Pregnancy: My Favorite Things

I have written posts in the past of my favorite things and now that I am at the end of this pregnancy I have been reflecting on my favorite things for this specific time and experience.


Pregnancy isn't for wimps. Fortunately for me, wimps still become pregnant!

In my opinion the pregnancy is so much more difficult than the labor and delivery. I do get epidurals, so perhaps that helps; but even after a 45-hour labor with Annalise, where 35 hours were all on my own, I still said that it was the pregnancy that was difficult.

Labor and Delivery take a few days, at most; pregnancy is 38 weeks, give or take a few. Given that simple fact, plus the fact that a woman's body goes through so many changes what with hormone fluctuations that support the growing baby, and then the growing body of the woman's which puts stress on her muscles, ligaments and bones...yes, to me, pregnancy is more the labor than the one day of delivery. So when I am in labor, it is a celebration. I am so happy to get my deliverance. And a sweet baby. After all, that is the point.


There are a few things that I tried this pregnancy that were new and different from my previous two pregnancies. I have appreciated them so much I want to share.


1. Support Hose

Thank goodness for leg models! I have never been blessed with great legs. Well, not true: they are great and fantastic and wonderful and strong--they support my body and allow me to walk and run and crouch and lift and I am forever grateful for them. They just aren't leg model material. They are functional. My sister and I (who also has fantastically functional legs) lament that our two brothers were blessed with the beautiful legs in the family.

Anyway, this has nothing to do with legs other than I was admiring the legs of the model whose picture I posted showing support hose. My support hose aren't as pretty as hers are either; they are white. But functional.

I started wearing them only this past month. My calf muscles and cankles and feet have been sore and my mom told me to put on some support hose. I have them on now. They feel so nice on. Mama knows best.

2. Calcium and Magnesium Supplements

In addition to my prenatal vitamin, I take a calcium supplement at 1200 mg (plus 1000 IU vitamin D3) and 250mg daily of magnesium. (I was taking fish oil supplements but the "fish burps" were just too much for my gag reflex and heightened sense of taste. I will start taking those again after the baby is born.)

During pregnancy I get killer leg cramps. My first pregnancy was just the calf cramps; I grew up having those and so those, to me, aren't a big deal. My second pregnancy brought on a new challenge: simultaneous shin and calf cramping. Same time. You can't walk the cramp out because not only is it nearly impossible to walk with your foot twisting up and out, it makes the muscles of the shin cramp harder. They happen at night. I wake up and lay there and cry and rub and cry and rub for 5-10 minutes of agony. Then they subside and I go back to sleep. Geoff's sleep during my pregnancies are just as interrupted because I am not good at suffering in silence. Bless him. He will sleep soon.

My sister, who delivered a beautiful baby boy in December of last year, told me about her doctor's recommendation of these two supplements. When the cramps started I headed to the store and bought some. These have made all the difference! I have only had a few nights of these cramps during this pregnancy and they only happened those days when I forgot to take my vitamins and supplements.

I think that perhaps the hip spasms I suffered a lot during the end of my second pregnancy are less this time because of these supplements. I will still wake up crying and have to shift around my hips (especially my pesky left hip), but it isn't as bad. I think there may be a connection.

3. Midwives
My last favorite is my most favorite. I had OB/GYNs for my first two pregnancies. They were fine. My care was good. Satisfactory. Then this time around I went to midwives. One of my major drives for going, at first, was the fact that the OB/GYNs and certified nurse midwives work with my husband. All of the OB/GYNs are male; the midwives are all female. I have dinners with these people. I have even gone on a camping trip with them. Because of the mixed health care/social situations, I felt more comfortable going to the midwives to deliver my baby than the OB/GYNs. There are situations in labor and delivery that can be a bit...humiliating...and I am just more comfortable with women for this big event.

And they still will give me my epidural. (And if for some reason it doesn't work, they will be there for me: bonus!)

Once I started going to them, my reasons for choosing them increased dramatically. Their training in patient care vs. a traditional OB/GYN's training must be different. My appointments have been relaxed, longer, with more dialogue and I have always felt comfortable asking any question I want.

Not that I didn't ask any question to my OB/GYN providers, it is just that my midwives have a very nurturing approach to answering my questions. They have taken time with me. A lot of time. I have high-needs/low-risk pregnancies. That is to say: I am very high-maintenance emotionally, worrying about everything and having questions about everything; but my pregnancies (aside from the miscarriage last Spring) are very healthy and any hiccups I perceive to have along the way are all normal within a healthy pregnancy.

Going to them makes me wonder why more women don't go to a midwife. I would never go to a lay midwife; my midwives are certified nurse practitioner midwives. But if a pregnancy is low-risk, why not go to a midwife?


And that concludes my list.