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over40fabulousandpregnant

At 40, two years after being pregnant as a surroga

At 40, two years after being pregnant as a surrogate, Ashlee thought someone was missing from her family. After a letter from her son to Santa where he asked for another brother, it was a joke at first. The more her and her husband talked about it, the more it became a true desire. Listen to podcast episode 61 as Ashlee tells us how she planned her 5th baby at 40. Link in bio.

Ashlee’s recovery from the c-section wasn’t a

Ashlee’s recovery from the c-section wasn’t a walk in the park. Her first c-section, as a surrogate, she focused on healing and didn’t have to take care of a baby. This time was different because she would have her son to take care of in addition to her healing. Every 24 hours she felt so much better than the 24 hours before. She stayed in the hospital for any extra day because she wanted all the help she could get which made a big difference. The first 48 hours were rough, but the nurses stayed on the pain medication.

Join us this week as @ashleegruno shares her journey to her pregnancy at 40 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #40andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

The doctor wanted Ashlee to have a c-section at 39

The doctor wanted Ashlee to have a c-section at 39 weeks, but it was a holiday week. Ashlee was scheduled for a soft c-section at 38 weeks and 5 days. That included playing music, lowering the lights, and skin to skin. It was an option to make it as intimate and gentle as they could for surgery. She didn’t ask them to lower the lights because she wanted them to be able to see what they were doing. Skin-to-skin was important to her right when he came out. They were able to pull her hospital gown down and put her baby on her chest. Her husband helped hold him. The baby stayed on her chest while they were sewing her up. She didn’t feel any separation from him. They took her son to finish up the vitals and met him in the recovery room. She nursed right away and he latched quickly. It was important to her that she had the golden hour right after birth to bond with her son, and she was glad she got that. Her son weighed 8lbs. 4 oz.

Join us this week as @ashleegruno shares her journey to her pregnancy at 40 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #40andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

At 40, Ashlee wanted to at least try and see if it

At 40, Ashlee wanted to at least try and see if it was possible. Ashlee really wanted another baby, but she was afraid to dream. She thought she was probably too told, but she wanted to give it a shot. It was similar to their other conceptions where it was just a month or two of tracking ovulation. Her cycles were pretty regular. She used the Clear Blue Easy ovulation predictor strips. She was mostly just using the calendar and tracking her basal temperature just to pinpoint that perfect day. A couple of weeks later, there was a positive pregnancy test around Thanksgiving of 2022. She felt gratitude, fear of the unknown, and she was surprised it really did work. Her husband didn’t believe it at first. A couple of pregnancy tests later, he embraced it.

Ashlee describes this pregnancy as smooth and easy. They labeled her right off the bat, ‘Advanced maternal age’ which included the extra appointments. She could tell a little bit of difference in her energy level. She never had morning sickness with any of her pregnancies. She had a little bleeding at seven weeks which was scary. She went to the doctor who told her it was a sub chronic hemorrhage which is like a little blood bubble. She had gained a little bit more weight this time, but she assumes that because she’s less active than previous babies. She really tried to be very conscientious about what she ate, how much water she drank and tried to stay active as much as possible.

Join us this week as @ashleegruno shares her journey to her pregnancy at 40 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #40andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

Even after giving birth as a surrogate at 37, she

Even after giving birth as a surrogate at 37, she didn’t feel any emptiness or feel anything was missing with her family. The doctors even asked her if she wanted her tubes tied, and she’s glad she said no. At the time, she thought she was done having kids, but she knew God might have other plans. Ashlee’s husband wanted two children, but Ashlee wanted six. She had always wanted a large family, so they settled on four children. Two years after her surrogacy was when she considered having another baby. She felt like someone was missing. Her youngest was in first grade when he wrote a letter to Santa that was published in the local newspaper. His letter said, “Dear Santa, I’ve been really good this year. All I want is a baby brother, a real one. Love, Henry.” Since it was in the local newspaper, all of her family saw it. At first, she thought of it as a joke. There was the tiny little seed of the idea already beginning to grow in her heart. Her son’s letter just gave life to it. Ashlee and her husband talked about it, and she spoke about it with her older daughters. She wanted to make sure she had enough time with all her children and wanted them to know what it would look like if they added a baby to their family. They were excited and on board with it.

Join us this week as @ashleegruno shares her journey to her pregnancy at 40 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

🎧 Podcast Day: On episode 61, Ashlee’s journe

🎧 Podcast Day: On episode 61, Ashlee’s journey to motherhood started when she was just 24 years old. Today, at 40, she’s an assistant principal with a three-month-old, along with a 15; a 13; a 10 and an 8 year old. In 2020, her fifth pregnancy and birth was a surrogacy. She thought her family was complete. Find out if this last pregnancy is the same.

Join us this week as @ashleegruno shares her journey to her pregnancy at 40 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #40andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

Nana, at 41 finally had her take home baby after y

Nana, at 41 finally had her take home baby after years of TTC and a few losses. She’s prayed for a baby for so long and now she was finding motherhood to be hard which came with guilt.

Nana’s c-section was scheduled at 37 weeks. The

Nana’s c-section was scheduled at 37 weeks. The night before the c-section, she relaxed at home. She was packed and ready to go. The last time she was in an OR, it was not the positive outcome she wanted. The doctors spoke to her the whole time. They told her what they were doing and why they were doing it. Her husband stayed by her side. She didn’t have the space to think about what could go wrong. It happened so fast. Her doctor said, “It’s a boy!” She breastfed him initially, but they noticed he was breathing a little fast. He was taken to the NICU.

Join us this week as @nanaalicenyarko shares her journey to her pregnancy at 41 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #41andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

The pregnancy went fairly well at 41. Nana didn’

The pregnancy went fairly well at 41. Nana didn’t have too much nausea but had the fatigue pregnancy comes with. They knew about the blood issue, but she didn’t know what else contributed to preeclampsia. She tried to take it easy. She stopped working during her second trimester, partially because that coincided with the anniversary of her loss. Christmas was not a happy time, but she got engaged on Christmas Day. Her now husband wanted to create new happy memories on that day. She kept doing morning prayer and morning affirmations. She believes what helped the most was finding other women she could talk to that also went through loss. She spoke to women who were in their late 30’s or 40’s that had gone through loss, also. She listened to podcasts of stories of women triumphing and stories that were more heartbreaking than hers. She told herself, “If they can do it, I can too. All things are possible with God.” These are the things she said to herself all the time. She would even listen to affirmations while she slept. She would find some on YouTube, “You’re going to have this baby. You’ll be holding your baby.” She tried to saturate her mind as much as possible with positive thoughts. She called her baby, Baby Bear throughout the pregnancy. She did not find out the gender. She was good with whoever showed up. She was just so grateful. Every day was a blessing she was still pregnant. She didn’t think mentally she could handle finding out the gender.

Join us this week as @nanaalicenyarko shares her journey to her pregnancy at 41 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #41andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

Nana called herself Fertile Myrtle, she says throu

Nana called herself Fertile Myrtle, she says through a laugh. She was ready to try again at the beginning of March, but she was waiting for her cycle to return to normal. June her body was ready: She improved her nutrition to help the quality of her eggs, her cycle was back and her blood pressure was down. She continued the fertility acupuncture treatment every other week and walked regularly while she tried to get pregnant. She tracked her ovulation with the digital sticks and tracked her basal body temperature. She went to visit family in Ghana and assumed she’d get pregnant there. She was afraid of pregnancy. She was afraid to get preeclampsia again and didn’t want to go through a loss like that again.

In September, almost two months from being home from Ghana, Nana cautiously felt like she was pregnant. The day her cycle was late was when her husband was on his way to drill. She wanted to test before he left. She didn’t want him to be gone all day, and she would be thinking about it the whole day. She took the test that morning and it was positive. Of course, she was excited, but it was also hard.

Join us this week as @nanaalicenyarko shares her journey to her pregnancy at 41 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #41andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

Nana did two things to help her through the grief

Nana did two things to help her through the grief of losing her daughter at 23-weeks. She found a manifestation coach who was also a licensed therapist from a YouTube search. She signed up for Dr. Lisa Grant’s program called 90 Day Fertility Reset because it was goal-setting and manifestation. She was going through therapy, and she found comfort with lots of affirmations. Nana is Christian, so the therapist suggested she find scripture that helped. For her, she wrote it down with the notes app on her phone. She also went to church every Sunday. She participated in a mission trip to Mexico to help build a home there. A great part of the trip was finding other women who were on similar journeys. The other thing that helped was exercise: Walking, yoga, or Pilates in the morning. There was a lot of therapy, prayer, affirmations and talking to herself because she needed to constantly combat the negative thoughts. She also just allowed the grief. She knew if she did nothing, she would go into a dark space.

Join us this week as @nanaalicenyarko shares her journey to her pregnancy at 41 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #41andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

🎧 Podcast Day: On episode 60, we have Nana who

🎧 Podcast Day: On episode 60, we have Nana who is almost 42 and recently married with their son that is four and half months old. She and her husband are from Ghana and live in Las Vegas, Nevada. When she first got together with her now husband, they were ready to have kids right away. She says it was quite a journey to have her son.

At 39 years old, she was dating her now husband and fell pregnant in January 2021. That March she miscarried. It was tough, but she wanted to try again. The doctor told her this happens based on her age. She had her first appointment on zoom with the IVF doctor when she was on vacation in Jamaica. She ended up conceiving while in Jamaica. She was very excited about it. Everything was going well with the pregnancy until she was 23 weeks. Unknown to her she developed severe preeclampsia. She went into the hospital because she didn’t feel her baby kicking enough. She assumed everything was fine but wanted to get it checked out. They confirmed the baby was fine, but her blood pressure was through the roof. She was in the hospital for three or four days to try to reduce her blood pressure, but it wasn’t going down. She had protein in her urine, extreme swelling, and was at risk for seizures. Nana had a c-section at 23 weeks. Mikelle passed away five days later on Christmas Day.

Join us this week as @nanaalicenyarko shares her journey to her pregnancy at 41 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #41andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

Tanika describes her recovery as interesting. She

Tanika describes her recovery as interesting. She was up and walking the night of her c-section, but it hurt. She felt semi-prepared for it because she thinks it’s similar to having her kidney removed. She believes yoga helped her with her recovery. She was on a pain med schedule. If they weren’t there on time, she was hitting that button. Because she only has one kidney, she can’t have ibuprofen. She made herself get up and push the bassinet up and down the hall. The doula came to do the postpartum and helped with laundry and the dishes so she wouldn’t stress herself out. She highly recommends having someone come in to do the meals. She did that for two months and thought it was very helpful and stress-free.

Join us this week as Tanika’s shares her journey to her pregnancy at 52 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #52andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

The night before she was scheduled to be induced,

The night before she was scheduled to be induced, she and her sister had a big meal. Her bags were already packed, so at 39 weeks, on May 31st, she went to the hospital that evening. They started off with a cervical ripener to soften her cervix. She got to three centimeters and then they put a balloon into the opening of the cervix with a tube attached and filled it with saline. It was so painful, she crawled away from the practitioner. She got to four centimeters but did not progress after that. They added Pitocin, but she still didn’t get passed four centimeters. She asked him if he could put the epidural in and not give her any meds. He said no. She asked to give her a little of the epidural. After waiting two hours, he put it in. She wasn’t able to feel her legs but could feel to push. They broke her water after the Foley. Her time was running out and it was getting close to the night shift. She decided it was time for the c-section. Her sister went back to her apartment to rest, so she didn’t make it back in time. Her doula helped her pack everything. Within 30 minutes, she was in the delivery room with her doula. They lifted the baby up over the screen and the surgeon asked who was going to call the gender? She was in tears and couldn’t speak. She was able to squeak out the words: Boy! The doula cut the cord. They placed her son on her cheek, but he wasn’t crying or screaming or anything. They were sewing her up and the nurse was holding the baby on her. She was a little panicky. Her heart was racing uncontrollably. She could only feel her head and her shoulders. She asked the doula to put her hand on her shoulder to help ground her. She couldn’t feel anything else. She was just trying to stay focused, but excited to meet her son.

Join us this week as Tanika’s shares her journey to her pregnancy at 52 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #52andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

The few people Tanika told continued to ask her ho

The few people Tanika told continued to ask her how she was feeling, which made her feel anxious. She had her anatomy scan at 18 weeks. At 24 weeks, she had more relief. After so much loss, it never felt real. She felt afraid to get excited, but she pushed through. She had her baby shower and went to California and celebrated with her family. She went to term. She didn’t get high blood pressure or gestational diabetes. At 52, everyone was celebrating and was excited about the baby. They also knew what she had gone through trying to have this baby. She has lots of support. She ate well, rested, and continues yoga and acupuncture. She felt energized and excited to be pregnant. She embraced it all. She didn’t know the gender and didn’t want the test because she felt it would cause her more anxiety. She didn’t want to know the gender because she needed a surprise at the end of it all.

Join us this week as Tanika’s shares her journey to her pregnancy at 52 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #52andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

After Tanika’s transfer at 52, she began to spot

After Tanika’s transfer at 52, she began to spot which panicked her, so she called the doctor. The doctor said that was probably a good sign the embryo was implanted and asked her not to stress. She promised herself not to test because it got her hopes up the last time. She talked herself into testing the day before the blood work, and it was positive. From that day on, she became a pee-on-a-stick addict, but she watched them get darker and darker. She just knew this was her take-home baby. She could have done cartwheels. It was amazing and scary at the same time. The few people she told continued to ask her how she was feeling, which made her feel anxious.

This pregnancy was not like the first one at 23. Everyone thought she was ruining her life at 23. At 52, everyone was celebrating and was excited about the baby. They also knew what she had gone through trying to have this baby. She has lots of support. Back then, she had youth on her side. Now, she eats well, she is resting well, continues yoga and acupuncture. She felt energized and excited to be pregnant. She embraced it all. There was just this tiny voice that said,” Just don’t get too excited yet.”

Join us this week as Tanika’s shares her journey to her pregnancy at 52 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #52andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

At 46, the first RE she met with recommended start

At 46, the first RE she met with recommended starting with IUI. All of her tests came back fine. In 2017, she did her first IUI with donor sperm but did not get pregnant. They refused to do an egg retrieval and told her to go straight to donor eggs.

A year later, she switched providers and decided on IVF. Her first egg retrieval was in November of 2018. She only got one egg. They were hoping for seven, but they discussed before the retrieval that she might not get any. It was a hard conversation for her, but she wanted to move forward with the egg retrieval. They got one egg, one embryo, transferred the embryo, but she ended up having an early miscarriage.

She found another RE who was willing to let her try her own eggs. It went to blastocyst on day six, but then it arrested.

In 2019, she went back to her second RE and wanted to try with donor eggs. It’s not the genetics that were important to her, but it was the soul she’s meant to shepherd. In early 2021, the donor had her egg retrieval. She ended up with ten embryos. In February 2021, Tanika had her first transfer. Her home pregnancy test was positive. By the time she got to beta day, day nine post transfer, her HGC was one. Then she had three more transfers back-to-back. They got to the fourth transfer and no HCG. A third party reviewer diagnosed Tanika with recurrent implantation failure. It was either the embryo or the environment it’s being transferred. Her doctor found a slight bit of inflammation in her uterus. They told her because of her age and all the other things happening, it’s enough to affect the embryo from implanting properly.

Join us this week as Tanika’s shares her journey to her pregnancy at 52 and listen on this week’s episode 59. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #52andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

🎧 Podcast Day: On episode 59, we have Tanika sh

🎧 Podcast Day: On episode 59, we have Tanika sharing her pregnancy journey at 52! Tanika was born and raised in Fresno, California. She currently lives in Manhattan, New York and is a project manager. She had her first daughter at 23 and is a single mother by choice. There was a burning desire in her heart to have another child. She felt like she was meant to shepherd another soul, so she looked up videos on YouTube. She found other single moms by choice and how they built their support system and what it entailed. At 46 years old, she decided to re-embark on motherhood on her own. She didn’t think she had a lot of time, so she wasn’t going to waste time looking for a partner. She told herself she only wanted to do this if she could use her own eggs. We will learn later that her heart wants what it wants and she ended up changing her mind.

Join us this week as Tanika shares her journey to her pregnancy at 52 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #52andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

Ch-a’s recovery was great, but she admits a C-se

Ch-a’s recovery was great, but she admits a C-section recovery is not fun. She doesn’t think she was available to her baby as much as if she had a vaginal delivery. She said it was so painful. The nurses told her to walk when she got home. It gets the gut moving. Because she was walking, she was able to poop and pass gas which helped things heal a lot faster. She was proud of her pregnant belly. One day she was walking. She said she kind of looked pregnant, but maybe just a gut. She was bandaged up. Nobody could tell what her circumstances were and she walked limping and shuffling along, kind of hunched over and crying. She thought this sucks. She didn’t think she even looked pregnant, instead she just looked like she had issues. Ch-a said it was emotional. She didn’t have the baby inside her and there’s also this physical recovery. It’s not glamorous and not fun. She didn’t think she was glowing anymore. She couldn’t interact fully with her baby like she wanted to. She was walking, which helped her recover faster. Everyone told her to stay away from the stairs, but they live in a three-story townhouse. That wasn’t an option for her. She had a lot of friends come over to help, but there’s only so much they could do. By necessity, she got right really quick. She was going up and down the stairs every day. She moved very slowly, but she made her way. By six weeks, she felt healed.

Join us this week as Ch-a shares her journey to her pregnancy at 47 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #47andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

At 39 weeks Ch-a got membrane sweeps. After one ti

At 39 weeks Ch-a got membrane sweeps. After one time, it got her dilated to 3 cm. Ch-a tried to induce labor on her own, too. She was taking evening primrose oil and other supplements. She was inserting primrose oil vaginally to help loosen up the mucus plug. The next week, she went in for the next visit and did the membrane sweep, again. About an hour and half later, as she got back in her car from buying castor oil at CVS, in case the membrane sweep didn’t work, her water broke. She felt every bump and crack in the road. An hour and half later she was in active labor. By the time she got food in her stomach, she couldn’t hold it down. She got to the birthing center at midnight. She tried to sleep, but the contractions prevented that. The next morning, they brought breakfast and castor oil. She threw-up again. The midwives told her she had 24 hours to deliver her baby since her water broke or she was going to be taken to the hospital. After 22 hours, she fantasized about the epidural because the pain was so bad. She didn’t think she could deliver in two hours. She wanted food and sleep. She finally threw in the towel and was transferred to the hospital. In route to the hospital, her baby Naomi pooped. It wasn’t as beautiful an experience as she had imagined. She got the epidural and her baby’s heart rate started dipping. The baby’s heart rate dipped so low that the nurse turned the monitor where she couldn’t see it. Then about five more nurses showed up in blue. She knew there was an emergency, and she stopped asking questions. She was upset at the doctor at first, but when the urgency increased with the nurse, Ch-a told them to get her out. She knew what her heart rate looked like. When it was dipping in the 60 range, she told them to get her out. They were so fast. It was only 20 minutes until they had her out. She just wanted a healthy baby.

Join us this week as Ch-a shares her journey to her pregnancy at 47 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #47andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

Ch-a’s pregnancy went better than what a 20-year

Ch-a’s pregnancy went better than what a 20-year-old experienced, she said. She had some standard pregnancy symptoms, like she was tired. She didn’t get nauseous, didn’t get swollen, didn’t have high blood pressure, or get gestational diabetes. During the first trimester, she took nutritional yeast for energy. That one really helped with her first trimester fatigue and got her up off the couch and helped her nausea. She was constantly nauseous, but she never threw up. She was always on the verge but never actually vomited. Nutritional yeast handled that. She mixed it with orange juice, in a shot glass. Nutritional yeast is used by vegans as a cheese substitute. It doesn’t taste like cheese to her. She would mix it in a little glass with some orange juice and chug it down. She just didn’t enjoy it like the vegans. She would take it twice a day because it made a difference with her sleep.

Join us this week as @pregnancyoverforty shares her journey to her pregnancy at 47 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #47andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

A few weeks after getting home, Ch-a noticed she w

A few weeks after getting home, Ch-a noticed she was extremely fatigued. This wasn’t normal for her. When she was in California, she had an enormous amount of energy. She assumes it was an increase in progesterone. She was anticipating her cycle to start and was taking a progesterone supplement. She thinks she had an elevated progesterone plus the supplement and couldn’t stay awake. Then her cycle didn’t start. When she was a day or two late, a voice in her head told her to take a test. She finally did and it was positive. She was so excited, but also felt dread. The weight of the miscarriage a year ago told her she just needed to see and not be too excited. She didn’t want to get her hopes up.

Join us this week as @pregnancyoverforty shares her journey to her pregnancy at 47 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #47andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

🎧 Podcast Day: On episode 58, Ch-a was born and

🎧 Podcast Day: On episode 58, Ch-a was born and raised in California, but currently lives in Clearwater, Florida. From eight years old all the way into her 20’s she was a competitive athlete. She ran track in college and has always been an athlete. She still feels like she benefits from the hard work she’s put her body through. She conceived at 45 naturally, but she miscarried. A year later, trying to have a baby was the last thing on her mind. She had been in California because her father was in a very bad car accident, which put him in the hospital for about a week and a half and then he passed away. She put him to rest, and then packed up her mother to live with her in Florida. She believes when you lose a life, then a new one comes in.

Join us this week as @pregnancyoverforty shares her journey to her pregnancy at 47 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #47andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

Barb’s pregnancy at 57 was her best pregnancy. B

Barb’s pregnancy at 57 was her best pregnancy. Barb was also pregnant at 38 and 40. This is how she wants other women to see her birth at 57. #over40andpregnant #57andpregnant

Barb had a bit of postpartum depression with Jack.

Barb had a bit of postpartum depression with Jack. She got a little panic stricken. She wanted to spend time alone. She didn’t want company at the house. For about eight weeks, she was pretty much a basket case. She was very fortunate to have a supportive family. She didn’t need medication but reached out to friends that also struggled a little bit with it. Physically, she was fine. Once the preeclampsia weight went away, she was back to within 10 pounds of her starting weight almost immediately. She didn’t work out for all of April and May. Jack was born March 20th, and she was back to the gym in June. She did a two-day CrossFit competition that August. She had to climb a rope, walk on her hands and several other physically challenging things. She had a great recovery.

Join us this week as @barb_444 shares her journey to her pregnancy at 57 and listen on this week’s episode. Link in bio.

#Over40andpregnant #57andpregnant #over40fabulousandpregnant

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