Life is Full of Surprises

If you’re one of the many women facing a surprise pregnancy, you’re probably feeling a flood of emotions—perhaps shock, fear, anger or grief. Leslie Leyland Fields, author of Surprise Child: Finding Hope in Unexpected Pregnancy, experienced such a surprise.

Already a mother of four and a full-time professor, Fields became pregnant with child number five. Shortly after that birth, Fields was pregnant with her sixth child. She and her husband had been taking measures to prevent pregnancy, and Fields was in her forties, so the unexpected pregnancies left her reeling.

“My family’s life is more expansive and filled with more love than before. Every child is irreplaceable,” she says. “As you make room for this coming child, believe that the love she will bring and create will compensate for every pain and depletion now.”

Fields recommends these tips for finding joy in any pregnancy, planned or not:

• Follow your baby’s development. Look regularly at Lennart Nillson’s book, A Child is Born. It’s “a beautiful photographic record of each stage of growth.”
• Don’t worry about your appearance. Remember that “your body is perfectly capable of returning to its pre-pregnancy size and weight.”
• Keep your eyes on the prize. You’re making “a new, small person who adores you, who will teach you the full meaning of love.”