JANA PITTMAN’S DOUBLE JOY BABY #4 AND A SECRET WEDDING
THE TRACK CHAMP’S SURPRISE ADDITION IS JUST WHAT THE NEW DOCTOR ORDERED
When track queen Jana Pittman looked down at “the line on the stick” she couldn’t believe her eyes. “How could I be pregnant so quickly?” she asked herself, shaking her head in disbelief.
In New Zealand for the filming of a reality TV show, the former double world champ and Commonwealth Games 400m hurdles gold medallist was a long way from anyone she could share her confounding news with, so she sent an image of the stick to her fiancé in Sydney.
“Oh my God, are you sure?” came his reply. Then, “Before I get too excited, is there any chance this could be false?”
To make doubly, triply, then quadruply sure, Jana, 37, who is already mum to Cornelis, 13, from her marriage to Chris Rawlinson, as well as Emily, 5, and 3-year-old Jemima, from the same anonymous sperm donor, immediately raced out and bought three more pregnancy test kits.
“And they all said the same thing,” she giggles. “Paul and I had recently decided we wanted a baby, but at my age and with my patchy pregnancy history, we’d only just finished the conversation about the possibility I might never be able to have kids again.”
The couple had decided it would probably take months to fall pregnant, if at all, because Jana had lost three pregnancies previously and endured two rounds of IVF – “Which is where I truly thought we’d end up this time – back in IVF,” she says.
A recent ultrasound confirmed ‘Baby Pittman’ is nearing the end of the first trimester, with a birth date estimated to be November 25, and both parents are over the moon with excitement.
“I was delighted to see a little heartbeat, but I felt a bit sad for Paul (a Sydney businessman who prefers to remain out of the spotlight), because he wasn’t allowed into the ultrasound, thanks to COVID-19 restrictions,” says Jana, who sent her lover a video instead.
“Paul’s 51 and has never been a dad before, so he’s really keen to find out if it’s a boy or a girl, but I don’t mind either way. We’ve decided names already and the baby will have the first name of one of his older relatives. My son Cor is ecstatic but says he’ll cry if it’s another girl!”
The couple met many years ago, then reconnected last year and have been together for almost six months.
“He’s like me – very driven – which is probably why he’s never had kids,” suggests Jana, admitting the attraction was instant and strong at their first coffee date.
“I love his intelligence, the way he communicates, how he calms me and embraces everything about me. I’ve never had that before.
“We’re more pragmatic than romantic together, which is why I think we fit very well. We’ve decided to elope in about June, but that’s mainly because we don’t want the fuss that goes with a wedding.
“The plan is to have the kids there and our brothers as witnesses, but if the current COVID-19 restrictions are still in place (where only five can attend a wedding), perhaps we’ll have the kids watching from a nearby balcony,” she laughs.
The former sprint star, who still runs daily, says her younger self wouldn’t be at all surprised by how big her family has grown. Her childhood dream was to be an Olympian, become a doctor and have five children.
After five years of study, Jana recently completed her medical degree and is now Dr Pittman. And the hard-working over-achiever was co-dux of her course, combining study with rearing three children, all as a single mum!
“I didn’t ever feel I was the smartest in the year,” she says, sheepishly. “But I know I worked three times as hard to achieve my three Ms over that period – motherhood, medicine and mortgage. The three Ms made all my challenges in athletics pale in significance.”
With baby No. 4 on the way, the ambitious junior doctor has decided to take five months off her new job at the Blacktown and Mt Druitt Hospital and she couldn’t be happier having her new man by her side.
“After doing my last two pregnancies solo, I’m beyond happy I have someone I love to share this with,” gushes Jana. “It was such a miracle to fall pregnant and I couldn’t wish for a better man to be by my side.”