Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Of pukiness and upset stomachs...

The joy of the first trimester. It's an odd conundrum, because on one hand, I hate feeling so lousy all the time. On the other hand, I'm thrilled to be pregnant, and these symptoms assure me that all is going well with Baby CL. It's a quandry.

This pregnancy has been so totally different from my pregnancy with Hank. I felt mostly great in my first trimester back then, aside from crippling exhaustion. This time, I don't go to bed any earlier than usual, but I feel rank all.the.time. It's hard for me to concentrate at work because of the omnipresent burning nausea. It's gross.

But I persevere. Finally, my first visit to the ob/gyn is approaching. On Monday, I go in for what my practice terms a "viability ultrasound." I bit scary sounding, no? Because the implication is that there is a possibility that the pregnancy is not "viable." I know they don't mean anything malicious by it; they simply mean that it's possible that the pregnancy has not progressed, meaning that the baby has died. This "missed miscarriage" is pretty much my worst nightmare, but can one do? Just pray.

This time I've already been doing lots of childbirth preparation reading. Last time, I pretty much did nothing :) I was just so scared, and figured I'd tough it out as long as I could. Mike and I did take the hospital childbirth preparation course, but that didn't really provide much aside from an understanding of the hospital's facilities and policies. Not that that isn't important, but it did not provide any assistance by way of natural pain management.

So, this time, I shall post on the following:

My childbirth experience with Hank. Oh, I bet you can't wait for this one, right? :) Some book reviews of the books I've read. My philosophy on childbirth. Why I choose hospital birth over home birth (but why I've come to understand the allure of home birth). How I hope for things to go this time, as compared to last time.

Should be interesting stuff.

2 comments:

  1. Do you have a birth center in your area? We have one, but hubby insisted on the hospital birth. I told him next time it would be in a birthing center if we lived in a place with one.

    I like them because they are usually right next to a hospital should complications arise, but you get all the niceties of a natural birth like a birthing tub. I had a shower in my hospital room, but they wouldn't let me use that because I had to be monitored constantly. It's silly really.

    I've had two friends tell me that they loved the birthing center. I don't think that I'd want a home birth either. Something about being in my house that's oh so tiny stresses me out.

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  2. Hey! This is a great question, and I'm actually uncertain about the answer. To my knowledge, we do not have a birth center near the hospital that I will deliver at. It's possible there are other unaffiliated birth centers. I'm definitely interested in this type of birth experience, but I'm reluctant to change from my ob/gyn, since I'm so used to them and I like them. Lots to think about :)

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