“Pregnancy seemed like a tremendous abdication of control.
Something growing inside you which would eventually usurp
your life.”
– ERICA JONG
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1930’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s!!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn’t get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our
heads.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren’t overweight.
WHY?
Because
we were always outside playing…that’s why!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running
into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Play stations, Nintendo, X-boxes and Wii’s. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD’s, no
surround-sound or CD’s, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chatrooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes..
We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
If YOU are one of them?
CONGRATULATIONS!
With my previous pregnancies, I had always wondered how I would deal with the “side-effects” of pregnacy and this time around I am experiencing every single one of them!
From morning sickness to extreme fatigue, and now hip pain so bad, the pain actually keeps me up at night. Warm showers, and compresses have done nothing to help, taking any kind of pain medication is out of the question (have had the pain since week 14, and worry about the long term effects on baby), but disgustingly every single chiropractor I’ve contacted wants me to pay an additional $75 plus what they charge my insurance?!?!
So I sit here longingly eying my bed knowing that getting into it means instant pain, but on a happier note, I am officially 25 weeks today, 2 weeks till the start of the third trimester, and 15 weeks till this little bundle of joy is ready to emerge and revel his/her self!
I am so excited, my last monthly appointment is tomorrow morning, and then its every two weeks thereafter! A big reason for my excitement is that I’ll get to talk to my midwife about some problems I’ve noticed since my last visit.
Without knowing that I was pregnant at the time, I got a prescription for reading glasses, forgetting that as with everything pregnancy related, the eyes get thrown out of sync, so even when I use my glasses, I still have blurred vision occasionally. I don’t believe it has to do with my eyes being overtired, as I take plenty of breaks throughout the day, but I guess I just need the reassurance that it is nothing more serious.
Looking over the records from my previous pregnancies, the pattern I saw was that by 30-weeks I was 3 cm dilated, and I have been experiencing erratic contractions (one’s I have been unable to talk through or walk) with no one activity starting them. Thankfully my CNM is aware of my history of pre-term labor, and they seem confident that I won’t need to be transferred to a perinatologist for the duration of my pregnancy.
While I loved the doctor that delivered my three children, the idea of bed rest, terbutaline, and weekly checks is no cake walk, so here is to an uneventful appointment tomorrow!
