I entered the labor and delivery ward naive and uneducated. I assumed there would be some pain and was more than willing to overlook my fear of needles for a high-quality epidural. I knew a Csection was possible, but knew little about it other than knowing I didn't want to know what went would happen on the other side of the sheet.
After the boy was born I joined the obligatory "new moms" group and did weekly playdates (a rather loose term since it was just a bunch of babies in infant carriers oblivious to the presence of their peers). Being thrust into a group of women where the only thing you have in common is that you procreated within a few months of each other leaves you mainly talking about that experience.
I listened in horror to tales of 'bad childbirth' and was even more grateful for my decent experience facilitated by excellent painkillers. Unfortunately, you don't forget those tales.
Today I went for my glucose test. You basically show up, drink a sweet sugary potion, sit still for an hour and then get a blood test. I brought the folder the doctor gave me at the last visit to look through and fill out forms during that hour.
The stupid folder tricks you with an image of a cute little baby on the cover.
The first page is a welcome letter and raves about the hospital and the miracle of life.
Just when you're hooked it takes a dark turn.
The following pages were statistics and percentages and possible scenerios to prepare for.
Sure it doesn't seem all that bad when the percentage of blod clots traveling to your lungs, death, blood transfusions, infections, etc. are low....
but the odds of spontaneously having identical twins is only .4% and we fell into that category.
I promptly put the paperwork away and will not be taking it out again.
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