Forewarning: My wife recommended that I not breach the following topic lest my ignorance show through. In her words "I would go easy on the birth plan since you haven't done much research on 'why.'" I am ignoring her warning and proceeding anyway.
The first time I heard about a "birth plan," what immediately popped into my head was which car we would take to the hospital once the little dude was ready to roll on out. I have never once thought anything beyond this, and the first time I thought about this was when it became apparent to me that a birth plan was needed. I always thought that labor and delivery just kind of happened with no planning needed except for making sure you aren't traveling to some place like Kosovo or Angola any time close to when you are about to deliver. Apparently this was not enough forethought into the birthing process. To be honest, I don't care to forethink anymore into the birthing process. One time I came in the room at a terrible time during one of the TLC channel's baby stories when a woman was giving birth in a bathtub and I almost lost whatever I had eaten that day. Why do we have the technology to blur out screens if we don't use it in what I would say is the absolute most appropriate situation for censoring? I don't care what anybody says, that is not beautiful or moving. Maybe it will be beautiful when it is my own child, but much like your own fart isn't funny to anyone else but you, I have concluded that the birth of a child couldn't be beautiful to anyone else but its own parents. So birthing plan rule #1- I plan on murdering anyone who tries to bring a camera into the delivery room. All of that to say, the less forethinking I can do about my wife giving birth, the better.
So, what goes into a birthing plan? More than I ever imagined. Here are a few things that I have learned about:
1. Hospital, birthing center, or home- This was figured out early for us. I had always dreamed of my first child being born at UNC Hospital in my favorite place in the world, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. However, some doctors will not agree to deliver a baby without seeing the woman throughout her pregnancy, or at least a good part of her pregnancy, and due to our location throughout a vast majority of the pregnancy, that wasn't possible in Chapel Hill. My wife had the right mind to check at her last checkup to make sure her doctor in Norfolk would see her, which she agreed to. Therefore, we have decided to go with the hospital in Norfolk. My wife had hopes of giving birth in the birthing center attached to the hospital. The first time I heard of the idea of a birthing center, I asked my wife "what the heck is a labor and delivery ward in a hospital if not a birthing center?" Offensive question #1. Guys, I had no idea that you could ask so many offensive questions. My wife explained that a birthing center is a place where you give birth with no doctor present. Offensive questions #2-6 soon followed. My wife really wanted the doctor-less option, but unfortunately you cannot give birth at the doctor-less birthing center unless the midwives see you at a certain point in the pregnancy which was actually earlier than we were going to be in America, so that option was ruled out. Confusingly enough, while in America this past summer, my wife was seen by a midwife in the doctor's office, who referred to herself as a doctor several times, thus confusing me more in the difference in a hospital and birthing center. Apparently another new popular option is the home-birth, where you give birth at home in your jacuzzi tub. That is an interesting money-saving option, but the only 2 home births I have ever witnessed were the one previously spoken of on TLC, and the scene from "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves" where Little John's wife is sweating profusely and biting down on a stick in a merry hut while cranking out the little guy onto a dirt floor. Needless to say, if I have anything to do with it, the home birth will not be a part of our birthing plan. This leaves the hospital with a doctor option (or the "traditional birthing center" as I'll call it).
2. Natural or Not: I had no idea what was meant by the term "natural childbirth" until we talked about it. Apparently this is where I have little understanding. This is a decision about how much pain you will endure during the pregnancy. After talking about this and having it explained, I am still baffled that this could ever be a decision. A strong and safe pain killer is offered, ready for the taking, and you can refuse it, thus having the child more naturally. I tried to think of another situation in modern medicine where this is an accepted practice, and I couldn't. I always thought it would be cool if I tore my ACL to take a local to the knee and watch the surgery unfold instead of being knocked out, but even then, I still would want my knee to be numb. I don't understand the desire to birth a child without the painkiller. My wife, being the beast that she is, wants to give it a go. When I asked why, she answered "it is more natural, how it is supposed to be, like how it was done years ago." (Cue up the scene from Robin Hood again) I had to ask myself some nerdy questions, like didn't they have like 60% infant mortality rates years ago? Didn't they deliver babies in mud huts? Didn't they deliver babies right after slaughtering a pig with no hand wash inbetween? Isn't this the whole purpose of medical achievement? Aren't you offending Louis Pasteur? (Offensive questions #10-14) What is more than that, when I asked her if her decision to not have pain killers meant that she had lost the right to whine about the pain during labor (offensive question #17) it turns out that she maintains every right to whine. Why? (Offensive question #18) Because "I did this to her." When I suggested that meant we could stop at 1 kid if I'm the one taking the blame (Offensive question #23), well that didn't go over well either. The other night, I decided that in an effort to (cynically) support, I would refuse to bring her Tums during her nightly pregnancy-driven heartburn. I figure if you're going to go through pregnancy with no pain killer, why not start light with a little stomach acid to get fired up? Offensive question #34.
3. Who will be in the delivery room- Apparently you get to choose who is in the delivery room during the birth, or as I like to call it- "How many family members we can offend before the baby is even born?" I don't want to breach this subject, but all births need plans... I suppose. I don't as much mind other people in the delivery room as much as cameras in the delivery room. I am scared that someone is going to bring a camera into the delivery room thus bringing a rage from my delivering wife unlike any in history. Therefore, I think it will just be the two of us. My Dad told me that when I was born he was running all over the delivery room trying to grab me and the doctor was yelling at him about infecting me. As cool as that sounds, I just don't envision myself wanting to touch the little guy until he's been cleaned up a little bit. Some of these dads who get in the quarterback position ready to take the kid as he comes out impress me. That is not me. To be honest, I wish for the days when dad's weren't allowed in the waiting room because I don't know what the heck purpose I'm going to serve in there except to get in the way and be grossed out. I am going to be the "support my wife by holding her hand and hope that the gown is covering everything else that is going on down there" type. First off, I am already terrified of holding newborns for fear that their head will just pop off or something like that while they are in my arms. It may be a weird fear, but every time someone has ever handed me a newborn, I have been thinking to myself "please start crying so they take you back, please start crying so they take you back." Literally, every time I have passed an infant to someone else, I have breathed a huge sigh of relief that it was still alive when I was done holding it. Kind of like "whew... got through that one. Maybe there won't be another chance for a few years." The problem is that all of those newborns have been dry and clothed. So the idea of holding my own kid, whose head I fear popping off more than any other kid's, while he's still slicked down from the pipe sled of terror, is horrifying. I can literally envision no other situation than him sliding right out of my hands onto the floor. I would actually be better in the waiting room while a family member who has done this before could be in the room.
4. To keep the placenta/umbilical cord or not- Biology. Frankenstein. Glass jars. Formaldehyde. Einstein's brain. Enough said. Will someone please lock the person who ever suggested this in a cell?
So there is our birthing plan. Natural (with the "epidural nod" ready to go), in a traditional birthing center, lucky me in the room, all placentii and umbilical cords in biohazard waste cans.
Still don't know which car we're taking to the hospital.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Pregnancy from a Husband's Perspective Part 3- Registering
Having studied marketing at a great business school in college, I feel at times as if I am immune to the marketing schemes of companies to try to get you to buy their products. I take a bit of pride in this. My wife would argue that this is not true across the board, hence the heart palpitations that occur each time I read an iphone 5 review. I confess I like gizmos and such, but I also was trained in business school how to market, so I can tell when I'm being marketed, even if I go for it. For example, I recognize that the iphone 5 is not a greater product from the iphone 4S and that Apple has merely produced it as a timing ploy and even if everyone recognizes that it isn't that much of a better phone, people will stand in line to get it. Apple is now banking on not having to produce as revolutionary of a cell phone for people to still be willing to buy it, even though the upgrade isn't all that great. See what they did there? Yet the lines will be out the door at Apple stores on the day that baby is released, and people are counting down the days until their Verizon plan allows for an upgrade so they can throw that old, trashy iphone 4s out the door. All that to say that I knew marketers were brilliant, but I didn't know the extent of their brilliance until the first time I walked in a Babies R Us.
Now, marketers are brilliant at getting to you buy stuff, and one of the most brilliant ways they do this is by making it to where you don't have to buy it, but you get other people to buy things for you... this is better known as the registry. It is amazing. Registries have so changed the celebrations of major events in our lives that they are a natural part of the process. We were so excited to register for our wedding, it was like experiencing something that so many couples before us had experienced, like so much of the process of wedding planning. And all of the nice things that people gave us allowed us to set up an amazing kitchen. But even more excited than us was Bed Bath and Beyond, who knows that every time we zapped something, it was as good as bought from their store. It really is a genius idea- have people select things from your store that make it as easy as possible to buy something that you are guaranteed to know the couple will want because they chose it. Everyone wins. I thought our wedding registry was marketing genius, until the I went into Babies R' Us this summer with my wife to look at things for a baby registry for her. Why are baby products so genius? Here are a few reasons:
1. They take the man out of the picture- When we registered for our wedding, I was all about looking at cool kitchen knives and stainless steel, but with baby products, the impregnator could care less. When we were in Babies R' Us, my wife was trying to explain something to me about BPA in baby bottles but I was too busy laughing hysterically and taking pictures with my iphone camera(3G... just waiting for the 5 to come out...despite my knowledge of all these marketing ideas, i'm really not immune) of some product called My Brest Friend (no worries, the spelling didn't throw me off). There is nothing better for a company than to reduce the purchasing power to as few people as possible, and there is not a single baby product marketed to a male for that reason, because they don't want the men involved in the decision making. It really isn't that difficult in the end, because as I have mentioned before, men have a hard time imagining their child as a baby. We tend to look ahead to the time that the kid is up and walking, and most baby registries include nothing for that stage in a child's life. Therefore, baby stuff is too uninteresting to us for us to make a snap decision based on sheer desire, so we may try to talk our wives out of registering for that extra add on. We who love driving fast cars really fast, and especially those of us who grew up in a generation where we rode in the front seat of a station wagon as soon as we could fit in the seat belt, find the idea of a car seat ridiculous, so paying more money for one that is advertised as safer is not worth it, and car seat manufacturers don't want us influencing our wives for that very reason. Which brings me to my next brilliant point about baby products:
2. FEAR!!!- Baby product marketers know one thing: soon to be first time moms deal a lot with anxiety and fear over the general well-being of that ball of joy that is making their body change in more ways than they ever imagined. They have a short time (9 months) of any woman's life to take advantage of this fear because most women realize by their second kid that the kid is going to survive without all that stuff, and they know what to expect in pregnancy and general child rearing in the early months when the little guy is too wobbly to hold his own disproportionately large head up, so they aren't willing to buy as many products. Women by nature worry more about their first baby. This is largely because they don't know what they are getting into. There is so much unknown, so many questions, and they get an hour a month with their doctors to alleviate these fears, leaving the other 743 hours of the month to wonder (often aloud to their husbands). You want to know what Target likes to see? A first time Mom, scared to death, hand on the womb, walking through the aisles trying to figure out if choosing that less expensive bottle scrub brush might expose her child to more life-endangering bacteria. If it is a pregnant woman holding the hand of an already-birthed child, no need to bother. That kid has been exposed to so much bacteria that she knows Mr. Clean himself couldn't save her, and yet the child is there, fully healthy and active, driving her crazy as she swings through to grab some generic brand (Gasp) powder (GASP) non-organic (HOW CAN SHE DO THAT?!?!) laundry detergent. No worries about the one in the womb... she knows it'll be fine. Marketers go hard after the first time moms and play on the fear that accompanies the unknowns of pregnancy and child birth. What is so awesome about registry lists to these companies is even if the mom asks herself the question "is this really necessary?" she honestly has no idea, and she will feel guilty even asking the question in the first place, or she will decide it is better to go with it just in case. That is how they can convince us that a $700 car seat (if you haven't yet entered the stage of infants, it may be news to you, but yes $700 car seats exist, plentifully) is indeed safer than a $100 car seat (as if car seat regulations weren't so strict that the government would pass a car seat that would be dangerous), or that organic diaper rash cream is more gentle on your baby's skin than regular. Honestly, we make fun of the parents and grandparents in East Asia who wrap their kids up in layers and layers of clothes and blankets to protect them, but we more or less do the same thing with our wallets at the store. I appreciate my wife in this area. She doesn't let the marketers fool her and is more than happy to register for the cheaper version, although she did throw in the fact that in the first year we will have to have 2 different car seats which makes me feel like I lost a battle to government regulators. She also did not choose anything based on cute value on the recognition that grandparents love cute baby clothes and will take care of that for us (Just the other day my dad pulled up a batman costume for 6-9 months on the webcam) and therefore she is immune to those areas of marketing. She also has experienced moms (namely her older sister) who give her plenty of information on what she does and doesn't need. Shelley has largely beat the marketers, which makes me, her business degree-wielding husband, very proud.
3. Imagery- There are some products out there that can just place a picture of the product on the box and it will sell (see the iphone). However, with other products, there is something to sell beyond the product because the product couldn't sell itself, and they put this something else on the box. I noticed that baby products do a lot of this. My Brest Friend for example, rather than putting a picture of a moon shaped pillow on the cover, puts a picture of a mom safely breast feeding a baby on the cover because they are selling that image to get you to buy the pillow. Gerber puts the Gerber baby on the cover because frankly there is nothing appetizing about a picture of green peas that I could make in my mouth if I squished them back and forth through my teeth enough times and spit them back out, so they put this perfect, healthy looking baby on the cover so you are buying it for the health value. As an alternate, here are some images that I would love to see on baby products for my own cynical pleasure:
Now, marketers are brilliant at getting to you buy stuff, and one of the most brilliant ways they do this is by making it to where you don't have to buy it, but you get other people to buy things for you... this is better known as the registry. It is amazing. Registries have so changed the celebrations of major events in our lives that they are a natural part of the process. We were so excited to register for our wedding, it was like experiencing something that so many couples before us had experienced, like so much of the process of wedding planning. And all of the nice things that people gave us allowed us to set up an amazing kitchen. But even more excited than us was Bed Bath and Beyond, who knows that every time we zapped something, it was as good as bought from their store. It really is a genius idea- have people select things from your store that make it as easy as possible to buy something that you are guaranteed to know the couple will want because they chose it. Everyone wins. I thought our wedding registry was marketing genius, until the I went into Babies R' Us this summer with my wife to look at things for a baby registry for her. Why are baby products so genius? Here are a few reasons:
1. They take the man out of the picture- When we registered for our wedding, I was all about looking at cool kitchen knives and stainless steel, but with baby products, the impregnator could care less. When we were in Babies R' Us, my wife was trying to explain something to me about BPA in baby bottles but I was too busy laughing hysterically and taking pictures with my iphone camera(3G... just waiting for the 5 to come out...despite my knowledge of all these marketing ideas, i'm really not immune) of some product called My Brest Friend (no worries, the spelling didn't throw me off). There is nothing better for a company than to reduce the purchasing power to as few people as possible, and there is not a single baby product marketed to a male for that reason, because they don't want the men involved in the decision making. It really isn't that difficult in the end, because as I have mentioned before, men have a hard time imagining their child as a baby. We tend to look ahead to the time that the kid is up and walking, and most baby registries include nothing for that stage in a child's life. Therefore, baby stuff is too uninteresting to us for us to make a snap decision based on sheer desire, so we may try to talk our wives out of registering for that extra add on. We who love driving fast cars really fast, and especially those of us who grew up in a generation where we rode in the front seat of a station wagon as soon as we could fit in the seat belt, find the idea of a car seat ridiculous, so paying more money for one that is advertised as safer is not worth it, and car seat manufacturers don't want us influencing our wives for that very reason. Which brings me to my next brilliant point about baby products:
2. FEAR!!!- Baby product marketers know one thing: soon to be first time moms deal a lot with anxiety and fear over the general well-being of that ball of joy that is making their body change in more ways than they ever imagined. They have a short time (9 months) of any woman's life to take advantage of this fear because most women realize by their second kid that the kid is going to survive without all that stuff, and they know what to expect in pregnancy and general child rearing in the early months when the little guy is too wobbly to hold his own disproportionately large head up, so they aren't willing to buy as many products. Women by nature worry more about their first baby. This is largely because they don't know what they are getting into. There is so much unknown, so many questions, and they get an hour a month with their doctors to alleviate these fears, leaving the other 743 hours of the month to wonder (often aloud to their husbands). You want to know what Target likes to see? A first time Mom, scared to death, hand on the womb, walking through the aisles trying to figure out if choosing that less expensive bottle scrub brush might expose her child to more life-endangering bacteria. If it is a pregnant woman holding the hand of an already-birthed child, no need to bother. That kid has been exposed to so much bacteria that she knows Mr. Clean himself couldn't save her, and yet the child is there, fully healthy and active, driving her crazy as she swings through to grab some generic brand (Gasp) powder (GASP) non-organic (HOW CAN SHE DO THAT?!?!) laundry detergent. No worries about the one in the womb... she knows it'll be fine. Marketers go hard after the first time moms and play on the fear that accompanies the unknowns of pregnancy and child birth. What is so awesome about registry lists to these companies is even if the mom asks herself the question "is this really necessary?" she honestly has no idea, and she will feel guilty even asking the question in the first place, or she will decide it is better to go with it just in case. That is how they can convince us that a $700 car seat (if you haven't yet entered the stage of infants, it may be news to you, but yes $700 car seats exist, plentifully) is indeed safer than a $100 car seat (as if car seat regulations weren't so strict that the government would pass a car seat that would be dangerous), or that organic diaper rash cream is more gentle on your baby's skin than regular. Honestly, we make fun of the parents and grandparents in East Asia who wrap their kids up in layers and layers of clothes and blankets to protect them, but we more or less do the same thing with our wallets at the store. I appreciate my wife in this area. She doesn't let the marketers fool her and is more than happy to register for the cheaper version, although she did throw in the fact that in the first year we will have to have 2 different car seats which makes me feel like I lost a battle to government regulators. She also did not choose anything based on cute value on the recognition that grandparents love cute baby clothes and will take care of that for us (Just the other day my dad pulled up a batman costume for 6-9 months on the webcam) and therefore she is immune to those areas of marketing. She also has experienced moms (namely her older sister) who give her plenty of information on what she does and doesn't need. Shelley has largely beat the marketers, which makes me, her business degree-wielding husband, very proud.
3. Imagery- There are some products out there that can just place a picture of the product on the box and it will sell (see the iphone). However, with other products, there is something to sell beyond the product because the product couldn't sell itself, and they put this something else on the box. I noticed that baby products do a lot of this. My Brest Friend for example, rather than putting a picture of a moon shaped pillow on the cover, puts a picture of a mom safely breast feeding a baby on the cover because they are selling that image to get you to buy the pillow. Gerber puts the Gerber baby on the cover because frankly there is nothing appetizing about a picture of green peas that I could make in my mouth if I squished them back and forth through my teeth enough times and spit them back out, so they put this perfect, healthy looking baby on the cover so you are buying it for the health value. As an alternate, here are some images that I would love to see on baby products for my own cynical pleasure:
- On a box of newborn diapers, I think it would be awesome for once to put a picture of a newborn right out of the womb on the cover- all blue and wrinkly and gangly with its cone-shaped head and alien sized eye balls being covered by unusually thick eyelids screaming its brains out over the where-the-heck-did-my-placenta-go experience that is taking place.
- On a car seat box, I think it would be cool to have a picture of a kid strapped in the car seat while a dad looks on furiously at the idea of a car seat covering his plush leather interior that he two years ago used his bonus to pay extra for in his luxury sedan. Better yet, just have a picture of a man with the look on his face that comes with holding the keys to a minivan.
- My Brest Friend... lets be honest, I can't do anything to My Brest Friend to make it any better than it already is. My Brest Friend cannot be changed for the better. It says everything. I seriously thought it was a joke the first time I saw it, like a gag gift, like an "FBI-Female Body Inspector" mug (that is outrageous!). But it turns out it is a real product, it's main competitor being "The Boppy." My wife talks about them as if they are as well-known as Kleenex "Well so and so has a Boppy and loves it, but so and so got the Double My Brest Friend (The "My Brest Friends" if you will) for her twins and she says it has saved her life. Which one do you think we should go with?" (I always want to answer that question in jest with "formula" but I know the dangers of joking with a pregnant woman) Gents, if you don't know what either of these products are, then the marketers have succeeded.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Pregnancy from a husband's perspective part 2- Morning sickness
Apparently there is a bell curve for morning sickness. Some women never have it, most have it only during their first trimester, and some have it all the way through. Some women feel nauseaus, some women vomit every morning, some women vomit all day long. And then there is my wife. As soon as we received a positive pregnancy test, Shelley started throwing up. And vomiting. And vomiting. And vomiting. She vomited in her pajamas, in jeans and a t-shirt, in her Sunday best. She vomited before breakfast, after lunch, and in the middle of cooking dinner, and then all night long. Twice she had to have IVs to get rehydrated from throwing up so much. So... needless to say, I now know morning sickness and honestly hope that it is never as bad again. Here are some of my guy's perspectives on morning sickness:
1. MORNING SICKNESS IS COUNTER-INTUITIVE. My stomach is cast iron. Living in a land where upper and lower digestive tract issues are the norm due to somewhat less than kosher sanitary food prep practices, I experience very few. In fact, I've had food poisoning once in my five years here, and that was in India (and that wasn't the worst thing to happen to me in India). If I am sick to my stomach, its usually a 24 hour bug. But there is one thing I know when I get stomach sick: the last thing I want to do is eat. I will take saltines and gatorade. That is about it. But morning sickness is totally different. Here is a typical conversation:
Shelley: Ugh I threw up again. I need to eat something. (Two sentences that are apparently only side by side during morning sickness)
Me: I'll run out and get you some saltines.
Shelley: No, saltines here are too buttery. They make me nauseous.
Me: Okay, what do you want?
Shelley: Can you get me __________?
Me: What the he... You want what?!
Shelley: I want ____________.
Me (starting to feel a little queezy at this point at the idea of eating _______ right after vomiting): Are you sure?
Shelley: Yes, and fast, I'm about to vomit again and I need to eat!
Here are some common things in ____________.
1. A glass of milk.
2. Fried eggs.
3. A spoonful of peanut butter.
WHO EATS THIS STUFF RIGHT AFTER VOMITING? You know those random gross verses in the Bible? There is one where the author draws an analogy to a dog returning to its vomit. I thought that was as gross as it got. But I think he should have said something like "Like a woman with child returning to heavy food after vomit." It was grosser to me.
Here are my top 3 most beastly post-vomit meal experiences:
3. My friend Aaron O'Hare who joined me in food poisoning in India (quite literally joined me, we were sharing a bathroom. Quite literally sharing a bathroom, it was that poisonous. And that wasn't the worst thing that happened to us in India.) followed up a horror-filled night of sickness by pounding a Mexican salsa chicken burger at McDonald's the time he ate. BEAST!
2. My friend and former roommate Daniel Schneider who was frequently stomach sick while living in East Asia. He would do this amazing thing where he disappeared into the bathroom for an entire night at a time sick to his stomach over something he ate, sleep it off the next morning, emerge from his room at 3pm and say something like "Let's get shao kao, I'm starving." BEAST!
1. My wife, Shelley Klein Jung, who immediately after vomiting, in an effort to get protein, went for a cold glass of whole-fat milk, a fried egg, or a spoonful of peanut butter... several times a day for a month and a half. BEAST BEAST BEAST!!!
Seriously... all those skinny Japanese dudes and fat American dudes competing in these hot-dog, chili-fry, wing eating contests, I will put my pregnant wife up against all of them because I know she can down a hot dog, vomit, and look them in the eye while throwing back another one. Gallon challenge? Please. The woman finishes strong. Respect!
I have never seen anything like this in my life. It is seriously the most counter-intuitive thing I have ever heard of. Eat right after vomiting in hopes that it stops the next round of vomiting. We were told to eat protein early and frequently, and that helps curb the nausea. Well this piece of advice didn't work, which brings me to my next thought on morning sickness:
2. NOTHING NATURAL CAN STOP MORNING SICKNESS. Here are some suggestions we heard from doctors and moms:
1. Eat frequently- didn't work.
2. Eat protein- see above, didn't work.
3. Try ginger tea- didn't work.
4. Try ginger candy- didn't work.
5. Try ginger ale- didn't work.
6. Drink milk and not water- didn't work.
7. Try mint tea- didn't work.
8. Try mint candy- didn't work.
9. Sit up and don't lie on your back- didn't work.
10. Avoid things that can cause motion sickness like riding in a car- stupid idea anyway. didn't work.
11. Try child's anti-nausea medication (safe for pregnant women, given to us by a doctor)- didn't work.
Typically in this country, it is the natives who have terrible medical ideas. "Your skin is peeling. It must be because you showered on the 3rd of the month." "It's winter and freezing outside, so open the windows." "Be careful of the evil wind." "Your throat is swollen and red because you ate too many hard foods like french fries." "Don't mix cold and hot water. It will give you AIDS." However, in the instance of morning sickness, the only advice locals had was "it will get better in the second trimester." For once, they were the ones who were right. Almost...
3. NOTHING CAN STOP MORNING SICKNESS EXCEPT FOR ONE MIRACLE PILL-
The miracle working medicine is called Zophran, and a kind American doctor tracked it down for us. It was originally developed for chemotherapy patients, but it is safe for pregnancy, and it works. We ended up with the last 3 boxes of Zophran in all of our city. His words "It is out of date, but I'd give it to my wife." Good enough for us. We had enough for 2 weeks, but we would not be back in America where we could get more for 3 weeks. I thought that only drug addicts did this kind of thing, but we have now experienced the despair known as pharmacy shortage. We had medical students in their residencies sneaking around the hospital searching for more of this med and begging doctors on our behalf. That desperate. But to no avail. So, we rationed. First a pill every time she was nauseous, then 1 a day, then a half a day, then a half a pill every time she was nauseous until... 3 hours left into our last flight to the US she took the last half pill. It was like something out of a movie. Her mom met us outside of customs in D.C. with a bag fresh from the pharmacy. And like junkies, we breathed a huge sigh of relief. I seriously wanted to forge a prescription for the future, just in case we are in a situation where we couldn't get it again the next time she is pregnant.
Final verdict: I'm calling bs on any advice about morning sickness other than "get a prescription for Zophran."
This time the East Asians got it right. Apart from medicine (which is non-existent in their country), the only thing to do is vomit it out for a few months. A few weeks after the first trimester ended, the vomiting ended, for the most part. There were some other times:
1. We were driving one afternoon in Orlando having a normal conversation, when Shelley suddenly said "I don't feel good, my tummy hurts. Where is a plastic bag? Pull the car over." I am always flustered and shocked in these situations because they come on so fast. After losing it outside of a tennis court, she got back in the car and said "Whew. Did we pass Starbucks yet? I want a chai tea latte." I am still trying to figure out what is going on, and she is ready for spiced milk... BEAST!
2. Sitting in the doctor's office. We are waiting on the nurse to come back with the baby heartbeat listening machine and Shelley suddenly gets up and runs out. I put down my "Healthy Mom Healthy Baby" magazine (first time at an OBGYN... strong lack of decent magazines) and look up only to hear the faint, now familiar sound of Shelley's upchuck from down the hall. She comes back in, lays on the table as if nothing happened. BEAST!
3. The other day she threw up her entire breakfast. Texted me to tell me. Then 10 minutes later texted me and said "I feel better now. I took some medicine and ate, so I'll meet you for lunch at the noodle place." BEAST!
Do I worry about my wife during labor and delivery? Nope. All I'm saying is the kid better watch out. The woman finishes strong. The bad news is that now that she is over the morning-sickness, milk, eggs, and peanut butter make her nauseous because she threw them up so much. Her stomach issues make sense again. But I know that won't last for long. Soon comes the anti-morning sickness... cravings.
1. MORNING SICKNESS IS COUNTER-INTUITIVE. My stomach is cast iron. Living in a land where upper and lower digestive tract issues are the norm due to somewhat less than kosher sanitary food prep practices, I experience very few. In fact, I've had food poisoning once in my five years here, and that was in India (and that wasn't the worst thing to happen to me in India). If I am sick to my stomach, its usually a 24 hour bug. But there is one thing I know when I get stomach sick: the last thing I want to do is eat. I will take saltines and gatorade. That is about it. But morning sickness is totally different. Here is a typical conversation:
Shelley: Ugh I threw up again. I need to eat something. (Two sentences that are apparently only side by side during morning sickness)
Me: I'll run out and get you some saltines.
Shelley: No, saltines here are too buttery. They make me nauseous.
Me: Okay, what do you want?
Shelley: Can you get me __________?
Me: What the he... You want what?!
Shelley: I want ____________.
Me (starting to feel a little queezy at this point at the idea of eating _______ right after vomiting): Are you sure?
Shelley: Yes, and fast, I'm about to vomit again and I need to eat!
Here are some common things in ____________.
1. A glass of milk.
2. Fried eggs.
3. A spoonful of peanut butter.
WHO EATS THIS STUFF RIGHT AFTER VOMITING? You know those random gross verses in the Bible? There is one where the author draws an analogy to a dog returning to its vomit. I thought that was as gross as it got. But I think he should have said something like "Like a woman with child returning to heavy food after vomit." It was grosser to me.
Here are my top 3 most beastly post-vomit meal experiences:
3. My friend Aaron O'Hare who joined me in food poisoning in India (quite literally joined me, we were sharing a bathroom. Quite literally sharing a bathroom, it was that poisonous. And that wasn't the worst thing that happened to us in India.) followed up a horror-filled night of sickness by pounding a Mexican salsa chicken burger at McDonald's the time he ate. BEAST!
2. My friend and former roommate Daniel Schneider who was frequently stomach sick while living in East Asia. He would do this amazing thing where he disappeared into the bathroom for an entire night at a time sick to his stomach over something he ate, sleep it off the next morning, emerge from his room at 3pm and say something like "Let's get shao kao, I'm starving." BEAST!
1. My wife, Shelley Klein Jung, who immediately after vomiting, in an effort to get protein, went for a cold glass of whole-fat milk, a fried egg, or a spoonful of peanut butter... several times a day for a month and a half. BEAST BEAST BEAST!!!
Seriously... all those skinny Japanese dudes and fat American dudes competing in these hot-dog, chili-fry, wing eating contests, I will put my pregnant wife up against all of them because I know she can down a hot dog, vomit, and look them in the eye while throwing back another one. Gallon challenge? Please. The woman finishes strong. Respect!
I have never seen anything like this in my life. It is seriously the most counter-intuitive thing I have ever heard of. Eat right after vomiting in hopes that it stops the next round of vomiting. We were told to eat protein early and frequently, and that helps curb the nausea. Well this piece of advice didn't work, which brings me to my next thought on morning sickness:
2. NOTHING NATURAL CAN STOP MORNING SICKNESS. Here are some suggestions we heard from doctors and moms:
1. Eat frequently- didn't work.
2. Eat protein- see above, didn't work.
3. Try ginger tea- didn't work.
4. Try ginger candy- didn't work.
5. Try ginger ale- didn't work.
6. Drink milk and not water- didn't work.
7. Try mint tea- didn't work.
8. Try mint candy- didn't work.
9. Sit up and don't lie on your back- didn't work.
10. Avoid things that can cause motion sickness like riding in a car- stupid idea anyway. didn't work.
11. Try child's anti-nausea medication (safe for pregnant women, given to us by a doctor)- didn't work.
Typically in this country, it is the natives who have terrible medical ideas. "Your skin is peeling. It must be because you showered on the 3rd of the month." "It's winter and freezing outside, so open the windows." "Be careful of the evil wind." "Your throat is swollen and red because you ate too many hard foods like french fries." "Don't mix cold and hot water. It will give you AIDS." However, in the instance of morning sickness, the only advice locals had was "it will get better in the second trimester." For once, they were the ones who were right. Almost...
3. NOTHING CAN STOP MORNING SICKNESS EXCEPT FOR ONE MIRACLE PILL-
The miracle working medicine is called Zophran, and a kind American doctor tracked it down for us. It was originally developed for chemotherapy patients, but it is safe for pregnancy, and it works. We ended up with the last 3 boxes of Zophran in all of our city. His words "It is out of date, but I'd give it to my wife." Good enough for us. We had enough for 2 weeks, but we would not be back in America where we could get more for 3 weeks. I thought that only drug addicts did this kind of thing, but we have now experienced the despair known as pharmacy shortage. We had medical students in their residencies sneaking around the hospital searching for more of this med and begging doctors on our behalf. That desperate. But to no avail. So, we rationed. First a pill every time she was nauseous, then 1 a day, then a half a day, then a half a pill every time she was nauseous until... 3 hours left into our last flight to the US she took the last half pill. It was like something out of a movie. Her mom met us outside of customs in D.C. with a bag fresh from the pharmacy. And like junkies, we breathed a huge sigh of relief. I seriously wanted to forge a prescription for the future, just in case we are in a situation where we couldn't get it again the next time she is pregnant.
Final verdict: I'm calling bs on any advice about morning sickness other than "get a prescription for Zophran."
This time the East Asians got it right. Apart from medicine (which is non-existent in their country), the only thing to do is vomit it out for a few months. A few weeks after the first trimester ended, the vomiting ended, for the most part. There were some other times:
1. We were driving one afternoon in Orlando having a normal conversation, when Shelley suddenly said "I don't feel good, my tummy hurts. Where is a plastic bag? Pull the car over." I am always flustered and shocked in these situations because they come on so fast. After losing it outside of a tennis court, she got back in the car and said "Whew. Did we pass Starbucks yet? I want a chai tea latte." I am still trying to figure out what is going on, and she is ready for spiced milk... BEAST!
2. Sitting in the doctor's office. We are waiting on the nurse to come back with the baby heartbeat listening machine and Shelley suddenly gets up and runs out. I put down my "Healthy Mom Healthy Baby" magazine (first time at an OBGYN... strong lack of decent magazines) and look up only to hear the faint, now familiar sound of Shelley's upchuck from down the hall. She comes back in, lays on the table as if nothing happened. BEAST!
3. The other day she threw up her entire breakfast. Texted me to tell me. Then 10 minutes later texted me and said "I feel better now. I took some medicine and ate, so I'll meet you for lunch at the noodle place." BEAST!
Do I worry about my wife during labor and delivery? Nope. All I'm saying is the kid better watch out. The woman finishes strong. The bad news is that now that she is over the morning-sickness, milk, eggs, and peanut butter make her nauseous because she threw them up so much. Her stomach issues make sense again. But I know that won't last for long. Soon comes the anti-morning sickness... cravings.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
We're pregnant! Husband's perspective part I- finding out we're pregnant
We have been a little busy in the last couple of months and thus our blog has been neglected, but we are back in a little bit of a swing of things, so let the blogging commence! The past few months have seen the saying goodbye to several of our friends here in Asia, a trip back to America where I tested my feet in the graduate school pool, and oh yeah, we're pregnant. This happened back in April, so at this point we are about halfway through the pregnancy. I thought that this would be a great blog theme. There are several blogs about pregnancy, books about pregnancy, movies about pregnancy, and with the exception of a terrible Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, almost all of them are for women. This makes sense seeing as pregnancy is largely a woman's issue. However, I thought it would be a good idea, and I hope that I can stick to this plan, to track pregnancy from the impregnator's point of view. (Come to think of it "The Impregnator" sounds like a Schwarzenegger movie.) I am already behind seeing that Shelley is now 4 and a half months pregnant, so I will post several "catch up" blogs over the next couple of days to try to catch up to 4.5 months. I will start with "the announcement."
You always see wives telling their husbands that they are pregnant on movies and they either react with extreme joy or extreme surprise followed by extreme joy. I expected it to be like that. Shelley would have tears of joy and I would pick her up and swing her around. Instead, our "announcement" went something like this:
Shelley: "I took a pregnancy test and it said I might be pregnant."
Me (brushing my teeth): "Hmm."
Shelley: "Like, these lines here mean I might be pregnant."
Me: "How do you know if you are definitely pregnant?"
Shelley: "The lines are darker, but then you have to go to the doctor to find out."
Me: "Hmm."
"Maybe pregnant" was nothing new to me. Ever since we pulled the goalie I figured we might be pregnant because I knew the possibility was out there, so that announcement was kind of like the President giving the State of the Union, which I find to be one of the most interesting political traditions of all time. He literally stands up there and gives a slightly optimistic view on what everyone already knows. No one ever wakes up thinking "I wonder what America is like?" because we all know already. And yet three branches of the government gather once a year for him to make an applause-interrupted speech about something that is no surprise to anyone. Can you imagine anyone getting the attention that this guy does for telling the state of something that everyone listening already knows about? Just once I want the President to get up and say "The State of our Union... well we can't exactly call it a Union anymore because I sold West Virginia and Oregon to Micronesia yesterday for my own private island. How is that for budget control House!?!? Straight from the lower 48! PREZ MAKIN PAPER!!!" and then walk off the stage with a microphone squeek. That would be worthy of a State of the Union address. All that to say that when Shelley told me she was "maybe pregnant," it was kind of like a State of the Uterus address. Nothing I didn't already know anyway...
...Until we were walking the dog later on that morning and she told me how disappointed she was in my reaction and how stressed she was. I still did not understand what there was to be stressed about. We were not trying to not get pregnant, and therefore we might have been pregnant, so... maybe pregnant. Then she explained to me that "maybe pregnant" on a pregnancy test means that a hormone is present that would only be present if one was pregnant but not enough of the hormone to make the lines dark enough to give a green light. Ohhhhhhh... so maybe pregnant meant she was pregnant.
This was one of the most confusing things to me. A pregnancy test measures a hormone, and this hormone is only present if one is pregnant, and the test is only turned pink by this hormone... so why is there a maybe option? It seems that there are 2 options, pregnant or not pregnant. The only purposes that "maybe pregnant" can serve are the following:
I will say at this point that this means so much more to the woman than it does to the man, and women, I beg for grace here. Nothing changes in us at this point the way that it changes in you. When we picture a child, we typically picture it able to run, walk, throw a ball, and ask us for money. We don't have a picture of the 3 years and 9 months prior to that. When we picture you pregnant... well we never picture our wives pregnant, just naked. We don't know what pregnancy is like until you go through it for the first time. I don't know if any of that is right or wrong, but it is what it is. For Shelley to be pregnant was a huge deal to her, and it was a huge deal to me, but not as huge of a deal because it wasn't me who was staring down the barrel of body metamorphosis and morning sickness and different clothes and diet and labor and delivery. I now understand that better than I did at the point that the announcement was made. My tip to any other guys out there who is not trying not to get pregnant: make it a big deal because it is to her. And maybe means definitely.
You always see wives telling their husbands that they are pregnant on movies and they either react with extreme joy or extreme surprise followed by extreme joy. I expected it to be like that. Shelley would have tears of joy and I would pick her up and swing her around. Instead, our "announcement" went something like this:
Shelley: "I took a pregnancy test and it said I might be pregnant."
Me (brushing my teeth): "Hmm."
Shelley: "Like, these lines here mean I might be pregnant."
Me: "How do you know if you are definitely pregnant?"
Shelley: "The lines are darker, but then you have to go to the doctor to find out."
Me: "Hmm."
"Maybe pregnant" was nothing new to me. Ever since we pulled the goalie I figured we might be pregnant because I knew the possibility was out there, so that announcement was kind of like the President giving the State of the Union, which I find to be one of the most interesting political traditions of all time. He literally stands up there and gives a slightly optimistic view on what everyone already knows. No one ever wakes up thinking "I wonder what America is like?" because we all know already. And yet three branches of the government gather once a year for him to make an applause-interrupted speech about something that is no surprise to anyone. Can you imagine anyone getting the attention that this guy does for telling the state of something that everyone listening already knows about? Just once I want the President to get up and say "The State of our Union... well we can't exactly call it a Union anymore because I sold West Virginia and Oregon to Micronesia yesterday for my own private island. How is that for budget control House!?!? Straight from the lower 48! PREZ MAKIN PAPER!!!" and then walk off the stage with a microphone squeek. That would be worthy of a State of the Union address. All that to say that when Shelley told me she was "maybe pregnant," it was kind of like a State of the Uterus address. Nothing I didn't already know anyway...
...Until we were walking the dog later on that morning and she told me how disappointed she was in my reaction and how stressed she was. I still did not understand what there was to be stressed about. We were not trying to not get pregnant, and therefore we might have been pregnant, so... maybe pregnant. Then she explained to me that "maybe pregnant" on a pregnancy test means that a hormone is present that would only be present if one was pregnant but not enough of the hormone to make the lines dark enough to give a green light. Ohhhhhhh... so maybe pregnant meant she was pregnant.
This was one of the most confusing things to me. A pregnancy test measures a hormone, and this hormone is only present if one is pregnant, and the test is only turned pink by this hormone... so why is there a maybe option? It seems that there are 2 options, pregnant or not pregnant. The only purposes that "maybe pregnant" can serve are the following:
- Do Jedi mind tricks on a woman who is anxiously waiting to find out if she is pregnant
- Make you buy more pregnancy tests
- GET THE MAN WHO DOESN'T REACT STRONGLY ENOUGH TO "MAYBE PREGNANT" IN SERIOUS TROUBLE WITH HIS WIFE!!!
I will say at this point that this means so much more to the woman than it does to the man, and women, I beg for grace here. Nothing changes in us at this point the way that it changes in you. When we picture a child, we typically picture it able to run, walk, throw a ball, and ask us for money. We don't have a picture of the 3 years and 9 months prior to that. When we picture you pregnant... well we never picture our wives pregnant, just naked. We don't know what pregnancy is like until you go through it for the first time. I don't know if any of that is right or wrong, but it is what it is. For Shelley to be pregnant was a huge deal to her, and it was a huge deal to me, but not as huge of a deal because it wasn't me who was staring down the barrel of body metamorphosis and morning sickness and different clothes and diet and labor and delivery. I now understand that better than I did at the point that the announcement was made. My tip to any other guys out there who is not trying not to get pregnant: make it a big deal because it is to her. And maybe means definitely.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
