Mena Suvari is excited to be growing her family!
The 41-year-old actress usually keeps her private life pretty quiet. She was inspired to open up about her journey to her first pregnancy after seeing how strangely people reacted to the news. It seems that many have acted as if Mena is the first woman over 40 to attempt a pregnancy.
As Mena reveals, her fertility journey wasn't an easy one. She and husband Michael Hope got married in 2018. They made the decision to grow their family. Mena described it as being very emotional with high highs and low lows.
Mena had all but given up, shifting focus back to her career, when she and Michael got the joyous news. She shared that news with fans on Friday in an emotional Instagram post.
With a baby boy on the way, Mena is also opening up about what it's like to be pregnant during this strange time.
Mena Suvari is thrilled she's going to be a mom! She and husband Michael Hope announced they're expecting their first child together. They made the announcement Friday on Instagram.
"The greatest, most precious gift has come our way," Mena wrote.
"Through all the trauma, through all the struggle, through all the doubt, our little angel has chosen us. I will never have enough words to describe my love for this beautiful soul coming into our lives, but I won't ever stop trying to give him the best life possible," she continued.
"You're all I've ever wanted and the most important thing that will ever matter. We love you, #BabyHope. We welcome, honor, and cherish you. ✨ ."
"It's still this process for me of believing it and accepting that something this beautiful could happen for me," Mena told People magazine while opening up about her journey to pregnancy.
"It's been a very emotional experience. It's very weird finding out — I was like, I can't believe it."
Mena and Mike got married in 2018. The pregnancy took them by surprise, although this is something they'd long wanted. Mena is now adjusting to this new stage:
"I've had to learn how to be a different way with my appetite and my sleep habits and not pushing myself, asking for help — all these things are hard for an independent woman!"
Mena and Michael decided to start actively trying to conceive earlier this year. She described that period as emotional and having its fair share of disappointment.
"I was recording my temperature every morning and peeing on these ovulation sticks," she said.
Like many women, Mena was startled when it didn't happen as easily as the couple had imagined it would.
"You expect that it'll happen and it didn't. I got to this place where I felt overwhelmed and stressed out," she admitted.
Part of the pressure Mena felt during that time came from people who commented on her age.
"I'm 41 and there's this air of like, I've got one foot in the grave and good luck," she said.
The stress and disappointment came to be too much, so she decided to step back from the process.
"I was like, I can't do this anymore. I'm so tired of stressing over this. I was trying to feel like if it's meant, it's meant," she continued.
"I was being really open like the Aquarian that I am — if this is my path or not."
Mena decided to take an opportunity to take on a new project and get her mind off things. She headed to Georgia to film The Inheritance. That's when she felt her body beginning to change.
"At first I thought I was having jet lag because I'm really sensitive," she recalled.
It wasn't long before she was able to rule that out.
"By the end of July, I had a couple of other symptoms and I decided to take a test and there it was," she said.
"It was a huge surprise, an absolute miracle!"
"It was something that we've always wanted, but a couple of months before, I had stopped calculating. I pulled back and let go, which apparently they say that that's when it happens," she said.
Mena is thrilled that trusting her body paid off, especially when so many thought she was in denial.
"Even in my late 30s, I had people questioning me. It put a lot of fear in you," she says of becoming a mother later in life.
"It took a lot of work to really pull back from that and really believe and trust in my own body and where I was at, have my own journey with it."
"One of the doctors that I saw, he asked if this was an old-fashioned pregnancy. I was like, 'Well yeah, why not?' It doesn't have to always be another way," she noted.
"Yes, it's wonderful that we have that, but I really want women to feel empowered with themselves. If you know your body and you feel healthy, I think that it's just a matter of time. That's what happened to me."
In their excitement, the couple hadn't immediately considered how different a pregnancy would be during the health crisis.
"I remember talking to my doctor and they were like, 'Okay, you have to wear a mask, you have to come alone … ' I was like, 'Wait a minute, he can't come?' They were like, 'No, sorry.' My husband came home and I told him and we were both so sad," she said.
"I was able to take videos, but when you think about it, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Obviously we know we do what we have to do, but it feels like you're missing out. Now we have our videos and those are good memories. At the end of the day, we're very grateful."
Mena's been busy developing her birth plan now that she's into her second trimester. She had a very specific idea in mind.
"When I thought of what I wanted, [my midwife is] like the embodiment of Mother Earth. I was like, this is the vibe that I want," she said.
"I know none of these things we can control and so much of it changes. We'll find out what the real deal is, but that's my plan and I hope it can go that way."
She's very excited to meet her baby boy. Mena believes she and Mike will give their child a nurturing childhood where they're both present and engaged.
"I've always had this attitude of, I can't wait to get to know them. I just want to be like, who are you? Where do you come from? What do you have to teach me?
"I want to give as much as I can and try to communicate as much as possible and be really present.
"But I don't want to be that helicopter parent! I feel like my husband is going to be the cool one and I'm going to be the one that's nervous about everything.
"I'm still falling into that place and just feeling so honored that he came to us. It's all I ever wanted for years. Even before I met my husband, I always wanted a little boy and it just feels so beautiful and special."
