14 weeks and nothing to report

The title says it all. Week 14 was totally uneventful. I feel great. I even listened to heart tones at work just to make sure the little one was still in there since I feel so normal. Not a complaint to be had. Since there is nothing to report, I've posted an article I wrote for our birth center's community magazine. Enjoy!

If you see me and my husband in your prenatal class or notice that I’m starting to fill out a little bit, it’s not because I packed on some holiday pounds. My husband and I are expecting our first baby this summer. We are thrilled. Experiencing pregnancy as a midwife is great fun. Things that I hear and see each day from my patients, I now experience first hand. (Well, lucky for me, not morning sickness, vomiting, or cravings…yet.)

            Prior to conceiving there were several things we did to help ourselves (and our baby) to prepare for the pregnancy. If you are planning a pregnancy, you may want to consider these things yourself.

1. My husband and I paid off all of our debts. I finished graduate school with significant student loan debt. It was always our goal to pay off all of it before starting a family. It has meant that I don’t drive a brand new car, I don’t have a fancy phone, and we don’t even have cable TV but by living on a budget, we are now 100% debt free. This frees up a significant portion of our income for things like childcare and savings.

2. In addition to the health insurance plan I am offered at work, my husband added me to his plan. For an extra $50 a month, the pregnancy is covered by two insurance plans meaning that copays, labs, and other expenses will likely be completely covered. As a healthcare provider, I am aware of the expense that a pregnancy entails, especially if mom or baby ends up spending extra time in the hospital. If you don’t have insurance, consider adding yourself to your spouses plan during open enrollment or applying for either private insurance or Medicaid. If all else fails, start a savings account to cover expenses like prenatal care and delivery.

3. Most women know that healthy mothers grow healthy babies and have healthy normal births. Prior to conceiving, I wanted to be in my best health possible. I made sure to include regular exercise in each day, and I began taking a folic acid supplement daily. Folic acid is a nutrient known to prevent birth defects of the baby’s back or spine if it is available in adequate amounts at the time of conception and the first couple of weeks of pregnancy. It is recommended that all women who may become pregnant supplement their diet with 800mcg of folic acid daily. I also paid extra attention to my diet, striving for whole foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and avoiding highly processed foods and extra sweets.

Then the fun part began. I became pregnant after just a couple of months of trying. First trimester was a breeze. Yes, I felt very tired at times. At work, I sometimes felt like I could just put my head down on my desk and fall asleep. My husband would come home from work and find me dozing on the couch instead of in my tennis shoes ready to take our dog for a walk, or cooking some new creation for dinner. Luckily, by about nine weeks, that passed and I felt like my good ol’ self. We continue our evening loop, walking the dog about two miles. I’m trying to get some of the nurses from clinic to Zumba with me at the Tamuning Senior Center. I have found that planning for snack attacks is key. It isn’t unusual to go into Sagua or GMH for what I think will be a quick visit with a patient or a delivery and emerge hours later, hungry, dehydrated, and exhausted. I’ve stuck snacks into every purse, glove compartment, desk drawer, and cabinet. Nuts, cottage cheese, yogurt with fruit, and hard boiled eggs are good ones. I find that if I eat protein (found in all of those foods) I stay full longer and I can eat less and feel full.

            Many women complain of difficulty sleeping at all stages of pregnancy. I found that I was having a hard time settling at night. So, in addition to our evening walks, I started listening to relaxation tracks from that I had on a Hypnobirthing CD (more to come about that in a later article). It works like a charm! Each night, as I settle into bed, I plug in my iPod and listen to the 20 minute track and often, I’m asleep by the time it’s over. If you have difficulty sleeping and would like to try the relaxation CDs, let me know and I can get you a copy and you’ll be sleeping like a baby in no time.