The 40-year-old Fixer Upper star opens up in a candid moment about the difficulties and struggles she faced with her “geriatric pregnancy” – a term she had never even heard of…until she spoke to her doctor.
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Technically a “geriatric pregnancy” is one that occurs past the age of 35. Doctors use the term less now than they used to because of the more frequent occurrence of pregnancy after 35, but it’s still a relevant term.
When she first heard the term, Joanna Gaines says she laughed…“Until I realized that’s actually what it’s called at my age.”
Welcoming her fifth child – and unexpected addition to the family brought on its own number of difficulties and struggles. She confessed that they weren’t what she’d felt during her last four pregnancies in her new issue of Magnolia Journal.
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Joanna and husband Chip had long joked about having another kid, but she says that it was all in good humor, “I truly believed I was done.”
Now, here she sits with a brand new baby in the house and a slightly larger family than she anticipated after having her youngest, eight years ago.
Chip and Joanna Gaines welcomed little baby boy Crew Gaines on June 21st, sharing their love and heartwarming excitement for this new journey with fans and followers on social media.
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While the unexpected addition to their family caught them all by surprise, it was the way she felt during her pregnancy that created some new hurdles and difficulties she never saw coming.
“I am 40, and pregnancy this time was different,” she confessed candidly. “I have always really enjoyed being pregnant – I tend to feel my best during those nine months. This time I felt a little more worn out than usual.”
Although she and Chip had already decided to end their popular show Fixer Upper just weeks before she found out she was pregnant, the pregnancy gave her a whole new mindset after forcing her to take a break from growing their vast number of other businesses.
“Since Crew’s birth, I have a new understanding of the reality of the phrase ‘it takes a village’.”
Admittedly, Joanna says she feels like a first-time mom all over again – but this time she feels a base of immense confidence, adding she’s “more comfortable in [her] own skin.”
What an amazing journey this is for the Gaines family and we are sure that even with the difficulties and changes of her pregnancy, this has been one of the best times of her entire life!