Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Baby Books: Scaring the Bejeezus out of pregnant women everywhere

I think we made a mistake starting to read baby books already. They are only scaring us, especially the first three months stuff. I think it scared S. so much that she's now insisting we do another beta test. Maybe a bit on a paranoid side, but our doc told us we could if we want to, so we are. I think the main issue is that S. doesn't "feel" pregnant in the way we think of most pregnant women feeling. No nausea or vomiting (yet) or weird food cravings. She did have a weird aversion to her students' breath last week and no desire for a grilled cheese. She's also constipated as hell which I know is a pregnancy sign, so I'm proceeding cautiously with the assumption that S. is pregnant and will stay that way. Our ultrasound isn't for another two weeks--two weeks! Is that normal?? It seems so unbearably far away. But I know (from reading other pregnant lovely ladies' blogs) that the time will fly by and we'll quickly have our reassurance that everything is just fine.

14 comments:

Evillage said...

We didn't have an u/s until 11 weeks. I would say it is normal. The grilled cheese thing is for real! My S seems to have stopped eating normal things and that is one of the biggest signs we got early on. Hang in there you two, you are now on the preggers list!

Unknown said...

Well, my lovely Erin there stole what i was going to say about our 11 week u/s. We obviously talk to each other here and there. :-)

The grilled cheese thing... that's a pretty good indication. I don't like much (if any) cheese anymore. Certainly nothing overly gooey and greasy. It just doesn't "sound good". My actual nausea did not set in until around 5.5 or 6 weeks.

BIG CONGRATS!! and, if you want the beta: DO IT!! our u/s was the most calming thing we've ever done. You have to stay mentally healthy as well as physically healthy!

aspiring baker said...

Congratulations!

I've usually had an ultrasound at 7 weeks, so your date seems about right. As for symptoms: they vary for people, and it's still early.

For me, signs of an impending miscarriage were loss of pregnancy symptoms (i.e., breasts no longer sore), cramping, and spotting.

Cramping without spotting seems fine. At least it has been for me so far with this pregnancy.

Get another beta if it'll make you feel better!

And don't read the baby books, particularly anything with "when you're expecting" in the title. One big hospital in San Francisco actively discourages patients from reading those books because they're so fear-oriented.

Amanda Hanzlik said...

Plesae don't read the "what to expect" books... they are so fearful and honestly...I read way too much, and it made me totally crazy...
relax, meditate...go on walks and think positive thoughts toward your baby.

I didn;t desire cheese either..almost immediately...the biggest food aversions came around week 6 or 7 for me. I didn't feel pregnant until week 5 or 6 either...
don't worry.

HURRAH!

Love,
Amanda

Lo said...

Ditto what Amanda said: we stayed the hell away from the "What to Expect" books b/c people warned us against it/them.

We had our first ultrasound at 6 weeks and celebrated with a trip to the bookstore for pregnancy books. :-)

Unknown said...

I hope your two weeks flies by... plus that is when my egg retrieval should be... so I am really hoping it flies by too!

Congrats again!!!!

Anonymous said...

i banned the "your pregnancy week by week" book (though i believe A has it at work and reads it weekly...). A's coworker lent it to us and it detailed EVERYTHING that could go wrong for the entire 40 weeks. and i've never picked up "what to expect."

not sure about ultra sound timing because we didn't have one till 20 weeks. but i can tell you that the entire first trimester messed with my head. i only felt sick from weeks 6-8. it was great not to be sick, but i didn't feel pregnant and at least the morning sickness proved i was.

it's a hard three months...but it will fly! i am still so excited for you two!

CD and SP said...

ironically, i (c.) worked for the publishing company that publishes "what to expect" and was even at a party with the women celebrating their 10 millionth copy sold. my job was selling those books!! now i can't stand them!

Anonymous said...

HIE THEE to a bookstore and buy The Mother Of All Pregnancy Books.

http://www.amazon.com/Mother-All-Pregnancy-Books-Conception/dp/0764565168/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-2137011-4901468?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194406249&sr=8-1

It's the best book I bought (I returned the others) along with The Thinking Woman's Guide For a Better Birth.

http://cuttingedgepress.net/cep/proddetail.asp?prod=bktheThinkingWomensguide

For what it's worth, I've had very few cravings (apples and cherries). I have a couple of odd taste bud things (no dill pickles, all fruit is unbelievably sweet, love spicy hot food, etc) and funny smell issues. She'll need to take it day by day, but I guarantee she will start feeling pregnant when either the ligaments surrounding the uterus start to go or she starts to pooch out...

So cool!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I should add that the Mother of All Pregnancy Books (sorry bout the links) is full of information, from conception to stillbirth, and focuses on what's going on as well as why you're getting various tests plus their efficacy in determining your baby's health. The info is of the 'this is what you need to know, and what it might mean' nature, not scary at all. The book caters to women of all sizes too, and the author has suffered a miscarriage as well as a stillbirth, so she really knows what she's talking about and how to give the information without scaring the crap out of people.

Amanda Hanzlik said...

agreed! "The Mother of All" book series is FABULOUS.

go and buy it immediately. :)


Amanda

Anonymous said...

If you own, "What to Expect" give it to someone you don't like much. Go out and buy "Pregnancy Sucks." Also a little scary, but in a totally hilarious way.

I also don't feel pregnant. I think it is because we are not very far along. (You know... our virtual twins!) Until toady when I got my first heartburn, which is not going away. Now I want to go back to not feeling pregnant.

Also, if you can, ask your mom if she got morning sickness. My mom did not, so I'm not as worried about it.

Dr. Grumbles said...

Some OBs make women wait until 16 weeks to get the first u/s. 16!!!

Put the books down! They can freak you out.

LD said...

*sigh* Am I allowed to call you yet? :)