We are back to continue on our series of sh*t no one tells you about being pregnant. If you missed Part 1,
click here. Now, onward.
6. Reactions to baby names will make you angry.
People really have no filter, for some reason, when it comes to pregnancy. No matter what name you are considering--something common like Lane or something wacky like Apple--someone is going to respond by scrunching up their nose and saying, "Oh, I don't really like that." I even had one friend who kept the baby's name a secret until after he was born, it was already on the birth certificate, and people still said they didn't like the name. I mean, at that point, why wouldn't you lie and say "That's great" or "how cute" or something? Bottom line here: Unless you were involved in creating said baby, keep your mean opinions to yourself.
7. Your insurance may cover the complete cost of a breast pump.
Had you told me a year ago that I'd be using the words "breast pump" on this blog, I'd have called you crazy. What has happened?? Anyway, before you run out and start buying one, call your insurance company. Most (if not all....law may require all now) insurance companies cover these. Mine, in fact, covered two of the brand everyone recommended and shipped them right to my house. What brand would that be? Medela. Not to be confused with the beer Modelo, which is what Loud Oklahoma Girl swears she will be drinking as soon as she delivers her baby. Ha!
8. Pregnancy is really just a major lesson in waiting.
I'm not a real patient person. I'm sure this shocks no one. But I'm here to tell you, for me, being pregnant has pretty much been 8 months of holding my breath waiting for the next thing. When you pee on the stick, you then have to wait like two months for an appointment. After that appointment, you wait another two months to have the anatomy ultrasound. You wait to show. If you do the genetic screening (see next point), you have to wait for the results and, if they look bad, you have to wait two more weeks for more accurate results. There's waiting for registry completion discounts. Waiting to feel him move. Waiting for house additions to be done (that's just us). Waiting to be far enough along that the baby can survive outside the womb. Seriously, you just wait and grow. That sums it up.
9. Genetic screening tests are bullshit. Yep, deserves another curse word here.
You read about our nerve wracking experience with this on
this prior blog. Here are some of my thoughts based on my experience. First off, be sure you really understand exactly what you are agreeing to. College Roomie's experience was much different than mine in that before they were offered the tests, they met with a counselor that explained the tests, how they worked, the chances of false positives, how follow up tests would be handled, etc. I think that would have made everything completely different for us. Our pre-test conversation consisted of the lab tech asking if we wanted it, me asking if insurance covered it, her saying yes, me saying yes. That was that. So getting a call that said we "screened positive for Downs" was completely out of left field and terrifying. Then, the fact that we had to do another test (an accurate one versus the crappy one we just did) and wait to weeks to get the results was terrible. Absolutely terrible. Additionally, we knew that no matter what those tests said, we would not be "terminating the pregnancy" (I hate that term), and because of that I wonder why I didn't think to say no.
Since hearing our story I've had several people tell me they opted out of the test. Truthfully, I don't think I'd have it done with any future babies that may come our way. For sure I would have the anatomy ultrasound looked at first and if it was normal, I probably would decline the tests. At the very least, I'd be sure to be much, much more educated than I was.
10. Feeling and then seeing that baby move in your belly is the creepiest and most awesome thing in the world.
There's really not much I can say to explain this further. I don't know if all babies are as active as this one, but when people sitting across the room suddenly go, "Oh my gosh, what just happened to your stomach?!?" you know that you've got some solid movement going on. He's all over the place all the time.
And now, some more of our weekly photos.
