#2 Naturally Pregnant at 42, Merci Beaucoup!

An encouraging story about honoring the feminine.

"Did you really intend to get pregnant?" or "Was this planned?" frequently popped up when people learned my age. "Yes, indeed, down to the minute, and without any intervention," is often my reply, still to this day. I am happy to say, that with some research, effort, and timing, I was able to conceive naturally at 42 years of age.

In this photo I was embarking on my third trimester and feeling fabulous.

The Awakening

It was a sort of awakening when my husband and I reflected on our lives and realized the window of opportunity to build a family was indeed soon coming to a close. We had been together about fifteen years. We had businesses together, a home together, but not yet a family together.

My mother had always told me not to rush into building a family; that I had my whole life ahead of me; and to take my time. Well, I had been taking my time so much that she was now troubled with the possibility of never seeing grandchildren. You see, I am an only child, so the legacy weighed on me. No pressure, gah!

On the other side, my husband is from a robustly populating family, so I think he always imagined he'd have children… someday. Well someday was creeping in on no-day. We agreed, as we were both in our early forties, that we best get'r done, and so the focused strategy of baby building ensued. Fortunately, we loved and enjoyed each other (still do), so the practice part was, well, you know, enjoyable.

However, a realization, beyond our ages, did occur to us that was a little concerning. In our 15 years together, not once did we accidentally get pregnant. After a long 16 years on birth control since I was in high-school, I quit due to health risks early in our relationship (I'll save that for another story). Additionally, being together in a long term, not yet married at the time, relationship we were not using any other birth control. The possibility of getting pregnant should have been extremely high considering the fun we were having.

The beaming smile on our faces below shared our excitement as we officially went public with my pregnancy.