Pregnant Chronicles #3: My Pregnancy Guide

A well-informed first-time-mom or FTM makes one's pregnancy journey easier, not exactly "easy, hassle-free, worry-free" but a bit easier than in total darkness of the unknown and new experience. Expecting women have a lot of questions especially the FTM, everything is new and unknown.

Information are now so accessible - there are lots of books, e-books and, aside from tips and advices from families and friends, in the cyber world there are groups where you can share experiences, ask questions and compare notes with.

Gone are the days where your only sources of information are the "old wife tales" or from your reliable OB. There are blog articles and medical websites where you can read all the facts, & myth-buster regarding pregnancy and motherhood - they are all readily available in just one click to Mr. Google.

It's a good thing that I'm pregnant at the same time with my sister. Firsthand knowledge is good and more convincing. I can always viber her and asked question regarding pregnancy symptoms, woes and others. And because my 2 elder sisters were pregnant with their 1st born 2-3 years ago, my own mother started reading books regarding pregnancy, after all, you do need to update some knowledge - and sometimes send some screenshot or image of a certain page in the book. I'm also glad that there are lots of support group online and some of the members are my "new friends" from WaW, and I get to share some notes with them.

Aside from my sister, mom and waw friends, I swear by this book "What to Expect When you’re Expecting" by Heidi Murkoff & Sharon Mazel.

I downloaded the e-book version and just read it on my mobile phone for convenience. It is very comprehensive and informative. It's like my OB is just beside me all the time ready to answer my questions, and clear my doubts. Reading this book make me knowledgeable about what's happening inside my body and my baby, and what about to happen and expect. I actually got more answers from this book than from my own OB - who seem to be distant. I just sometimes asked my OB just to cross-check if what I read is accurate or not, and to check also if my OB is knowledgeable too. It is an easy read too because it's written by "monthly development". It started from planning to conceive and continues with the monthly development. I even shared this e-book with my other expecting friends. I also share whatever I read with my husband so that he will not get worried like me.

Antenatal Class

Since we are first-time parents, we decided to attend an antenatal class. I was actually hoping that they will informed us more about the labor or different birthing method, but they discussed none of these two. Most of the things discussed are things that I’m aware of already because of my advance reading, still it was helpful for my husband because at least he got informed about it. The class is informative, it just so happened that I read most of the things they tackled in class.

New things I learned from the class are:

• ·         The hospital protocol: they will wait only two days after the EDD, and they will induce you to labor.
• ·         The different stages of labor and different labor position
• ·         The different anesthesia and their pros and cons: general and spinal.
• ·         If there is less baby movement even if there is a heartbeat, you should inform your practitioner – it’s similar to someone in a coma: there is a heartbeat but no reaction.
• ·         After 36^th week, your feet will get swollen.
• ·         I’m not sure about it, but they did say that from 36^th week you can give birth, I thought it’s from 37^th onwards.

We toured also the maternity ward.

Aside from these two, and the online forums and groups where I get to read some answers to similar experiences and questions, I did asked friends who are based here in Dhaka too regarding their own experiences. It’s good to be really aware and be informed with the situation & scenarios here. I was advised to be vigilant around 36^th weeks because usually that’s the time when some OB will tell you about “complications” that will make you decide to go for CS. So, my husband and I decided that if ever we cross this bridge, we will go for a second opinion. So far, everything is fine with my pregnancy, I’m already in my 35^th weeks and my OB told me to get enough rest and sleep as my amniotic fluid is around 10.5 – normal is from 10 to 15, so my one is bordering again, so I need to increase it to avoid early child birth. I asked other OB’s and goggled it too regarding low AFI. What I understand is that low AFI doesn’t mean the baby is at risk, a normal AFI is from 5cm -25cm. Before recommending induce labor, non-stress test (NST), fetal monitoring and/or biophysical profile should be done first to check if baby is fine or under distress. If baby is under distress then we should go ahead with the early delivery. Now, this one I will have to ask my OB next visit, I don’t want to be force into labor just because the OB wants to, even without reasonable reasons or without monitoring first.

And, it was a plus factor also that I have 2 friends who had a normal delivery here, even if they gave birth at Square Hospital and not in Apollo (where we are planning to give birth), that’s a glimpse of hope that a normal delivery is possible here.

I started reading also “the Happiest Baby on the block by Harvey Karp” and   “newborn Care” in the website of “Baby Center” and taking notes also from the online forums, especially regarding “breastfeeding’. We plan to exclusively breastfeed our baby up to six months, and continue giving breast milk until our baby will wean on her own. No to baby formulas and follow-up formulas. I hope we can stick to this decision.