Pregnant in America

This morning I started my day with a big mug of tea and the documentary, Pregnant in America. I first learned about this film through a review in International Doula, the quarterly publication of DONA International. The film covers many current trends in maternity care in the United States, including epidurals and cesarean sections. It also gave a brief glimpse into the birth process in Holland and Germany. I was particularly impressed with the percentage of home births in Holland. I would recommend this film to anyone interested in learning more about pregnancy in the U.S. It is both interesting and accessible, requiring no prior knowledge on the subject.

Becoming a Doula

I have long been interested in midwifery and natural birth. I love reading birth stories of any kind and can't wait to be present at my first birth. The medical side of being a midwife never appealed to me, but as I learned more about the role a doula can play in birth it felt right for me.

These three books helped to lead me to my decision to start the certification process to become a doula:

A Midwife's Story by Penny Armstrong & Sheryl Feldman
Baby Catcher by Peggy Vincent
Adventures in Natural Childbirth edited by Janet Schwegel

As well as this documentary:

The Business of Being Born

Yesterday I finished the first of my required readings:

The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin

In a couple weeks I'll be participating in a DONA approved training workshop for birth doulas. I'm going to try to read at least one more of the required reading before then. I'm very excited about this process. I feel like after the last few years of being in grad school and not having time for myself and my interests that now I can breathe again. Come alive. I knew that I hated being in grad school, but I hadn't been fully aware of how miserable I was and how I barely existed outside of it. It wasn't healthy and it wasn't living. Now it's time to do what I want.

The Business of Being Born

If you haven't seen this documentary film, you should.

I am not good at writing reviews. Generally speaking either I like something or I don't. In high school English class I always hated deconstructing stories or poems after we'd read them. For me, it would lose its magic when broken down into a million pieces.

For years I've had an interest in midwifery and a desire for a natural birth should I ever be fortunate enough to find myself pregnant. I think anyone with an interest in learning more about birth practices in America will find this film fascinating.

The Business of Being Born gets 5 out 5 stars from me!

Sponge

Warning: If you tend towards the squeamish (or if you're male), proceed with caution.

After reading about using sea sponges instead of tampons on one of my favorite blogs, I decided it was worth a shot. I had my reservations, of course, but so far they have all turned out to be warrantless.

I purchased Sea Sponge Tampons from GladRags, where I had previously purchased reusable cotton pads that I would also highly recommend. They are extremely comfortable, and there's no annoying string to irritate me. They couldn't be simpler to use; you merely rinse it out and put it back in. No garbage and no concerns over Toxic Shock Syndrome. Plus, they don't dry out the girl parts like regular tampons do.

As of right now, I can see no downside to them at all. I suppose for women like one of my former co-workers who was horrified and disgusted with me when I offered her an OB (it boggles my mind that you could be an adult with two children and be afraid of touching your private parts but whatever), then this product is not for you. But if you are someone that is concerned with lessening your impact on the environment or if you are economically motivated, then I would suggest replacing the tampons you normally use with the uber-comfy sponges.

Thanks for the inspiration, Riana!

Bullets of Too Busy For Anthing Else

• Before I knew I was starting my master's program this semester I agreed to lead a birthday party Saturday. Now I am kicking myself. The small fee I get paid is not worth the added stress and the loss four hours of prime studying time. I have two papers to do over the weekend. I wish there was some way I could get out of doing the party, but there isn't. At least the weather should be pleasant and warm.
• My new girly doctor seems very nice. English is clearly not her first language, but she is much easier to understand than my last one. I think I talked to her more today than I ever did with my former girly doctor who I saw for years. Now I'm just hoping all goes well and I don't have to go back for 12 months. What a joy that would be. And a novelty.
• This has been one of those weeks when being management ain't all that much fun. It's a lot like babysitting. How old are these people anyway?!
• Contractor finally returned this morning after a nearly 3 week hiatus. He's more or less insisting that I go to H0me Dep0t tonight to pick out the vanity top for the new bathroom. I feel like telling him I'll get to it in a week or two.
• FF had gotten me six tiny pumpkins to line my front steps with. This morning I discovered one had been all but devoured by the rat-bastard squirrels. Two more were no longer pristine. I brought the remaining three inside to protect them. Between neighborhood youth and evil rodents, how can I enjoy my festive pumpkins?
• I still haven't watched the season premiere of Prison Break, which I love. All of the other shows start next week. Thank goodness I have a DVR. I don't know how I'll keep up with both my homework and my TV!

Held Hostage by Doctors

1. I ordered contact lenses on-line the other day. Yesterday I received a phone call from the company that my eye doctor won't give permission for the entire order to be filled. He'll only release my prescription for six months, which means I lose all of the discounts and rebates. Now that I'm ticked off, I continued with the purchase of six months worth because that will give me enough time to find a new frickin' eye doctor.
2. When I picked up my monthly packet of pills, I noticed the phrase "no refills" screaming at me from the label. I was last at the girly doctor on March 1st for a complete round of tests, as I'm sure I mentioned on this very blog. So I call the office and discover my doctor has put a hold on the prescription because she wants me in for a follow-up pap. Hello? Ever heard of a phone? Said doctor has also relocated to an office on the other side of town. Since that ain't going happen, I have an appointment with one of the other female doctors at my office. I just hope her English language skills are better than the now former doctor's.

The doctors of the world are on my shit list today.

Here we go again

I received another letter from my girly doctor saying they were unable to contact me by phone and to call the office to schedule a repeat pap.

First of all, they have both of my phone numbers, so, really, how hard did they try to contact me?

Second, this will make three paps in six months. I feel certain that is too many. Not to mention the vaginal ultrasounds that I've had (two? three? I've lost count), and the fact that I'm supposed to have another one of those next month. Perhaps we should just set up a standing monthly appointment and they can poke and prod me to their hearts content.

Oy.

Sorry menfolk, hopefully you stopped reading this quite sometime ago.

Sense of Humor

I thought it was funny, but when I told my fiance the story he wasn't amused at all. So we'll see how you all feel about it.

My cell phone rang in the mid-afternoon at work yesterday. Remember how I have no reception whatsoever in my office building? Well, I saw it was my doctor's office so I answered and ran for the lobby. The call didn't drop! Amazing.

"Hi, this is B, calling from Dr S' office. I'm calling to schedule your surgery."

Pause. Nervous laughter. "No, I don't think so."

We went through the whole name, birth date, address, and she did indeed have my file in front of her to schedule a surgery.

Uh? WTF?

She was highly uncomfortable and embarrassed. Poor dear. Not her fault. So hopefully, someone will call me back today and tell me it was all a big mistake.

Hmn, still seems funny to me. What, not to you? Well, lighten up.

Because I Know You've Been Wondering

My consult with the doctor was very brief, but it was reassuring. So I guess it was worth leaving work two hours early.

She said that since I don't have all of the symptoms of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, she doesn't think it will prevent conception. She said that after six months of trying "seriously," if I do not get pregnant, then we will try clomid. Basically, she emphasized that as long as I'm getting my period regularly, I should be ovulating.

And nothing can be done about my awful, horrible acne because the meds for those are evil and not something you want in your body when contemplating pregnancy.

And I have to go back in four months for another sonogram. Joy.

And relief.

Any questions?

The Saga Continues

I did finally speak to my doctor yesterday morning. She suggested that I come into the office next week to go over options, which include possibly taking clomid, a fertility drug. Among all the lovely side affects, there is also a 10% increased chance of twins. Of which we already have two sets in our immediate extended family (grandfather and cousin's daughters).

I do have occasional and brief stabs of pain in my lower abdomen. But I'm so used to having some level of discomfort in some part of my body that I've more or less ignored them. Now I wonder if it has something to do with the cysts.

I was pretty upset at work yesterday, but an evening of grinding cranberries and moving furniture with my parents really helped to cheer me up. Weird, eh?

Brief Update

I spoke with the nurse this morning (the doctor was in surgery). She wants me back for another follow-up sonogram in three months.

I expressed my concerns at the possibility of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and asked if the doctor felt there was a chance that I might have it, to have her call me to discuss tests.

At the very least, I can look forward to yet another semi-invasive procedure.

Conundrum

One of the many problems with cubes is the complete lack of privacy. I share an office space with three other permanent staffers and one temporary worker, plus various passers by.

My doctor's office is only open 9-4, which means if I am going to speak to them about my sonogram results, I have to call during my work hours. This would be fine if I had an office with a door. As that is not the situation, I tried stepping out of our suite to phone the office. But you always have to leave a message for the nurse to call you back. And there's the problem, because I have no (and I mean zero) cell reception in my office, so it's not like I can take the call and dash to the lobby for privacy.

I am so not interested in sharing my girl-parts discussion with my officemates.

So more phone tag tomorrow, I'm sure.

Any other suggestions?

TMI

I had my follow-up sonogram this afternoon. The technician found cysts on both ovaries and suggested I might have polycystic ovary syndrome.

Fantastic.

Don't Worry

My first oral presentation for class was last night. I think it went well, although it's all kind of a blur. But most importantly, it's over. Now I can worry about other things.

Last Wednesday I had my annual girly-doctor visit. I have noticed that there does seem to be a trend for bloggers to discuss rather personal aspects of their lives, so in an attempt to not disappoint my two and a half readers, I shall now consider a foray into such lands. Because of a family history of ovarian cancer, my doctor had my blood drawn for testing and had me set up an appointment for a sonogram the following day. I've seen those baby-having shows on TV where the mom has goo squirted on her tummy and they roll the thing around picking up a nice fuzzy picture of her innards.

My expectations were, of course, shattered when I showed up for my sono and heard the word "internal." Huh? Your putting that probe where? Granted, the images on the screen were entertaining for the first minute, but that got boring after a while.

When she was done, the technician says to me that my uterus looks good and my right ovary looks good, but that I have a cyst on my left ovary. "I don't want you to worry," she said. "Women get cysts all the time."

Fine, I had plenty of other things to worry about (like standing up in front of 37 people and making a complete fool out of myself), so worry, I did not. Then yesterday I got a letter from the doctor's office requesting that I call to set up another sono in two months (oh, goody). But heck, I'm still not going to worry because I do better worrying about the little insignificant things in life.

Like the darn upcoming poster project.