Jana Kramer, 39, says her 3rd pregnancy is 'a little bit harder': 'I'm just older'

 (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Jana Kramer is thrilled to be expecting her third child — but the actress, singer and podcast host says things are a little bit more complicated this time around.

“Obviously it's been a little bit harder. I’m just a little older and this is my third kid,” the One Tree Hill alum, 39, told People at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas on Friday.

Kramer, who is engaged to Allan Russell, has a son, Jace, and a daughter, Jolie, with her ex-husband, former football star Mike Caussin. While she noted that things are "a little different now," she said she's "just so blessed."

"I didn't think this would be possible," she told People, "so it's a beautiful, beautiful thing."

Kramer also gave some insight into what she's eating this pregnancy.

“I’m just constantly craving peaches and orange juice. In the middle of the night, I’ll go to the refrigerator and just open it. I'm not using a cup, unfortunately," she joked. "I'm just drinking orange juice straight from the container.”

Kramer is certainly not alone in having specific food desires during her pregnancy, with somewhere between 50 and 90% of pregnant people experiencing cravings. Dr. Tiffany Pham, a medical adviser at women’s health app Flo, told Yahoo Life that the five most commonly sought-after food groups include sweets, carbs, animal protein, fruit and dairy.

In addition to discussing her happiness in the present, Kramer is doing some reflecting on her past. In an appearance on Good Morning America back in July, she discussed her new memoir The Next Chapter. Kramer explained that she chose to end the book, which comes out in the fall, with her current relationship with Russell in order to inspire "hope and growth," and "take people along the journey."

"I didn't think I'd ever have my happy ending," she said, citing her traumatic experience with domestic violence. Kramer was previously married to Michael Gambino, who choked her into unconsciousness outside of their California home in 2005. He was later convicted of attempted murder, and was sentenced to six years in prison before dying by suicide in 2010.

"That's the belief, when someone puts a hand to you — you just think that's what you deserve," Kramer said.

Kramer has also been open about actively working on her mental health. After years of suffering from panic attacks, she found medication to be helpful following the birth of her first child, she said on her Whine Down podcast in Dec. 2022. She took Lexapro, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), to treat anxiety and depression. However, after a challenging divorce from Caussin, her panic attacks went away. Last year, she noted that she was off anxiety medications for the first time in 18 years.

“Post getting divorced, I have not had a panic attack,” she said. “It’s like when you release the negative or the triggers from the past or something that may remind you of it. That was still in my body.”