Pregnancy Is So Much Harder Now That I’m Older
Why Did No One Warn Me? Oh, Wait…They Probably Did
--
This pregnancy business is no joke. I’m fat, I’m tired, I’m swollen. Irritable as hell, stressed out beyond belief. Constantly sore.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful as can be to be pregnant. Especially after the long stretch of secondary infertility, I had to struggle through to get here. But still. This shit is hard, and I’m sure it’s made even harder by the fact that I’m so much older this time around.
To put it into perspective, my firstborn is 14 now. I had her when I was 23. I’m now 37. And 7 months pregnant. With twins. And it’s summer, and we keep having heatwaves here in Canada (sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? I assure you, it’s not.) And I’m so uncomfortable.
Perhaps it’s just because so much time has passed, but I swear this was so much easier when I was younger. Now, I don’t technically think there is such thing as a “right” age to get pregnant. I’m sure many people will disagree with me, doctors certainly would, but I just feel like it puts too much shame and pressure on those who either accidentally get pregnant at what would then be considered the “wrong age” or those who are unable to make it into that optimal pregnancy age window for whatever reason. Obviously, there are certain ages on either end of the spectrum where pregnancy can be downright dangerous but I can safely say I don’t think being pregnant at 37 or 23 put me in that category, I’m just finding that it’s just a very different experience 13–14 years apart.
Being pregnant after age 35 means I am experiencing what is considered a “geriatric pregnancy” which is a rather delightful term that I know many women hate. Personally, I just find it kind of funny and I make sure to casually drop it into conversation whenever possible. It also feels…surprisingly accurate if the state of my hips is any indication. I do not remember my hips hurting this bad with my first pregnancy. A couple of weeks ago I walked around the mall for barely an hour while my daughter was off hanging out with some friends, and I was nearly in tears by the end of it, my hips hurt that bad.
It makes me rather worried about what the actual giving birth experience will be like this time, as…
