Since starting to write about pregnancy on my blog, I have received so many comments, emails, and even a handwritten letter about my thoughts and experiences as well as other people’s opinions and their experiences and I am amazed at the numerous remarks!   I have been writing blogs since 2007 and I have received more input in the last 3 months on this topic than I have for any blog that I have written in all the years combined!   Which, to me, is really exciting and interesting to have finally generated a topic of conversation and opinion; but its also a hot button topic right now.  What I didn’t expect is that so many people would take this blog personally or see themselves in the blog.
My thoughts on this subject have come from years of being interested in childbirth, starting when I was taking entry to midwifery classes in college; I have absorbed every birth story from friends to hippiesew members (way back in the day) to birth stories I read on the web, and every pregnancy discussion over all the years including those with my friends,  or members of the numerous groups that I am part of online, friends from years past especially those in college or high school friends who have shared their experiences with me and their births, my family, and lots more.   This has been a subject discussed at length, because it interests me.  I am also fortunate to know many medical professionals, from doulas, to midwives to physician assistants, doctors and nurses.  All of these people have knowledge and opinions on the subject of childbirth and I have discussed it with many people at different points in time.  So when people read this blog and think they may be the topic or subject of the post, I get confused, because I am writing this about me.  I have no intention to make anyone hurt, or that I am calling out anyone in particular, or that I only have talked to *you* about this subject.  I have had numerous people think I am talking about them, and really, I am not!   I am making huge generalizations about the percentages of women who breastfeed or have epidurals, and many other things, so don’t think this is about *anyone* in particular. Read the rest of this entry »

15 weeks pregnant

~* written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~

I posted part 1 of my blog a couple of weeks ago, it was written in part early on in my pregnancy and then 2 weeks ago.  There was so much that came up with the topic, I wanted to continue it in another post.

One point that I didn’t include in my previous post is regarding the information in the pregnancy books.  There are so many books about pregnancy to choose from out there, and each one of those says something different about key information during pregnancy. I can open up 4 different books on my shelf right now and get conflicting answers about almost everything during pregnancy.  I have started to pick and choose from books the answers that I like best, and since they are in a book, well, it must be true, right?  One of my books even states as a fact that you should skip the gym because exercise during pregnancy doesn’t help with labor and delivery.  I was shocked to read that, because common sense says that its probably better to be fit than not fit, why not keep up minor exercise during pregnancy? Read the rest of this entry »

No, this wasn't my beer.

~* written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~
Written partly in early April, partly today May 10th, 2011.

It’s still really weird to call myself a mom; I can write it, but saying it out loud is hard and knowing I am responsible for someone is even harder and the responsibility starts during gestation by the choices you make.  So, now comes the gray area of every mom-to-be; how do you handle your pregnancy, how do you choose from all the conflicting advice and evidence even in the medical community regarding what is safe and not safe during pregnancy?   I think there are more gray areas during pregnancy then there are statistics showing actual evidence one way or another; here is what I mean.  Is it okay to take Tylenol or  Benadryl when needed or highlight your hair, what about having a glass of wine, or an albacore tuna sandwich, get a manicure/pedicure, drink herbal tea, take herbs, etc., etc., and the list goes on and on.  I am sure some of you said ‘yes’ and others said ‘no’ to each of these things.  Read the rest of this entry »

~* written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~
Written Early April at 10 Weeks:
At about week 10, I started to feel a change.  It was almost like I woke up one day and didn’t feel as queasy or anxious.  I remember learning in college (I took lots of child birthing classes) that a woman’s hormone levels can just drop instantly and that immediately makes them feel better and I was sure this had happened.  I wasn’t sweating as much, my stomach didn’t demand food quite as often and my nausea declined significantly.  I could feel a difference within 1 day and it was amazing and I was so grateful. Read the rest of this entry »

~* written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~
When I started this blog, I wanted to share all my feelings and experiences regarding this pregnancy, and I was prepared for criticism and negative comments toward me and the way I handle pregnancy.  But the last thing that I wanted was to make other people I love feel hurt by my writing; I made a family member pretty sad in a prior post so I tried to be more vague in future posts and that didn’t work either.  Unfortunately, being vague can make anyone (everyone) reading the blog feel bad for their actions, even when it wasn’t directed at them and I apologize for this.  I receive lots of comments to my email regarding what I write, some great, some negative, and I have considered stopping writing so candidly because of this.  However, my husband insists that I need to keep writing, ‘even if its not positive about him” (his words) because he can see how writing this has helped me.  Saying, “with all the things I have tried to do over the years to handle some of my fears, this is working for me the best for my pregnancy”.   So, I will forge onward with a lesson learned and hope I can do better in the future .  I love and value all of my friends and family.

Read the rest of this entry »

~* written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~
Week 9, Written early April.
There are so many things that surprise you when you are pregnant, your body, your hormones, your feelings, but what surprised me the most was the reactions of friends/family.   I noticed pretty immediately that things with all of our friends changed after announcing the pregnancy, we didn’t get emails about happy hour or late night gatherings that we might have usually received, I didn’t receive congratulations or even a word spoken from several friends who don’t have kids.  Yet, I got a lot more emails, calls, and visits from friends with kids who were checking up on me, asking how I was doing, bringing supplies and nausea friendly foods.   This really bothered me because I don’t feel like a mom yet, I just feel like me, but with restrictions and I felt like I didn’t really belong anywhere.  Not with the moms yet, not with the ‘kids free’ friends either.  It was like getting kicked out of a club that I always belonged to, and initiated into a club that I never really knew existed.  *Now, certainly every person’s life is busy and I am generalizing as a whole with what I say here, if you are reading this and you are a friend, don’t take it personally, combined with my body surging with hormones makes a person a little more sensitive to the little things; see disclaimer above. Read the rest of this entry »

~ * written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~
Weeks 7 – 8;  Written March 23rd
I noticed one thing right away when becoming pregnant, it’s not what you think it’s going to be, or what you have read about, it’s entirely different. Really!  Remember this if you have a pregnant friend, or are planning on kiddos in your future so you won’t be as shocked as I was.   I remember telling one friend in week 5 that I felt sick and nauseas already, she promptly responded that I couldn’t feel that way yet, it was too early in my pregnancy and I either had to be farther along, or just making it up in my head.   Not a good thing to say to a pregnant lady!  But I sure did feel sick, from 4-5 weeks to week 10 at least.  Everyone’s pregnancy is different, from morning sickness to headaches, fatigue and delivery.  No-one is standard, text-book; and there are variations from the norm, like me, getting sick early on in pregnancy.  I had insomnia even before I knew I was pregnant! Read the rest of this entry »

Josh and I had taken a trip to Florida recently and I was talking with my grandmother about pregnancy; she told me that each time she announced her pregnancies (all 5 of them) she put a pair of booties on the Christmas Tree. I am not sure how she ended up having Christmas at the right time, each time, but that’s how it worked out for her. She also mentioned that my Great Aunt Hazel would say after the 3rd baby; “oh another one, really?” This cracked me up!
I wanted to share the news with my immediate family in a creative away, and after hearing her story I decided to get booties for my parents, grandparents and mother in law and send them in the mail with a note. I had already spilled the news to my sister on the phone about a week prior, she was very excited, as I expected 
Read the rest of this entry »

~* written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~
Week 7; What happened to personal hygiene and sleep?  Written March 13th
Before pregnancy, I showered most every day, cause that’s just normal, right?  But since pregnancy somehow this has completely gone by the wayside and I am not sure how that happened?  I realized today, Friday, that I hadn’t showered since Tuesday or maybe Wednesday and with all the sweating during the night, I was pretty gross, so I managed to take a shower.
It would seem I’d have plenty of time to shower, since I haven’t slept more than 5 hours per night in weeks, but somehow each day goes by and I have completely forgotten about this normal part of my daily routine.   Do my hair, what?  Make-up, hell no!  Brushing my teeth…if I get to it. Read the rest of this entry »

~* written from my perspective; pregnant for the first time, nervous, and hormonal; take these posts with a grain of salt please *~ Week 6; Written March 2nd.
One of my biggest stressors is that Josh and I don’t have insurance until April 1^st, he changed jobs and we had a lapse in insurance until the new insurance kicked in.  This causes me a lot of anxiety, especially now that I am pregnant and I called my primary care doctor about a consult.  She was able to get me in on Monday , two weeks after I found out I was pregnant, for a consult.  This consult entailed figuring out who would deliver the baby and assume my care on April 1.  She recommended a birth center, since I preferred a midwife, near Swedish Hospital about 20 minutes from our house.  I had already found that same birth center online, and so it was great to hear her refer them.  I talked to her about the “world of no” that I was experiencing being pregnant and asked her about what I CAN do during this pregnancy.  She recommended NO medicine, no sushi, no nuthin’ during the first trimester; but then she said after that, things aren’t so strict.  She mentioned she had a few beers during both of her pregnancies and she ate the food she was comfortable with, she ate a turkey sandwich everyday during her pregnancies saying that lysteria is very rare in the US and if you are worried about it, nuke the lunchmeat for 10 seconds.   She also said she had coffee, but cautioned me against sushi, and specifically ahi tuna, which is a bummer.  I suppose the sushi will taste real good in November… Read the rest of this entry »