On episode 2 we have Stefanie from Prosper, Texas. Her and her husband have a seven year old daughter and a two and half year old son. She is a consultant for Rodan + Fields and has great skin to back it up. She is 40 and 22 weeks pregnant during the recording of the show.
With all of the trouble they had getting pregnant with their second, I didn’t think I could get pregnant.
It only took them seven months to fall naturally pregnant with their first child, but it took two rounds of IVF for her second. With their second, she thought she was getting older and they had a few losses, so they decided to conceive with IVF. She didn’t think she could even get pregnant after that. She said it was the last thing on her mind.
She just had her 40th birthday a few months ago and knew her body would start changing. She was getting midsection bloating, weight gain and tiredness. She works out about 4 times a week, so she started to get concerned. She was worried about her changing body, so she scheduled an appointment with another doctor to check her hormones. She took a pregnancy test and knew she needed to make the appointment. She was in shock. When she called to make the appointment, they asked Stefanie what was the first day of her last cycle. They told her according to that date, she was 18 weeks along, and it’s policy they don’t see anyone past 16 weeks. She wasn’t sure what to do, but the office staff was going to check with the doctor. That panic her, so she called other doctors as a backup option. She said most of them wouldn’t see her past 12-18 weeks. Her doctor’s office called back later that day to schedule an appointment for the very next day. She was relieved.
She says her pregnancy has been so great, she didn’t even know she was pregnant. She said it’s been easy. She has baby bump speakers that she plays every night for the baby to get her baby’s brain moving.
She suggests other woman relax during the pregnant. She stressed so much with her second, she wouldn’t even drink tap water or caffeine. This one hasn’t been carefree for the first 18 weeks because she didn’t know she was pregnant. She switched to decaf coffee once she found out, though
She found out the gender at her first appointment. She walked into her appointment with her toddler, and they told her kids weren’t allowed in the office. She would have to reschedule. She had driven an hour that day to get to her appointment. Again, they confirmed with the doctor, and she was able to bring her son back with her. Her husband was out of town for work, so he wasn’t able to attend the appointment. Before her husband left, she told him she thought they were able to find out the sex of the baby and asked him if he wanted to know. He said, “I think we’ve had enough surprises. I think we should go ahead and find out.” She was able to Facetime him during the sonogram, so they found out together.
She’s not sure if they will get showers this time around, but they will register if they do. Her diaper bag is almost seven years old, she thinks it’s time to get a new one. The car seats will have to be checked for their expiration date too.
She’s not taking any classes this time. Stefanie is planning a hospital birth with her doctor. Her other two births she was induced. She was laughing during her first labor. She says it was a quick, only about 5-7 hours if that. Two days before she was scheduled to be induced with her second, she ended up getting bell’s palsy. She said it was terrifying. The doctor got her in a day earlier to be induced and gave her some medicine to clear the bell’s palsy. It cleared about a week later. She plans to get an epidural and have her husband cut the cord again. Stefanie said she wants a cake when she gives birth because it’s a birthday, and she wants to celebrate.
She breastfed both her first two kids and plans to with this one also. She planned to breast feed her first child for a year, but she didn’t make it that long. She said it was rough. It took a long time to catch on. It was a struggle and stressful. She said it took so much time. She remembers sitting in the back room one holiday pumping, and she just felt like she was missing out on everything. She felt like all of her time was spent nursing and pumping. She was really glad she did it for about 3-4 months, though. With her second, her goal was to breastfeed him for three months and then she had some frozen to use after that. She definitely wants to breastfeed this one and see how long she can go.
They are still soaking in the pregnancy.
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