Expectations

Sadly, it's been nearly two months (*again*) since the last post. Hmpf.

We'll, I'm here now.

I've assisted at several exciting births, of course - a few older (my age - 35ish) Amish women having their ninth or tenth baby. They sort-of walk around and chatter until they decide they want to lay down. Then we hear a grunt or two - maybe a stifled yell - and leave our paperwork and sweetened garden tea at the kitchen table to catch the baby. I can't think of how these births could be more simple or beautiful.

I won't talk about one birth too openly except to say it was *spectacular* to watch. It endeared the midwife to me even more, though I hadn't thought that was possible. See, my midwife friends routinely spare women from surgery. THEY SAVE THEM FROM SURGERY. If you don't know what a big deal that is - to be spared from unnecessary surgery - ask me, and I'll tell you. Women in the United States get cesarean sections like they're the latest cosmetic procedure. It's awful because c-sections are MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGERY and should never be done flippantly. To be spared from one because a midwife's willing to put a few more hours in or think creatively is simply *love in action*. (I won't get started.)

Despite the frightening state of the majority of maternity care in the United States, I remain pregnant with wonder, excitement and awe as I consider more birth work in our 1 percent of the birthing world. Oh, and I am also pregnant with child. Yes! I said that! At 38, with three super children already, and having just started school for an RN, I am pregnant.

About 8 weeks. (That's early and puts the baby due in February 2011.)

I decided to put it here because if this pregnancy will be anything, it will be a learning experience for me and others. In fact, that's part of the "vision statement" I put together with the help of colleague and pregnancy coach Deb Rhizal. I feel like a living classroom.

So if you're interested in learning as I go along, feel free to join me. If you have any interest in women's health, pregnancy or childbirth and want a live, willing mother to query, I might be she. In the mean time, I plan to do much querying myself. And when I have questions - the same issues about which I often teach in prenatal classes - I aim to get answers, deep answers, so I might better appreciate and understand this awesome thing happening inside of me.

You'll get to meet my midwife, Kate Shantz, CNM. She's a mentor and friend and a gentle midwife. (But she has short fingers, so we'll see about vag exams.) We'll be taping lots of visits - and the birth. We'll be addressing lots of issues.

So one of my first questions was about caffeine. I *really* like coffee. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find and rationale for having three or four cups of strong coffee a day when pregnant. (Don't get on me about it - I know caffeine isn't all that good for you in large quantities no matter what.) Seems the caffeine issue for pregnancy is two-fold: vaso- constriction for mom, which reduces blood flow to important places (like the placenta) and the baby's inability to metabolize caffeine sufficiently. Sigh. So I'm down to one cup a day and have purchased decaf.

Check out this article.

I'll be looking a lot at diet in the next few weeks. I'm curious about the *optimal* pregnancy diet, one that has virtually no sugar and few carbohyrates in it. I'm all for weight gain but not as excited about *fat* gain, and I want to learn the chemistry of how to avoid that and still get the baby what he or she needs. If you have resources you want to share, share!

In the mean time, I'm waiting on two babies. Both are "overdue" ... whatever that means ... and both will probably come within the same day, as I've found birth comes in clusters. I'm anxious to see how I'm affected by attending others' births while I'm pregnant myself. I'm hopeful to be ever-more mindful and compassionate.

I'm expecting big things, here.