BrianandLibby.com

Well it wasn’t so much an issue of a survey - who would leave such an important decision up to a simple survey, vote or contest? (haha, jk) It was more of a judgment based on our experience with them, and we definitely took our friends’ experience into consideration. The verdict? We’re going to stick with the midwives until experience/research tells us to consider otherwise!

I’ve been doing a fair amount of research and it seems like a great option for a pregnancy that seems normal and healthy thus far. Plus, this particular group of midwives is within my OB-GYN practice, so they work closely with the doctors and, should the delivery/pregnancy become anything but normal at anytime, the transition back to a doctor is pretty seamless, whether it’s in 2 months or in the last 10 minutes of my delivery. We’ll still deliver at Saratoga Hospital too, so it’s not like I’m delivering in my bathtub or anything! I’m not quite that hardcore. Plus, unlike the midwives of yore, ours are in full support of whatever drugs we opt for (which, at this point, is pretty much all of them). So although I can’t say this is the best way to go for everyone, we’re sticking with it for now.

The first visit sealed the deal. Brian and I both agreed that the whole experience was less clinical and much more personal. It appealed to the first time parents-to-be who want to know more than just the fact that a heartbeat is there; we liked hearing more about what the rate means, if it’s “strong” or “weak” (relatively speaking), and all the little fun things, like “that sound is your baby moving.” Altogether we got more time and it was “warm and fuzzier;” I guess we’re into that. Plus, the way my OB practice works, if you work with the Dr’s you see all 6 of them and have a 1 in 6 chance of getting the one you like on the day of delivery. There are 3 midwives and you have a 1 in 3 chance of getting the one you like on the day of. Not to mention, we like 1 out of the 2 dr’s we’ve met so far, and 1 out of 1 midwife. So it really came down to simple math :) 

The only thing I didn’t like about the midwife is that she asked me point blank about how my diet was. How dare she make me responsible for the nutrition of my baby! Either way, I kind of love her at the same time, because her little trick totally worked. I had salad for dinner last night, and I’m eating one now. I also had a Frosty and a “stack attack” (Wendy’s, one dollar, try one) at 9pm last night. But that’s ok b/c my motto is to focus on getting the good in, not so much keeping the bad out. Maybe I will grab some fries after I finish this salad…

I’m learning, now that my pregnancy is more public, that there are two things people almost always say when they know you’re pregnant. I would like to share my thoughts on each of them:

How do you feel?
This question is ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as the fact that I always answer “great!” (with a big smile of course). Want to know how I really feel? Too bad, I’m telling you either way. Sure, I’m not nauseous and unable to buy groceries anymore (although strangely enough, I still rarely do), and I’m not spending every night on the couch until submitting to an 8pm bedtime, BUT this is how I really feel. I am bloated. I am tired. I am gaining weight at a startling pace (ok, like 4 pounds so far, but still, quite startling). I almost always have a headache. My pants are tight, and most likely unbuttoned at any given moment. I am ravenous every 3-4 hours and if I don’t eat, I’m back to unmanageable nausea and cereal for dinner. I have to pee every 45 minutes to an hour, which is kind of an issue since I HAVE NO OFFICE (I work out of my car)!  I have excruciating pain in my back that makes no sense since I haven’t really gotten big yet. I wore ugly shoes (aka flats) for 6 consecutive workdays and it hasn’t improved. But hey, my hair is shiny and my nails are really long so I guess it’s all good right?

You look great!
People always tell me this. Ya know what? It’s wierd. When they say it, I think to myself, are they just saying that (considering the information about) they expect me to look fat, unhealthy and unhappy all the live-long day, and I actually look human? Or are they saying it because I really look horrible, but for good reason, so they want me to feel better about myself? Quite frankly I think I look the same, so either I looked really bad before, or I look worse now and people are feeling sorry for me, so they lie. I guess I should thank them because considering my irritability (which I forgot to mention in my list of grievances above) I would probably knock them out if they told me the truth.

Just some food for thought for those of you who aren’t currently or have never been pregnant. To be honest, I usually am guilty of saying both of these things. I probably still will in the future, but now I am more aware of how ridiculous is sounds on the receiving end.