Not content with pushing her body to its limits on SAS Australia, mum of four, Jana Pittman, has found a new way to stretch her boundaries – a twins pregnancy!
“I never thought I’d have six children,” Jana, the last woman standing on Channel 7’s popular reality show, exclusively tells New Idea during our photo shoot at her Sydney home. “I don’t know how we are going to cope. How will we all fit into my car? I can see life is going to be a logistical nightmare.”
Watch: Jana Pittman Talks About Her Career Change From An Athlete To A Doctor
The much-loved contestant says she fell pregnant in the months after filming wrapped and is now 11 weeks along – and constantly nauseous.
“Early on, I used to wonder: ‘Why am I so nauseous?’ None of my other babies made me feel sick,” Jana explains, admitting the varicose veins on her left leg are very real, too. “I pondered if I had twins on board.”
In the early days, Jana, 39, tried to conceal her exciting news until she felt sure the twins were going to be viable, but that became impossible when she vomited at work one day.
“I was in surgery, trying hard to concentrate. Just as we closed up the patient, who was in for a caesarean, I walked away from the table and threw up,” admits the junior doctor with embarrassment, who was co-dux of her graduating year at university.
“It went all over my mask, up into my goggles and peppered my face shield, to the point that I couldn’t see, and a nurse had to lead me away from the table. It was then that I admitted to my boss that I was pregnant.”
While continuing to work has been challenging, being a doctor has its perks – like for instance, having daily access to an ultrasound machine.
“I can’t help walking past and checking in on my babies. I have ‘quick looks’ all of the time. At six weeks, I saw one baby and an anomaly, which got me worried. Then at seven weeks, the anomaly became clearer and I saw it was the second baby. I was so relieved, then happy, then a bit shocked.”
New husband, Paul Gatward, 53, a finance lawyer, is ecstatic there’ll be two additions to their ‘Brady Bunch’ family, which includes son, Charlie, 11 months, daughters Emily, 6, and Jemima, 4 – who Jana conceived through anonymous sperm donation when she was a single mum – and 14-year-old Cornelis, Jana’s son to her former coach and husband, Chris Rawlinson.
“Paul never thought he’d have children, so he’s ecstatic. And I’m stoked because I love the idea of having a beautiful, big family for the rest of my life,” Jana gushes, revealing the sentimental memories to come, including Christmas and family weddings, are times she sincerely looks forward to.
She adds: “I’m going to have a very full life and that gives me a lot of peace and pleasure.”
Jana is thankful her kids will never be alone thanks to their soon six-strong brood, explaining that previously being a single mum had her fearful that her children would grow up lonely.
The former Olympic athlete anticipates the next two to three years are going to be the hardest.
“I’m going to reduce my hours to part-time and rely on my mum. She’s also resigned to the fact she may not sleep soundly for the next five years – which feeds into the question on everyone’s lips: ‘Will there be more children?’
“Not a chance!” laughs the former hurdles champion. “My desire to fall pregnant again has gone. The flame is out. I’m going to immerse myself in the joy of this last pregnancy and enjoy the feeling of having twins grow inside of me.”
Read more in this weeks New Idea, on sale now.
