Host: As older moms, we're often faced with a variety of concerns beyond the physical challenges of pregnancy. Many of you have established yourselves in demanding careers, and may wonder how a baby is going to fit into your busy life. Some of you will become full-time moms, but many of you will soon find yourself juggling career and parenthood.
Let's talk next to some experienced moms to find out how they handled the challenge of a new baby!
I had a lot of morning sickness with my first baby, and I couldn't hold food down my first four months. I was fortunate in that I wasn't sick, and I never took time off because I was sick. All I had to do was take time off for my ob visits. By evening time I could pretty much handle life, and that's when I worked. And so I would work and do the best I could. I did learn to manage. I discovered that if I just ate small little amounts and I never had a completely empty stomach, that the nausea really was kept at bay mostly. I learned to overcome the challenges of being a little nauseated at times by taking good care of my nutrition, drinking plenty of fluids, eating throughout the day, and being able to get away for breaks periodically through my day.
Real People: Because I was 37 when I had my second child I was concerned about the health of the child and the increased risks of birth defects. When I found out I was pregnant, I didn't have any questions because I was just, I just felt like i was so blessed just to conceive a child. I had no complications with my pregnancies over 35. I was able to have all healthy babies. There's a lot that I could do to prevent birth problems and birth defects by taking good care of my health and my nutrition, and the risk was still there and I needed to consider that and to consider some special tests and evaluations. My doctors recommended the amniocentesis and, of course, they did the ultrasounds. In the second trimester was the time that I was offered to have an amniocentesis, so my questions were more related to the risks and the benefits of having that test and trying to make a decision about whether I felt I needed that additional information and what would I do with that information if I did have it.
Real People: I didn't breast feed more than two months with any of my children. I weaned my babies at a year because I felt that, that a good time. I found breast-feeding initially to be very difficult. With my first child I was very unaware that they were, they could be a challenge and didn't seek out the information I needed as much. I went formula after two months and of course working with the first babies, when I was working because of my job being in the courtroom, I couldn't have that flexibility to be able to leave. Breast-feeding seems to take a lot of time initially, especially in the wee hours of the morning when I was really tired. I learned with my second child that I could pump the milk and my husband could help me or my mother could help me in the evenings so that I could get a rest, or even during the day time I found that I could use that as away to give myself a break.
Real People: I found child care to be one of the biggest challenges about returning to work. The quality varied from the most pristine, wonderful, nurturing environment to some pretty scary places to put a child. It was scary thinking about child care, finding child care for my, for my children. I work nights and my husband was home, and so we kind of took turns taking care of my babies until I could stop working. I called an agency and they refereed me to a home, a home care person in my area, and I was fortunate that she was just wonderful and, you know, took great care of my baby. I stayed home with my children. I never had them in day care.
Host: I hope that many of your questions have been answered over the past few minutes. Thanks again for spending time today in the garden. Good luck over the coming weeks. I'll look forward to seeing you again soon.