adjective. having expectations; expecting: an excited, expectant audience.

: feeling or thinking that something will happen : expecting something. : expecting the birth of a child : soon to become a parent. See the full definition for expectant in the English Language Learners Dictionary.

Adjective. Of a woman, female animal, or couple, in expectation of giving birth; pregnant. The expecting mother is enthusiastic about learning childcare.

expectantly adverb – Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com.

In an expected way; as expected; predictably.

adjective. expecting, anticipating, or hopefulan expectant glance.

Expectant sentence example

1. She met his expectant gaze.
2. I remained still and expectant ; a chilling terror crept over me.
3. He gave her a grateful look, but was still expectant and looking for someone.
4. The friendly herd followed them, crowding the expectant mother.
5. He watched the expectant look turn to one of disbelief.

other words for expectant

• alert.
• anticipative.
• anxious.
• apprehensive.
• awaiting.
• breathless.
• eager.
• expecting.

expectant (adj.) “having expectation, looking forward to (something) with confidence,” late 14c., expectant/expectaunt, from Old French expectant or directly from Latin expectantem/exspectantem (nominative expectans/exspectans), present participle of expectare/exspectare “await, desire, hope” (see expect).

: a woman who is pregnant.

Antonyms of EXPECTANT indifferent, nonpregnant, uninterested, unconcerned, hopeless, barren, Miscarrying, unmoved, apathetic, unimpressed, aborting, infertile.

expectant adjective (THINKING) Want to learn more? Learn the words you need to communicate with confidence.

The condition of looking forward to something, especially with eagerness: anticipation, expectancy, expectation.

Expectant fathers go through profound changes, too, even though their bodies don’t change. Overcoming fears and assumptions is part of becoming a father. “He’s worried about what kind of father he’ll be, how he can afford having a child, how his relationship with his wife will change.

When pregnancy symptoms such as nausea, weight gain, mood swings and bloating occur in men, the condition is called couvade, or sympathetic pregnancy. Depending on the human culture, couvade can also encompass ritualized behavior by the father during the labor and delivery of his child.

Before the Baby is Born

• Talk, read, and sing to your baby-to-be. Babies can hear during the second trimester of pregnancy, and recognize voices in the third trimester—including yours!
• Attend doctor’s visits as much as you can.
• Try a class for expectant parents.
• Support healthy habits.
• Be there for labor and delivery.

Many men also experience emotional changes during pregnancy, such as moodiness and depression. These symptoms may be linked to their worries about losing their partner’s love and affection once the baby is born.

“They also recognize their parents’ voices from the moment they are born. If dad sings to the baby while baby is still in the womb, baby will know the song, calm and look to dad.” The family that sings together, stays together.

The fact is, many men — the majority, as indicated in this study — desire their pregnant partner more than ever before, even if they aren’t having as much sex as before. They find her as physically attractive as she was prepregnancy, if not more so.

Experts say the best time to get pregnant is between your late 20s and early 30s. This age range is associated with the best outcomes for both you and your baby. One study pinpointed the ideal age to give birth to a first child as 30.5. Your age is just one factor that should go into your decision to get pregnant.

Women are most fertile and have the best chance of getting pregnant in their 20s. This is the time when you have the highest number of good quality eggs available and your pregnancy risks are lowest. At age 25, your odds of conceiving after 3 months of trying are just under 20 percent .

The model recommends you get started by age 32 to have a 90 per cent chance of realising your dream without IVF. A brood of three would mean starting by age 23 to have the same chance of success. Wait until 35 and the odds are 50:50 (see “When to get started”).

Having a baby after age 35 is more common than ever, but the buck doesn’t stop there. Plenty of women are successfully having babies in their 40s and 50s, too. We’ve all heard about the tick-tock, tick-tock of that “biological clock,” and it’s true — age can make a difference in terms of natural conception.

The oldest mother that was reported by Guinness World Records to deliver a child after conceiving naturally was 59. In 2019, a 74-year-old woman from southern India had twin girls via IVF and is reportedly the oldest woman ever to give birth, according to USA Today.

A lithopedion – also spelled lithopaedion or lithopædion – (Ancient Greek: λίθος = stone; Ancient Greek: παιδίον = small child, infant), or stone baby, is a rare phenomenon which occurs most commonly when a fetus dies during an abdominal pregnancy, is too large to be reabsorbed by the body, and calcifies on the outside …

In the era of assisted reproduction, we have potential to achieve pregnancy for women at any age. Irrespective of menstrual functioning of the women, we can now have pregnancy even in the postmenopausal period.

She received international media attention in 2005, when she gave birth to daughter Eliza at age 66, making her the oldest birth mother in the world until this record was broken in 2006 by María del Carmen Bousada de Lara….

Adriana Iliescu
Children	Eliza Maria (b. 2005)