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Being a Mom at 35

Pregnancy

By Elsie McMullinPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Nymeria Rose October 17, 2017

Yay! Congratulations on being either a first time mom or having another son/daughter. After the long nine months of carrying your little one around, this will get better. Right? It all depends on Mommy of course. As you may have heard, each pregnancy is different, which is true. With my first child, she was full termed and I experience no health issues whatsoever. This is when I was 30. But come to my surprise, this past spring, I was once again pregnant. I did break down in tears. Not for happiness, but for shock and disbelief. How could this happen? Well, of course I knew how it happened. But the timing was horrible. I was doing well at my job and was about to head back to school to finish up my pre reqs for pharmacy school. After everything was said and done, then it was time to make another sacrifice once again. Since I was hovering around being 35, there are more risks with this pregnancy than with the previous one. I thought it was bull, but it wasn’t. Thankfully I didn’t have morning sickness like others can have during pregnancy, instead the sense of taste was off. The foods I had enjoyed was no longer there. I had already swelling and shortness of breath (SOB). This continued through the pregnancy along with palpations, pelvic pain, and right towards the end, gestational diabetes.

Damn, I’m a complete mess at this point. It was hard for me to get out of bed without being tired, without the pain, and without sitting down. This pregnancy sucked in every way for sure. As the summer months came to an end and here we are getting into fall, the time was getting close for delivery. At this time, I’m 35. I am seeing a high risk doctor because of my age. I thought it was an insult to be honest, but don’t let anyone else tell you different, they are not. These guys are specialized for pregnant women who fall into the high risk category which does include being 35 and older, people who are overweight, and so on. They are the most understanding medical professionals around when you fall into this category.

Now having my daughter on October 16, I thought now we are on easy mode. Not at all. To this day, I have been struggling to keep my milk supply up for this little hungry baby. She has been eating 4 oz (120 mls) at about every feeding. While I am unable to get her latch (having big breasts does suck, it looks like I’m smothering her with my boob) I try and pump so often. Which, in reality, is a pain in the butt. Having a 5 year old as well, it’s now a never ending battle with the house. Your partner had to return to work, you're home alone with the kiddos and with a messy house, also you're tired. Where to begin? It’s truly hard to find a spot and start especially with a new born. He/she wakes up every couple hours for feeding, for a new butt (diaper change), to be burped, and rocked them back to sleep. By the time you have done that, you are ready for a nap as well. And still, the house sits in the same condition. I cannot stress out enough to have someone help you for the first couple months. Since my new one is over a month old, her sleep cycle is changing where she wants to be up more. Therefore with them being up, it’s hard to step away to do what you need to do. Afraid that he/she might need something, afraid of having them alone (unless you have a baby monitor with a screen) and so forth. Your partner keeps telling you to relax but can’t because the nature of the house. My advice I have gave myself is to relax. Have me time. It’s hard right now because your body is trying to recover from having a baby. If you need to hire a nanny or maybe someone to come to your house a couple days a week, do it. This will help out and the stress levels will help soooo much. It’s not easy being a professional, going to school, and being a mom at 35, but you know what? We can do it. We are great multitaskers. We are strong. And when you think all is helpless, don’t forget to have a strong support group. Those people will help you keep your sanity during the rough times at the early months of being a mom.

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