So here’s what happened when I got pregnant – I also found out that I wasn’t in for the ride alone. Not only was a very close friend of mine expecting a baby around the same time as me, but also an ex colleague, a friend from college, one from Post Grad., one of my cousins, a hubby’s friend, alongwith our very own Duchess of Cambridge Kate, and a few other celebrities from the Indian cinema and Hollywood who were all pregnant. Suddenly, it seemed the whole universe had conspired to get pregnant together 🙂
Mostly all of us were going to be First Time Mums (FTM), and just like that, we were all facing a million doubts, a billion emotions, and only a few gazillion questions that we all thought will never get answered. Somehow, signing up with different pregnancy websites and support groups didn’t seem enough. We needed real experiences, with first hand stories.
For me, the biggest fear was not knowing. And out of all the ‘not knowings’, the biggest was of what I was going to face in the delivery room. I was about to spend the next 40 weeks of my life worrying myself sick about that one day. And no matter how much everyone told me that I will ‘forget everything when I see my baby’, it did not convince me enough to think about it any less.
Not to mention that I had also made the grave mistake of watching all kinds of birthing videos, and jumping chapters on my books to read what happens during labor. I had now managed to completely freak myself out.
I promised all the friends delivering after me that I’ll answer ALL their questions. Worrying is not good for anyone pregnant. Especially someone like me who already faced excessive hair fall and a face full of zits thanks to the lovely hormonal changes! No one needs to add on to the list of things to worry about. So here are a few directives I doled out; to ensure my fellow FTMs did not face the same predicaments.
Each week I will endeavor to elaborate each directive and bring more clarity. If you have sailed in a similar ‘worry’ boat as me, I am quite sure you will find my observations interesting:
1. Get the right Obstetrician/Gynecologist –
We went to the ‘first available’ on the day. Learnt my lesson. She was anything but nice. I can handle ‘not nice but super efficient’. Can not handle ‘not nice and also pretty inefficient’. Made appointment with another, and then another. Sounds crazy, but we actually went window shopping for the right doctor. I eventually had to decide between – a sterling hospital but ‘okayish’ doctor OR a perfect doc in a not so refined hospital. I then decided to go to my hometown to deliver. Again scouted around and finally found the right match…good doc (check) and a great hospital (double check).
2. Firmly request your doctor for a Normal Delivery –
Birth via cesareans is fast becoming a money making racket across the globe. Normal is best for you and your baby. Most of the c-sections being performed are for avoidable reasons and not so complicated medical conditions, and only because higher costs are incurred when one gets the c-section done. Here’s an extremely thought provoking read about the steep rise of cesareans in India. {Here}
3. Ask questions to your doctor –
One of my previous doctors had told me “stop reading stuff on the internet”. That sounded the alarm bells right there! It is MY body and I have the full right to not only question what you are doing, but also be fully informed on the effects, side effects, consequences for getting it done as well as the drawbacks if I choose not to get it done. On any given day we never question our doctors, just go with the flow. But in our case, there is another life involved.
Thank you very much, but I WILL read up AND question you. Buckle up. It’s not that I don’t trust the doctor, but you will be surprised the number of times their sentence has changed from “you need to get this done” to “it’s your choice as its not mandatory by WHO standards”, whenever I questioned the necessity.
Please make yourself aware and take informed decisions. Come back again to know my labour and birth story:)
[…] This post is second in the series on posts I have written on Simple Things I Learnt From My Delivery. Read the first post {here}. […]