: You proved her wrong. Yeah, I know, right?
Kiersten: Yeah. So she said, oh, I think you have PCOS and I, and all these things like, and I don’t remember what else she thought, but I ended up getting pregnant with, with my daughter on my own. But that one was a little bit more stressful, I think, because I had the doctor telling me, yeah, you’re not gonna be able to conceive naturally. Mm-hmm. So, so it, so to answer your question of did I know I was late I really, unfortunately I don’t, I’m not one of those women that is like clockwork.
That gets a period every, you know, 30 days or whatever. Mm-hmm. 28 days. Mm-hmm. So actually Chris said to me, he said, I think you might wanna take a test. You haven’t, he kind of noticed That’s funny. And I wasn’t even thinking that. Yeah. And at first I kind of. Brushed it off. And then I thought, well, you know what?
I’ll just go take a test. And I happened to have one, and so I took it and I found out. I was like, I couldn’t believe it. Turned the line turned blue or whatever. Instantly.
Jamie: Wow.
Kiersten: Instantly.
Jamie: What signs did he see?
Kiersten: I should have asked him before I got on here. I don’t know. I don’t know if it was like intuition or if he, he thought it had been a while. I think he thought it had been a while, since my last period. , And for me, that’s just normal though.
Jamie: Right.
Kiersten: I’m just, you know, I mean, I can go 45 dates without a cycle.
Jamie: Interesting. And it only took only a few months.
Kiersten: Yeah, it was just probably three months. Wow.
Jamie: So what did you think when you saw that positive test?
Kiersten: Oh gosh. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first baby or your fifth baby. It’s always like this, oh my gosh. Like this feeling of wonderment, uhhuh and excitement. And then sometimes a little bit of dread. ’cause I’m like, oh my gosh, I’m 41. Like, I didn’t actually think I could get pregnant, so I mean, I was so excited, but I was also in shock.
Yeah, I was in shock. Yeah. Yeah. So I went and I got, I decided I wanted to surprise him, so I went, I a little onesie. For him and wrapped it up and went to his work and gave it to him in a little bag. Oh, cute. And I’m like, oh, here’s a gift. And he’s like, what’s this for? And I said, oh, just, just because. And then he opened it up and I should have got it on camera. It was so cute. His reaction. He was so excited.
Jamie: Yeah, I bet he was really happy.
Kiersten: Yeah.
Jamie: Cute. Well, how was your first trimester?
Kiersten: Oh, horrible. I’ll be honest with you. Okay. So I’d never had morning sickness with any of them. And I had morning sickness for like the first 15 weeks of the pregnancy.
Jamie: Oh gosh.
Kiersten: Yeah. Yeah. Well, the other thing that’s kind of interesting about it, so I called the doctor after I found out that I was pregnant. I didn’t have an OB GYN, so I, you know, asked some friends. And I found a doctor and I went in and they did the ultrasound. ’cause they said, well, when was your last period? And of course that’s, you know, kind of a, not an easy question. So I said, well, I think it was, and it would have been like six weeks before. Well, we go in and we do the ultrasound and there was nothing like, it was just a sec. Yeah. So she was like, well, I, I don’t know, come back in two weeks.
Jamie: Oh my gosh.
Kiersten: Yeah.
So I had to wait two weeks and that was, that was hard.
Jamie: Yeah.
Kiersten: That was hard to wait those two weeks because I’m like, I know I’m pregnant. I just hope the baby’s okay. And, and it was too early. Mm-hmm. So we went back two weeks later and, and we saw a heartbeat.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Kiersten: Yeah. Which was amazing.
Jamie: Scary.
Kiersten: But it was, it was scary. Mm-hmm. ‘Cause you get excited and you’re like, okay, I feel it. And. But you know, I guess I just went in too soon.
Jamie: Yeah. I’m sure you were just too early and it wasn’t, and you didn’t know. Right.
Kiersten: Because I don’t know my cycle. And my cycle is not an indicator, like for most women it can be, but for me it’s just not.
Jamie: Well how was the rest of your pregnancy?
Kiersten: Let’s see. So I was really nauseous the first 15 weeks and tired. So tired. Mm-hmm. The second trimester was probably the best. I felt I was not nauseous anymore, which was so wonderful. I feel so bad for women that have that where they’re constantly throwing up.
I just, that is Oh, so hard. Yeah, because I only threw up a couple times. So I was so happy to not have that nausea anymore. And, let’s see. I remember I got really sick. I think I had the flu, and I just decided I didn’t wanna take any kind of pharmaceutical, anything, like no Tylenol, no nothing. And I just laid in bed and drank lemon water for two days and that helped.
So that, that was just, but it, it knocked me on my butt. At one point. I think it was probably in the second trimester. I was so tired and I went into the doctor and I said, I’m just so tired. Is is it because I’m 41? Actually, at that point, I think I, I turned 42 in April. I think I was 42, and I, and I said, is it because I’m 42?
And she said, yeah, it’s, that’s it. And I just knew instinctively deep down that that wasn’t the case. Mm-hmm. So we had run blood work, you know, they take your blood all the time. And so I looked at my blood work and my iron levels were so low.
Jamie: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: And I went and got some really, really good prenatals from my chiropractor, and that helped. I can’t tell you how much that helped.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah. I bet.
Kiersten: I mean, it made a world of difference. I was on some prenatals, but these just, they, they had a little bit of extra. Mm-hmm. And the next time I took my blood work, my iron levels had shot way up and I felt so much better.
Jamie: Yeah, that’s great. It’s amazing. I was like, that was my vitamin D.
Kiersten: Were you?
Jamie: Yeah. I was like, wow, the supplements really work.
Kiersten: Yes. Yeah. Vitamin D and magnesium together. Yeah.
Jamie: What about your doctor? You said you didn’t have an ob?
Kiersten: No, I did. Yeah, I didn’t have one before. Yeah. So I, I had to find a new one.
Jamie: And so finding one, what was important to you?
Kiersten: I think for an OB they have to have good bedside manner. I really do. Just someone with experience. I was very impressed with my doctor the first time I went in and, you know, found out I was pregnant. I was like. Oh my gosh. She’s gonna treat me like different than mm-hmm. You know, ’cause I’ve been pregnant in my twenties, thirties and forties. And I just thought, this is gonna be a different experience. They’re gonna, you know, label me as, you know, whatever, whatever they label advanced maternal age. She did not at all. She didn’t bat an eye. She’s like, oh, I just helped a woman that was 48 deliver a baby.
Jamie: Oh wow.
Kiersten: A healthy, a healthy baby.
Jamie: Amazing.
Kiersten: Yeah. So that really gave me a lot of. Encouragement. Mm-hmm. And honestly, your page gave me a lot of encouragement. Oh. And I don’t know, it just made me feel like I wasn’t alone.
Jamie: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: Because I think when you’re first, for me anyways, this is my experience. 41 and pregnant. I felt like I was the only 41-year-old that was pregnant on the planet.
Jamie: Me too.
Kiersten: Mm-hmm. It’s the human experience, we wanna feel connected. And encouraged by other people that are going through the similar situation. And so I have to say, finding your page and listening to all of the different women that have gone before me gave me so much strength. Yeah. So thank you so much for, for creating this platform. For people, for, for us, you know, over 40 pregnant women.
Jamie: You know, even for me, it has helped me tremendously hearing all of these stories and making me feel like 42 isn’t a big deal. It’s wonderful.
Kiersten: Really not. Yes. It’s, and I mean, the more I’ve learned, it’s like, gosh, women used to have babies well into their forties. Yeah. Just, you know, naturally. So I think that the doctors today basically make you feel like after 35 mm-hmm. You know, that that door is shut. Yep. Can’t get pregnant anymore, but that’s just not the case.
Jamie: What about the gender? Did you find out you were having a girl when you were pregnant?
Kiersten: We did. We, we were both so excited to find out what we were having. Mm-hmm. And so we opted to do the genetic testing, the blood test, like early, I don’t even know what week it is. But we decided to do that and we found out, I know we found out on Valentine’s Day.
Jamie: Oh fun.
Kiersten: Yeah. That we were having a girl, so we were, we were excited.
Jamie: Well, tell us how you found out what you were at the doctor’s office or No,
Kiersten: it email. Just, yeah, just like this company. So your doctor takes a blood test. And then they send it out and then they email you. And I just checked the email and found out that it’s a girl and she’s healthy. So that was really good.
Jamie: Yeah. Did you find out together, was it anything special or were you like, here’s an email?
Kiersten: I never really had that before. If I had known, I would’ve wait and opened it with him. But I found out alone. Yeah.
Jamie: That’s okay.
Kiersten: He was at work and I called him up and let ’em know, but yeah.
Jamie: That’s really fun. So what are the genders in your family now? Is it even.
Kiersten: Oh no, we’re still girl heavy. We have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 girls.
Jamie: Oh, wow.
Kiersten: And two boys. And two boys.
Jamie: The twins.
Kiersten: Yes. And they’re twins. How fun. They came as a package deal. Yes. Yeah.
Jamie: Wow. Was there any products that helped you during pregnancy that you could recommend?
Kiersten: I’ll have to get the name of the prenatals. I got him from my chiropractor and I really trust him. He and his doctor, or he and his, he and his wife are both doctors and very holistic. Mm-hmm. And so they really vet their, anything that they sell, and so they made a world of difference, honestly.
And I’m, I’m not one that’s a big supplement taker, so I’ll get you the name of that.
Jamie: Okay.
Kiersten: Those helped. Chiropractic care. Yeah. I’m a big, big fan of chiropractors. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: So that was that was a big thing. But as far as like supplements and stuff, I can’t think of anything else in particular. Just, you know, drinking good, clean water, trying to eat whole foods.
Jamie: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: Getting plenty of sunlight.
Jamie: Yeah. Did you continue working out and eating? No.
Kiersten: Oh, I didn’t, yeah, I was okay. Honestly, I worked out in every other pregnancy. I was teaching classes, I was personal training with this pregnancy uhhuh. I was so tired and I gave myself permission to rest. Mm-hmm. And listen to my body. And my body was tired and my body said, you know what? Going to the grocery store is, is enough. Mm-hmm. That’s, that’s my half hour of walking a day, walking around the grocery store. I was just so tired. Yeah. You know, I’d never felt so tired in my whole life.
And I think, I think the, the freedom of being 40 is accepting whatever limitations you have at that moment. Mm-hmm. And I just said at that moment, I’m like, my mind wants to work out, but my body is telling me something different and I’m just gonna honor that.
Jamie: Yeah.
Kiersten: And but interestingly enough, I gained the least amount of weight with this pregnancy.
Jamie: Interesting.
Kiersten: Yes, yes. I was really focused on eating healthy. I didn’t change my eating habits, so I was still eating really well.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: And I only gained like 40 pounds, which is really good for me. I’ve gained 60 to 80 in all the others.
Jamie: That’s great.
Kiersten: Yeah.
Jamie: I bet it made you feel better too.
Kiersten: Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And then I was able to lose it quick, a lot quicker. And I think that was the other push is I kept thinking, I’m in my forties. I don’t wanna go crazy and then have all that extra weight to lose because it’s just harder as you get older to lose weight. Yeah.
But other than that, my blood pressure was great. I did not have gestational diabetes. It was a very healthy pregnancy.
Jamie: That’s great.
Kiersten: I feel very thankful for that.
Jamie: Yeah. And how did you prepare for her?
Kiersten: So obviously we had no baby stuff. So I have a wonderful group of women and it’s my mama tribe and I go once a week. We have a, like a mom, you know, it’s our little meetup. And so they put on a baby shower for me.
Jamie: Aw.
Kiersten: Then I just bought like, used things, you know, like Facebook marketplace.
Yeah. And just really simple. I find that you don’t need as much as, like, with my first, I got all the things. Mm-hmm. And with this one, I was like, you know what, I’m only gonna get it as I need it.
Jamie: Mm-hmm. I kind of feel that too. Even now I’m like, stuff, I’m like, why don’t we just go to Facebook marketplace?
Kiersten: Absolutely. Yeah. You know? Oh, I found some great things there.
Jamie: Yeah. And. It’s not really used very much. You know, they only use it for a year. Six months.
Kiersten: Exactly.
Jamie: So I’m like, why not?
Kiersten: Yeah. And some never use it. I mean, I got this basses, I don’t know if you’ve seen that, but it’s normally like retails for $250 and I got it from someone that their kid barely used it.
Jamie: Wow.
Kiersten: And I got it for 50 bucks. Nice. So you can find a lot of great deals.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And then
Kiersten: I, and then also a lot of my friends just gave me, I got a lot of hand-me-downs too. Mm-hmm. So, yeah.
Jamie: My sister is coming today and she
Kiersten: Oh good.
Jamie: She’s giving me maternity clothes.
Kiersten: Oh, that’s wonderful.
Jamie: Yeah.
She’s like, are you okay with me doing that? And I’m like, I think so. Like, oh, I’m gonna put them in a box and like put them away. Aww. I’m so ready. Excited
Speaker 5: for you. Yes. That’s wonderful. Yeah.
Jamie: Is there anything else about your pregnancy you wanna mention?
Kiersten: Let’s see, at 35 weeks she was breach. Ooh. And I was like oh. Yeah. So they started talking about like c-section or, the possibility. And I’ve never had a c-section uhhuh, and so I did spinning babies techniques.
Jamie: Yes. Tell us more.
Kiersten: That was awesome. Yeah. I highly, highly recommend it. ’cause I was freaking out. So the one that I did was where you’re like kneeling on the couch. And then it’s, it’s hard. It’s not easy to do when you’re, for me it wasn’t easy to do being, you know, 35 weeks pregnant.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Kiersten: But you’re kneeling on the couch and then you kind of, you have to get your forearms down onto the floor. I’ve seen that one. Does that make sense? Yeah. Mm-hmm. So that helped.
The other thing I did was I would just, like in the kitchen counter, I would just like lean over so that my belly was like a hammock. So just to kind of create space uhhuh. And then the other thing that helped was the chiropractor. Yeah, I remember when I had gone and she was breached and he said, oh yeah, your hip is like rotated forward. So I think that helped create space. So she flipped and she was head down and I was able to not have to have a C-section, which was wonderful.
Jamie: So all those exercises and movements mm-hmm. Made it so the baby could rotate on on her own.
Kiersten: I believe so. I think it really helped. Yeah. I do.
Jamie: Wow.
Kiersten: But she, yeah, she was moving a lot. I mean, she was even at one point sideways, transverse in there, so I know, but I was just a little worried that I was gonna have to have a C-section, which would’ve been fine. It’s not the end of the world.
Jamie: Sure.
Kiersten: I just didn’t want the recovery having other kids and having never had one before, it did scare me.
Jamie: Yeah. But in doing simple things like exercises to prevent mm-hmm. A c-section, let’s go.
Kiersten: Absolutely. Absolutely. And that was where my head was at. I said, I’m just gonna do whatever I can do. And, and you know what, if, if it doesn’t work out that way, I’ll be fine.
Jamie: Yeah, that’s great. Mm-hmm. So. Did the doctor want to induce you?
Kiersten: I have big babies and my husband’s big. What, how big? Let’s see, my 7-year-old was like two days early and she was nine two.
Jamie: That is a good size, I would say.
Kiersten: Okay. My twins were uhhuh. They induced me because they’re identical. And when, when, when you have identical, they share, not always, but mine were mono die monochorionic dye Amniotic uhhuh.
That’s a lot. It’s basically they shared a placenta, so when they share the placenta, there’s a chance of them. The placenta breaking down after, I believe it’s 36 or 37 weeks. So they induced me with the twins at that time. One of ’em was almost eight pounds. He was seven 13 and the other was seven four.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Kiersten: Yeah. So I mean, they were three, four weeks early and healthy.
Jamie: Yeah.
Kiersten: So I was, and I, I do think that as you have more babies, they tend to get bigger ’cause you have more room.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: So I was a little concerned that she was gonna be a really big baby and, so I was like, is there a way to be induced? She said, actually, because of your age mm-hmm. We recommend that women, you know, over 40 or, or over whatever age at 39 weeks. Mm-hmm. And I was tired and I was, and I also thought, if she’s gonna be really big, I wanna make sure that she can have room to fit out. I was worried that she wasn’t gonna fit.
But my, my doctor actually was like, if you’ve, if you’ve had a nine pound baby before, you can do it again. Yeah. And so that gave me some encouragement, like, okay, I’ll be okay.
Jamie: Yeah. And natural birth. Mm-hmm. Nine pound baby.
Wow. Incredible.
Kiersten: And that one, I was not induced with that one.
Jamie: Yeah. And even the fact that you had twins naturally mm-hmm. Without a c-section is really impressive.
Kiersten: Oh, thank you. I was that one actually, funny enough was probably my easiest birth.
Jamie: What?
Kiersten: I know it doesn’t make sense at all. They induced me. I had them within seven hours of being induced. Wow. 21 minutes apart.
Yep.
Jamie: 21 minutes apart. That’s incredible too.
Kiersten: Yeah, I know. And they went home the next day. I mean, they made me have them in a really like you know, a nicu, the high level nicu, which is great, because just in case twice. Yeah. Yeah. And they didn’t need any of it. We literally went home the next day.
Jamie: Wow.
Kiersten: It was amazing.
Jamie: Incredible. Mm-hmm. So you wanted to be induced with this one?
Kiersten: I did. I did. I was just, I was so tired. Mm-hmm. It was really, I have to say this was a really hard pregnancy for me. And I love hearing from other interviews that you’ve done with the women that say they feel so good. And I’m like, that is awesome. That wasn’t me. Unfortunately, I just, between the nausea, the, the fatigue and, and just kind of my body hurting, I, it was just a really, really hard pregnancy for me. So I was ready as long as like she was ready, I was ready for her.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: Mm-hmm.
Jamie: So you went in for induction at 39 weeks?
Kiersten: Yes.
Jamie: Take us back to that day.
Kiersten: Yeah, so they, they, a couple days before they checked, they did a, a cervical check to see if I was dilated and I wasn’t.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: They said if you’re dilated then you’ll come in on Monday and if not, you’ll go Sunday. ’cause they were gonna do something else. So I wasn’t dilated at all. Went in on Sunday and I guess I was having contractions, I was starting to have contractions on my own.
And so they decided since my doctor didn’t get in until seven O o’clock the next morning, they weren’t gonna start anything and they were gonna wait until seven. Mm-hmm. The next morning. So I was kind of bummed ’cause I’m like, I could have been at home in bed, but that’s okay.
I also didn’t know that once you start being induced you can’t eat. Mm-hmm. So so that was concerning to me ’cause I’m like, I’m about to go into labor, I need to eat, like I need fuel. So. We, we didn’t do anything. Monday morning they started the Pitocin about 7:00 AM and it was just really slow.
Not much was happening. Mm-hmm. I had great nurses at that time, and I think it was like around. I don’t know, two in the afternoon. And one of them said, do you wanna get an epidural? And I said, oh, yeah. And they’re like, well, when? And I said, I don’t know. When do you get one when you’re induced?
And she’s like, well, some women get it like right away. And I was like, well, I, why didn’t anyone tell me that? Because, I’m like, kind of like going through the contractions and when you’re on Pitocin. It’s a different thing than going into labor on your own. It’s just, it’s just a different feeling.
Not, not even that it’s harder or anything. Just for me it was different. So I, I ended up getting the epidural and and that was, that was good. I did not like the anesthesiologist. He was super rough. But it was fine. I mean, it was a successful epidural. It was just taking its time.
I think that the, the doctors and I both thought that it would be a lot quicker because, like based on the twins Uhhuh, it was so quick. It was such a quick, you know, from start to finish. Well, here we are now, it’s like four in the afternoon, and I think I was, gosh, I should have wrote it down. I know I was dilated.
I don’t know how far dilated I was, but. I wasn’t really progressing very quickly like I thought I would, like I had before.
And so then they had a nurse change at seven and a new nurse came, came on. Mary Ashley, I’ll never forget her name. She looked like she was in her early twenties.
I mean, couldn’t have been out of school very long. Mm-hmm. But I just knew, I was like, I could tell that she had wisdom and. I kept eyeing in the corner. There was a regular, you know, Swiss ball. And then there was this other weird looking ball. And I asked the other nurses, I said, well, what is that for?
And they said, oh, some women use it to labor on it. It’s a peanut ball. Mm-hmm. So when Mary Ashley came in the room, she put that peanut ball to work. And she had me laying on my side putting the peanut ball between my legs and like putting my knees together with my feet apart. And that did things to help the baby like descend into the birth canal.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: And she would check me and she would say, okay, I’m gonna, you’re a little bit, more on this side than the other. I’m gonna turn you up. Are you okay if I sit you up? And she did all this thing, all these things, using gravity and using the peanut bowl because I was totally numb.
So I could move a little bit, but not much. Mm-hmm. And then when it was about. I think it was about 10:00 PM Okay. So the other interesting thing is Chris’s oldest daughter, or youngest daughter was gonna be 21 on the 15th. This is the 14th at 10:00 PM
Jamie: Oh no.
Kiersten: We’re like, is she gonna share a birthday? And I always kind of wanted her to still have her own day. Sure. And you know, and so I was like, well at, at, at that point, at 10:00 PM I resolved my fact myself to the fact that she probably wasn’t gonna be born until like three, four, five, six in the morning. ’cause this was just taking so long.
Jamie: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: But honestly because of Mary Ashley and like everything that she did, she ended up coming at 11:03 PM Yeah.
Jamie: What timing? So how long did she work moving you around?
Kiersten: It was probably the whole time that from seven until she was born, she was really watching me. And I remember at one point she said why don’t you give me a couple practice pushes? And the doctor wasn’t there. And I’m like, well, shouldn’t the doctor be here? She knows more than I do. Oh. Obviously. Like, I’m like, okay. And she’s like, oh yeah. She’s like, let me have you do this. And she had me change into a position.
She’s like, I’m gonna do this so that you don’t have to push so long. I was like, thank you.
Jamie: Okay.
Kiersten: I love you. Yeah. Because pushing is not fun. Yeah. And so whatever she did, it absolutely made the difference. And I only pushed for 10 minutes.
Jamie: What?
Kiersten: Yeah. Yeah. Which was awesome. Mm-hmm.
Jamie: Yeah. So were you pushing on your back or were you in other positions?
Kiersten: Yeah. No, I was on my back ’cause of the epidural.
Jamie: Okay, that makes sense.
Kiersten: Yeah. Yep. I was doing that and I think at that point, yeah, the epidural had kind of worn off, so I, I felt I was definitely in a little bit of pain, but it was fine, you know? Mm-hmm. At that point, I was just happy to. I was so hungry too. That was the other thing. Mm-hmm. I was starving. Think about it. I hadn’t eaten since 7:00 AM Oh my gosh. And it’s now 11:00 PM Yeah. And you’re in labor.
Jamie: What a combination.
Kiersten: Yeah. That’s not a winning combination at all. Mm-hmm.
Jamie: No.
Kiersten: No. So I just remember being so hungry and tired and I didn’t, ’cause I didn’t sleep at all in that interim.
Jamie: So at what point did the doctor come in? When did you actually give birth? So the doc, yeah.
Kiersten: She came in. So she came in at like probably 10 45. And she said I have somebody else that I think is about to have a baby, but let me ha, let me see. Or getting ready to have a baby. Let me, let me have you do a couple practice pushes and see.
And I actually, I just didn’t want her to go ’cause she had been not around very much like. I, which is fine, but I just didn’t see her as much as I would’ve wanted to. She’d come in and check and then it would, then she’d be gone.
Jamie: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: So I was like, you know what, I’m gonna make these pushes count. And I did. And she stayed. She’s like, oh, okay, we’re ready to have a baby. So she got her gloves on, got the little, whatever, all the birthing stuff, ready, Uhhuh and yeah, that was probably like 10 50. And I had her at. 1103.
Jamie: Wow. That’s great. Mm-hmm. And first I wanna talk about your nurse ’cause I am so impressed. Yeah. Like, what? I wish every hospital had a nurse like that.
Kiersten: I know, I agree. I, I have to say, having, this was my fourth birth, you know, I have five kids, but two at once. The, having her as my nurse made all the difference. And I, I will say I’ve had wonderful nurses before because I, I have, with my first, I had some excellent nurses that just pushed me and I remember, ’cause I didn’t, the epidural didn’t work with my first and I pushed for two hours.
Oh. And I remember. The, the nurse who was actually a client of mine too, and she was holding my leg and she was like, you can do it. ’cause I remember at one point going, I can’t do this. I’m tired. I’m in pain. I’d been in labor for three days with my first. So it was just, it was just a different experience and she made all the difference.
But with, with Mary Ashley, I just never even. Known about any of this stuff. And she was, what she was doing is she was using spinning babies’ techniques in the delivery room.
Jamie: Yeah. It was like having a doula.
Kiersten: Yes, yes. And I could have had a doula. Mm-hmm. They offered me to have a doula and I, I don’t know why. I just, I didn’t, I said, no, that’s okay. I don’t, I didn’t wanna doula
Speaker 4: uhhuh.
Kiersten: And I have a lot of friends that use doulas and stuff. I just, it just wasn’t something that I felt like I needed.
Jamie: Well, I don’t blame you. You’ve had fast deliveries. Yeah. You’ve had other births. I, right. I could see that a doula wouldn’t be for you.
Kiersten: Yeah. Yeah. Maybe that’s what it is. Yeah. And it all worked out.
Jamie: Yeah. Mm-hmm. So perfectly. So, yeah. Now that she’s out, what was important to you after that? Did you have Skin to skin?
Kiersten: Yeah, skin to skin. It was so cool. She came out and she almost like crawled on my chest. Mm-hmm. And then she picked her head up and looked right at Daddy. It was so sweet. And I’ll just always remember that moment. And then she was just very alert right away. She cried right away. I wanted the delayed cord clamping. That was definitely something that I wanted. And yeah, just the skin to skin and the bonding immediately. And thankfully she was healthy and we were able to do that. ‘Cause I’ve had it with others that, you know, something happened and you don’t get that, so. Mm-hmm. So that’s hard.
Jamie: Yeah. Were you able to try and breastfeed right away too?
Kiersten: Yeah, I did. I did. And she latched right away.
Jamie: Have you, you’ve always breastfed your kids, right?
Kiersten: I have, yes.
Jamie: And have you had any challenges with any of them or easy?
Kiersten: Knock on wood, not, not really. I’ve been very fortunate because I know it’s not, it doesn’t come easy to everybody, but I always say nothing like with parenting, there’s certain things that don’t come easy to some and, but other things do. Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah.
Kiersten: I’m horrible with potty training. Don’t, don’t call me for advice on potty training.
I’m really bad at that. Yeah.
Jamie: But, but breastfeeding.
Kiersten: But I’m, but, but yeah. And I, when I will say having, I think I, I believe the key to having a successful. Experience with breastfeeding is having somebody that can literally come to your house and help you. And I had that with my first, the lady that I was talking about that was a client that was help the labor and delivery nurse.
Mm-hmm. She came to my house after my first daughter was born and laid in bed with me and taught me how to nurse my daughter on her side. Kind of like a co-sleeping thing. And I, I’ve shared that with mom friends, like, I’ll go over there and I will help them to do something like that. So I think that the support that a mother can get, especially when she’s first starting, is so important. And I think that set me up for being successful with the breastfeeding.
Jamie: So how was your recovery?
Kiersten: You know, it was pretty good.
Jamie: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: I have to say, I, I didn’t stay on the pain meds for maybe a day or two. That was it. I think I had a ti, a very small tear, but nothing horrible and everything. That was all good. And I, I really think that breastfeeding does help because when you’re nursing there’s like, you can feel your uterus contracting and tightening and getting smaller. So I could feel that as I was nursing her. And I think I’ve probably got about 10 pounds left to go the baby weight. So I’m feeling pretty good about that.
Jamie: And mentally, how are you?
Kiersten: Mentally I’m really good. I’ve had, and I’ve had postpartum depression before.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Kiersten: So I’m definitely aware of it and I try to be a little, just extra aware and cautious and kind to myself, you know, knowing that it can happen. I think it’s up to a year after birth. You can’t, you can get it. But I do believe if you have a good support system, that definitely helps decrease the chances of getting postpartum depression or anxiety.
Jamie: Yeah, definitely. Is there anything else you wanna mention about your pregnancy or birth?
Kiersten: Oh gosh, I don’t, not that I can think of. Okay. Yeah. I just feel very blessed that it was, that I have a healthy baby. Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah. Do you have plans to have more kids in your forties?
Kiersten: Oh gosh. I knew you’d ask me that. I think I’ve exceeded my bandwidth, you know, like I, I’m not sure that I could have any more.
Jamie: Okay.
Kiersten: Yeah, I don’t think so. Unless God is like, you really need another kid. I don’t think it’s gonna happen.
Jamie: Okay. And what has been your biggest challenge being pregnant over 40?
Kiersten: For me, the fatigue.
Jamie: Yeah.
Kiersten: The just being so tired. Yeah. And, and trying all the things and those things didn’t work for me, and so just having to let myself, be okay with just knowing that I’m gonna be tired. I’m not a lazy person. I, I’m one of those that I like to be active and I like to move. Mm-hmm. So for me, for my personality, that was hard for me. Yeah. I like to, I like to be active and move and work out and I just, I had a lot of limitations, so I’d say that was my biggest challenge for sure.
Jamie: Mm-hmm. Yesterday I was at my desk and I was like, falling asleep. Oh. I’m like, I am so exhausted.
Kiersten: Because you’re making a baby.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah.
Kiersten: And, and that’s a lot of work.
Jamie: Mm-hmm. Yeah. A lot of work. Hard work on the body.
Kiersten: You know what it is. And you have to give yourself grace.
Jamie: Yeah. I had to get up and like walk around
Kiersten: or go take a nap.
Jamie: I would love to. Yeah. I’ll be right back.
Kiersten: I know, right? I know. Yeah. It’s not always. It’s not always an option.
Jamie: Is there anything you’d recommend that would help prepare someone for pregnancy and birth over 40? Honestly,
Kiersten: if I didn’t have chiropractic care. I went once a week and got adjusted. And I feel like that definitely helped.
Jamie: And you’ve even taken your daughter to chiropractic care too?
Kiersten: Yes, I did. Yeah, we did. I’ve been doing chiropractic care for about 20 years and so he actually just started recently and he loves it. When, when she was born, I noticed that she was kind of only looking to one side. Like her head was only turned to the right. And I don’t know what that’s called, it’s called something, but and it can happen in the womb where, you know, they just get in a position. And so I took her to a certified pediatric chiropractor.
And very gentle and like he explained it to Chris, you know, the overprotective dad, which is wonderful. It’s putting as much pressure on her as I would on, like, on your eye. Mm-hmm. So they do it very differently. And that made a world of difference for her.
Mm-hmm. So now she has like full range of motion with her head and we’ve taken her a few more times just for, I, I believe she had colic and then spitting up a lot. Mm-hmm. Just really fussy. So I I definitely have noticed a difference with her.
Jamie: How, how instant was she able to get full motion in her head after that?
Kiersten: Almost right away.
Jamie: Wow.
Kiersten: I would say it was almost right away. I think it was probably, I think it probably took two adjustments for it to hold, you know, I noticed it right away and then she would kind of revert back. Mm-hmm. And then I took her the next week and then I felt like it stuck. And she’s, she’s been fine ever since.
Jamie: Wow. That’s impressive.
Kiersten: Mm-hmm. So, but you know, they’re, they’re tight in there. Yeah. In, in, in the, in your womb. And so, things get a little kinked up in there.
Jamie: Yeah, I don’t blame them.
Kiersten: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So she’s, that’s definitely been a saving grace for, for both me and the recovery. I’ll say that getting adjusted like that first adjustment after birth.
Oh my gosh. That felt amazing.
Jamie: I bet. Yeah. ’cause she moved you all around and Yes. Your body just goes through so much.
Kiersten: Oh my gosh. I had so much tension and stress in my neck and my shoulders and my back and I mean it. Yeah, it was wonderful.
Jamie: What advice would you give yourself when you were pregnant, if you could go back?
Kiersten: Honestly, I think I just took my own advice when I was pregnant and I normally wouldn’t do that, but I think. Being 41, 42. I just said, just, just listen to your body. And I did. And it wasn’t really because I was cavalier. I think it was more just, I was so tired and I really didn’t have a choice. And so, but I didn’t. I didn’t put the guilt on myself like I normally would like, oh, you’re not working out, you’re not doing all the things that you were doing before.
And so I just did what I needed to do to, you know, feed, feed my kids, take care of the family, you know, the basic stuff. But I would take naps and I’m not a napper, so I, I think just listening without guilt.
And honoring, honoring that my body is producing a baby.
And it’s, it’s not easy at any age.
Jamie: Yeah, that’s true. And what advice would you give those other women over 40 who are trying to conceive?
Kiersten: I would just say I think, mentally, it’s just good to be in a good place mentally.
For me it’s like, I mean, I, I’ve. I wouldn’t be where I am if not for my relationship with Jesus, you know? So I definitely, I give all that, all the glory to him like this baby. I mean, to me it’s a miracle. Every baby’s a miracle, but especially, you know, having a baby at 42. So I think being in a good, a good place mentally, spiritually, and then physically, I think just being as healthy as you can. And getting sunlight there. I think sun sunlight is so underrated. Yeah. Especially that morning, that morning sun. I think there are so many healthy benefits to that.
This is kind of a side note, but I think this would help too, is I got a rebounder recently. You know what, it’s like a trampoline. It’s like a little mini trampoline. Okay. That has a handlebar. Mm-hmm. And I got it for me for. For, you know, working out well. When, when she gets fussy, I stand on that rebounder and I just do a little gentle bounce, very gentle, and it calms her down immediately.
Jamie: Wow.
Kiersten: Yeah, so I, I think it. The reason I got the rebound is so there are so many health benefits.
So I’m sure that something, even doing something like that would be healthy and helpful or whatever it is that that makes you happy or that you like to do with moving your body basically.
Jamie: Yeah. Mm-hmm. That’s great advice. And do you wanna give your links in your Instagram so others can connect with you?
Kiersten: Yeah, you can post it. I’m not an influencer or anything like that, but I would love to connect with other 40 plus mamas that are having babies or trying to conceive. I would love that. So post, absolutely post my link.
Jamie: You know what your account name is called?
Kiersten: I think it’s KMD 8 28. I’m not like super active, but I would absolutely love for all the other mamas to friend request me.
Jamie: Thank you, Kirsten, for sharing your story. It was amazing.
Kiersten: Well thank you Jamie, and thank you so much for having this platform and creating such a wonderful community. I have to say, it really helped me. It really, really did just not feel so alone and it, and it gave me like that encouragement and empowerment, like, I can do this. Other people have done it before. I’ll be fine. And I was fine.