My Birthing Story

April 10... Today was supposed to be my due date, but my little one decided to come two weeks earlier instead at 38weeks on March 27 at 11am thru cs in Apollo Hospital Dhaka Bangladesh, weighting 6.6lbs and height of 19.7inches, whom we named Alexis Mayumi.

I did mention before that I prefer vaginal delivery, but sometimes things don’t happen the way you want it. I ended up having a c-section, but no matter what way I gave birth, the best part is still the end result - a beautiful baby.

My daughter with my OBgyne Dr. Gulshan Ara

My birthing story started at early morning around 3am when I’m half asleep half awake of almost peeing in the bed twice, and both I was able to stop and made me realize it isn’t the waterbag breaking. The third time I went to the bathroom to make a pee but when I get back to bed, the spot where I was sitting on was wet, I transferred to another spot and that too got wet. That when I decided to get up and go to the bathroom again and notice there's a drip but not a gush. I vibered my mom and sis and they told me to go to the er just to be sure, that’s when I started packing my hospital bag. That’s around 530am already and my husband woke up also and asked what I’m doing, that’s when the big gush came. We left for the hospital at 630am and reach there around 7am. No labor pain, no contractions yet. Baby's heartbeat was fine but no, I didn’t feel her move since my waterbag broke, and my BP shoot up to 140/110. The on-duty OB checked on me and monitored the baby's heartbeat and by the time my OB arrived & checked on me it was around 9am, my BP is still high and still no labor pain, no contraction - that’s when she recommended that I should go for cs coz she doesn’t want to take risk by inducing me, there's a chance that it will put my baby and myself in danger if she will induce me while my BP is high and it's actually steady at high - in my medical report after discharge, the diagnosis was pre-eclampsia and oligohydramnios.

Our first family picture right after the operation.

I was upset, disappointed. I really don’t want to have a cs but I don’t want to put my baby at risk also and at that time I don’t have other options and no chance to get second opinion anymore. We agreed for cs and were scheduled for 10am. Once inside the or, I felt the tense and Fear that I was trying to ignore the whole time. This is my first major surgery. Lots of things are running in my mind, I’m trying my best to calm myself but all I can think of is what if they will make a mistake in injecting the spinal anesthesia, I will be paralyze. The anesthesiologist was so nice he keeps talking to me, asking about Philippines and telling me you relax. But I don’t know if I was able to relax at all the entire operation, the worrier in me made me think lots of negative things, one was I’m going to die. I delivered the baby at 11am, one tiny pink baby. They didn’t place her on my chest; they did show her to me for a few seconds before they take her away. The whole time that they were stitching me up, I was asking for my baby, they told me she is with my husband already. As soon as they wheeled me to the recovery room, I saw my in-laws and my baby waiting for me. 

The nurses told me to rest and to sleep, while the whole time they were monitoring my BP, gave me medicine to lower it and stabilize it. From 11am till 6pm I was at the recovery room because my BP was not going down. They can’t offer me water and I was so thirsty I feel my throat was so dry. They did try to latch my baby on me, and I hate the pain of someone pinching and pulling my nipple towards my baby's mouth. I can see just a tiny droplet of colostrums, so small amount but I know that is sufficient for my baby. It's a good thing my baby knows how to suck and learned how to latch quickly. The first time I saw my husband carrying a baby is a sight to behold, despite the drowsiness and grogginess, I felt happy to see my husband carrying our baby and the way he looks at her is something. 

By 6pm we were transferred to our own room. The nurses were so helpful especially at night because that's when our baby starts to cry nonstop, she doesn’t like to stay in the bassinet, cries out loud whenever her diaper is wet or dirty, and because I can’t stand yet, my husband was the sole babysitter for the night. It's so nice that the nurses help him in soothing our baby. I felt so helpless and useless coz I’m not sure if baby is getting enough from me. I still don’t have milk and it frustrates me more whenever someone is asking me if I got milk or did I feed her enough. I’m a first time mom and I don’t know the answers to these questions, I just know the colostrums are enough for the baby and the doctor said it too. I feel sorry for my husband who has to endure sleepless nights alone when he has work the following morning. I dreaded every morning when my husband has to leave to go to work. My in-laws were with me but I prefer my husband to be around. During daytime, Alexis mayumi is an angel- quiet, feeds and just sleeping whole day but at night time she is fuzzy and always crying and her cry was a loud shriek. The nurses are on the dot also during feeding time, and again I have to endure the pulling and pinching of my nipple towards mayumi's mouth- sometimes I wonder if the nurses are doing it on purpose. Every time they will have to say, I still don’t have milk and yet again I will tell them colostrums is fine. But still they think I’m not feeding mayumi enough that’s why she is fuzzy at night. All these plus my disappointment of going thru cs and me half immobile for the meantime makes me feel worst, helpless and doubt my own milk - I had to remind my husband please don’t give formula milk to my baby. I hate it also when they assume something why my baby is like that and I don’t like it too whenever they asked me what’s wrong with her or what happen. She is a baby and newly born, and the only thing she can do actually is cry - that’s her way of communicating, and I can’t decipher that, yet. Crying doesn’t always mean she is hungry.

The following day after my operation I have to start walking, and it’s the most painful thing I’ve ever felt it made me cry and it actually made me want to die coz it was really an excruciating pain. We were supposed to be discharged on the 4th day but on the 3rd day, mayumi's bilirubin was 13.9 that her pedia advised us to put her under phototherapy, we extended one night stay. Sending her to NICU was upsetting. I couldn’t help myself but cry. I tried feeding her so we can put her to sleep but I still don’t have milk. The NICU staff taslima was assisting me and I hate it when she told me rudely after pressing my nipple "you don’t have milk, how are you going to feed her? What do you want me to do?" I felt more down when the attending doctor has to explained to me that mayumi's needs to sleep with full stomach and since I still don’t have milk as the colostrums is not sufficient, they will give formula milk. I was again broken hearted coz I planned to EBF my baby but I’m left w no choice - I will breastfeed her and it isn’t sufficient then they will give formula. How o wish my husband was there with me at that very moment but he has to go to work. That night, he was able to sleep properly while the nurses still have to wake me up during feeding time and wheeled me down to NICU. The next day I got milk already, and it’s enough to feed Mayumi so there are times that they don’t have to give formula to Mayumi anymore, but we still can’t go home since her bilirubin was still 12.8, her pedia advised us for her to stay another night. My breast started to get hard especially the left one coz Mayumi doesn’t like to feed from that side. At least the night shift NICU staff Motoshi was nicer than taslima. She told me to put a hot compress on my breast because if it is hard the baby will not latch. Those nights I’m in constant communication with my sis and mom, there are times I cry silently out of despair, and questioned God why He is letting this happen. 

Finally, we were discharged on April 1^st. We are just so happy to go home and take care of Alexis Mayumi in our own home and comfort. It was nice to have the nurses to help us but nothing feels better when you are finally home.

Just few of her many facial expressions

Looking back, I’m glad that we are both safe and healthy and my baby is thriving, but at the back of my mind, I still wonder, if I were in the Philippines, will the doctors there give the same call? Or would they have me induce? But again, I’m just glad that we are both safe and healthy. Financially, it was a blow in the pocket but we are happy that we are safe and we are now home.

Will blog soon about our first night at home and will continue to blog about my motherhood journey.

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.

Pregnant Chronicles #2: Myths, Beliefs and/or Facts

Like the Philippines and other culture and civilizations in the world, Bangladeshis have their own traditions, beliefs, myths and superstitions regarding pregnancy. We can say we are living in a modern world already but beliefs don’t die just like that. Either it’s purely myths I find it weird because I grew up in a family that don’t believe in superstitious beliefs even if we are aware of those things. My own mom didn’t follow any myths but all 5 of us siblings grew up pretty well and we are all okay.

As soon as people finds out about your pregnancy, you will get tons of “tips and advices”. Others are facts but mostly are myths. You hear a list of “Do’s and Don’ts” but you seldom hear “words of encouragement”. You hear stories about the difficulties of pregnancy but no one will tell you the “joys of pregnancy… With all this things, I wonder why they don’t just advice “don’t get pregnant”. I’m not spared of this things and it’s more annoying if those people are your own family. And it’s weird that you hear these things from “moms” as if they didn’t know or no one told them before that “every pregnancy, every woman is different”. That, what works for you may not work for me and vice versa. I know sometimes they say this things but they mean no harm, but we pregnant women have lots of things to think and worry and be concern about already and it will be a great help if you will not add up to our “pregnancy woes” with your myths and beliefs.

These are the few things I come across with:

Don’t eat pineapple.

My MIL told me this because a pregnant lady had a miscarriage after eating pineapple. This is their conclusion base on what happened and not base on any medical diagnosis. I goggled about it and read that pineapple can cause early contraction but it isn’t included in the “list of food to be avoided during pregnancy”. It’s a good thing that pineapple is not my favorite fruit. How about “pineapple with/and milk”? No one told me it’s bad to eat this two together until I came here in BD. I tried googling about it but I didn’t find any explanation. Apparently, someone died after eating pineapple and/with milk, and again they concluded that’s the cause of death. If someone can clarify this or give veracity regarding this, please do share.

Don’t eat eggplant.

From my Filipino friends, according to them the baby’s skin will not be smooth if you eat eggplant. While from a Filipino-Chinese belief, it will make your baby’s eyes big & round instead of the chinky eyes. The fun part is the way a friend told me about it after posting a picture of eggplant in FB, it’s like a just committed a mortal sin. I just avoided eating eggplant after that, it’s doable anyway since I only want my eggplant cooked as torta or puki-puki which no one here wants to eat it that way. Now I’m thinking does it count when you are not aware that you are pregnant yet? I was not aware that I’m pregnant already last July and it was Ramadan so I’m always eating fried eggplant for iftar. My own mom ate eggplant when she was pregnant also, and again we are all fine and our skin is smooth.

Don’t eat raw/uncooked green papaya.

I know pregnant women should not eat anything raw, but my MIL specifically told me not to eat a raw papaya. Again, she doesn’t know why but she was told not to eat it when she was pregnant herself.  I wonder do the Japanese women stop eating sushi when they are pregnant.

Don’t eat eggs.

Not really “stop eating eggs” but my MIL wants me to lessen eating eggs like one egg per week only. She doesn’t want me to eat too many eggs because one of her relative had a miscarriage for eating too many eggs. And according to her, that was the OB’s diagnosis. While, an ex-colleague told me that her mom made her eat at least two eggs per day and she just gave birth with a healthy baby boy. My take on this is “anything that is too much is bad, pregnant or not. Everything should be eaten in moderation”. My own OB actually t told me I can eat anything as long as I don’t have problem eating. Really, the key is eating in moderation. With all the things my in-laws told me not to eat, funny thing that they didn’t tell me to lessen or stop eating sweets at all. My FIL actually buys ice cream every day for me even if I keep on telling him that I don’t want to eat ice cream. As soon as I reached my 6 months, I actually stop eating rice for dinner and eat only steamed fish with veggies for dinner and, lessen my sugar & sweets.

Don’t buy fish after dusk because the evil spirits will follow you. And don’t go out after 6pm.

To avoid the bad omen or to ward off the evil eye, pregnant women were given some ribbon to tie around their tummies. Our house helper gave me and my husband a wrapped matchbox that she prayed over as our talisman. I just carry it inside my bag so as not to offend her, and there’s no harm in carrying it anyway. Aside from that, I always carry a rosary with me. My faith in God is still stronger than any superstitious belief.

Avoid taking a bath in the evening or you will get sick. That’s 4pm onwards!

Eat leafy vegetables (shak) to have a hairy baby.

Ok, I don’t believe this but I don’t want to have a hairy baby (my husband and FIL wants a hairy baby), so I stop eating shak. There’s already a big chance of having a dark-skin baby, making it hairy will make it worst. It’s fine if the baby is a boy, but I’m having a baby girl, so I prefer a smooth skin please.

Don’t eat anything black like the squid. Eat only white food stuff.

I’m not that fair, my skin-color is “kayumanggi” and so with my husband who is a Bangladeshi. He isn’t black skin but he isn’t fair, and his skin complexion is darker than mine. Even if we have families and relatives who have fair skin, our baby will inherit mine or his skin complexion or it can be a shade of our colors combined. My point is it’s in the genes and not on what I ate or eat while pregnant. I don’t think I will end up having a “white skin baby” if I eat all the white stuff and avoid eating black stuff. It doesn’t work that way. The same way that even if I’m going to rub my niece or nephew’s clothes on my tummy, my baby will not inherit their Chinese skin.

If it is a baby boy, you will look ugly, if it is a baby girl, you will look pretty.

Other people believe the opposite, if it is a boy you will look pretty but if it is a girl you will look ugly because the baby is getting all your beauty. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not, and maybe it’s just pure luck or coincidence. But the truth is, no matter what the gender of the baby is, there’s this “pregnant glow” and our looks change because of the way our hormones affects us and also our diet. No matter what we do, our hormones are crazy during pregnancy. That is something we can’t control. What we can control is our diet that is also affected by our hormones, and it takes a lot of commitment to control ones diet especially if we have those cravings. There are women who exert effort to look pretty but there are also some who doesn’t care less of their appearance since they are not feeling well at all to even spend time in front of the mirror. And there are the lucky ones who are just really pretty when they are pregnant. I was irritated when my sister told me that I look ugly now, what more if I’m having a boy. I didn’t argue anymore because I find it useless. Fact 1, even before, we knew that I’m not the prettiest among us 5 siblings, so why it will matter now that I don’t look pretty like her when she was pregnant. Fact 2, I’m not the fairest among us 5, so obviously if I turn darker around my neck, it will be more noticeable than her, right? I just shrug it off, what matters most is that my husband finds me pretty and getting pretties with each passing day. Who cares if other people think I’m ugly, as long as my husband finds me pretty and never fails me to show his love and asked me randomly “why do you look prettier and prettier every day.”

You are so big for your stage.

Again, every pregnancy and every woman are different. I’m petite; I’m almost 5 ft so obviously I will look rounder because I’m short. And, I’m really “tabain” even before getting married. And all pregnant women will gain weight, and will grow big. Even the skinny ones will gain some weight and flesh but since they are skinny to begin with, their weight gain will be minimal or unnoticeable in comparison to someone who is voluptuous in the first place. So please, stop saying “when I was at that stage, I was not that big”, “you look more than your actual week”, and blah blah blah blah. I love my baby bump so it doesn’t matter if I showed-off earlier than you or the others. Maybe because I had an easy first and second trimester that I really didn’t lose weight but actually gained weight because I feel so hungry most of the time and I can eat anything without feeling nauseous or vomiting.

Look only at beautiful people and fair-skin people to have a beautiful baby with fair skin.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And again, my baby’s appearance will not be base on the images/pictures or, the faces that I looked at or stared at – it are all in our genes. I don’t believe in “LIHI”. There’s no proven scientific or medical explanation to that. I told my mom “no matter how long or many times I stare or watch my niece’s pictures and videos, my baby will not look like her because my husband is not Chinese. Even if I stare at an actress picture, my baby will not look like the actress. I can say only this: my baby will be a beautiful one with the combination of my best assets and her daddy’s best assets. She will be beautiful on her own, an international beauty and my Ms. World. And, I’m in Bangladesh, not looking at someone who isn’t fair is next to impossible, and no one is going to stop me from staring at my handsome husband.

The baby will be a genius because she is an Aries as per my in-laws.

Nope, I beg to disagree. My baby will be smart/genius regardless what her horoscope is, simply because she is my baby. Yes, I’m proud to say that. I don’t want to base my baby’s personality and capability according to the astrology. I’m not a hardcore believer on astrology, while I noticed majority of the Bangladeshis are that includes my in-laws.

Enough have been said and shared, and there are still lots of things to say related to pregnancy. Remember that while it can be true for some, it may not necessarily be for all. There are ways of fighting for a good and enjoyable pregnancy. You just have to be like a sieve, letting the non-sense and useless things go away and keeping the better, positive, more encouraging, nevertheless realistic, side of things, just the important and essential things. Learn to shrug it off, and above all, have faith in God that He will never leave you alone.

Here's an excerpt from Rica's blog:

"There's a way to fight what the world says, women. And even men - husbands of these wives; do pray with your ladies. Believe for the best and do everything by faith. Refuse curses and declarations others confess upon you and your body and I dare say there's a way to fight it, but that is only through the Lord who is greater than he who is in the world. Even the book "What To Expect When You're Expecting" poses disclaimers that every pregnancy is unique with symptoms that cannot be ascertained. yet I learned that we can be sure of one thing, and that is I can do this by faith and faith in God alone."

Pregnant Chronicles #1: The Beginning

I’m 27 weeks today, the beginning of the last trimester of my pregnancy journey. And I intend to chronicle it starting this week – my thoughts, the invaluable lessons, and other pregnancy related issues. I would have done it earlier but I delayed it as a respect to my in-laws’ wish of not sharing anything about my pregnancy, except of course with my immediate family and closest friends. As a matter of fact, I share all my pregnancy woes/issues/stories with my family more than with my in-laws , which is normal. It’s something with the Bangladeshi culture where “pregnancy” is something to be a “hush-hush” and not something to be announced widely. This is to avoid any “bad wishers” or the "evil eye". They even consider it a minor illness, I remember one colleague, he never informed us that his wife is pregnant and by the time his wife was on labor and he has to take the leave, he just informed us that his wife is ill and in the hospital. Some Filipinos do the same thing too – just keeping the news within the family.

After two weeks of arriving here in Dhaka, I got pregnant. It’s something that we planned right after we got engaged because I’m not that young anymore and we want to start our family as soon as possible. It’s an answered prayer. Looking at the dates – I conceived on July 3^rd, a few days before that, I was sick and was on medication. I was hoping to be pregnant by then so I was disappointed when my monthly cycle started on the 3^rd. So right after the cycle, we double our efforts, followed some tips & tricks in the hope that we will get it this time. I have fears of “having difficulties in getting pregnant” and “running out of time”, which are why  we followed some tips/tricks, anyway, there’s no harm in doing so.

I started reading Rica’s blog when I found out she is pregnant. And because of what I’ve read in her blog, I was aware of the symptoms of early pregnancy which I slowly notice with my own body 1) tenderness of the breast, 2) changes in the body temperature which worries my Husband thinking I might fall sick again and 3) the implantation or seeding. Good thing I read this seeding in the blog, otherwise I would have think that my cycle started again, a week earlier. All through out, I was also in constant communication with my sister who was pregnant also at that time. By 1^st week of august, I want to take a home pregnancy test already because my suspicion was getting high – my sister advice me to wait for few more days. 

Come August 7^th, I can’t wait anymore so I decided to take the test – and I’m so happy when I saw the 2^nd line appear. It’s like a magic unfolding right in front of you. I was planning to tell the news to my husband the following day as my “anniversary surprise” to him, but he was inside our room waiting for me to come out from the bathroom so he saw the kit in my hand. There goes my advance gift to him. I informed my 2 sisters and mom about the positive results instantly, and the following day, we informed my in-laws. After my first check-up we found out I'm 6 weeks pregnant, I informed the rest of my family, and after another check up where I heard the baby’s heartbeat already, I informed my closest friends.

We were face with the next dilemma – finding a good OBGyne who will support my decision of having a “normal delivery” and not thru “caesarian section” which is the common practice here in Bangladesh. Majority of the child deliveries here are thru “CS” – for some reasons, it’s the choice by the majority of the locals here. We heard stories about 1) OB’s scaring the patient that they will have no choice but to choose CS over normal delivery, 2) the mother is not properly informed about the cons of CS, and they just want the easier way to give birth. Due to this unethical medical practice, I have my own doubts. At the back of my mind, the doctor is taking good care of me but at the same time not helping me much to have a normal delivery. I just felt a little bit at ease when two people I know gave birth recently thru normal delivery. I wish to see their OB but their clinic is far from where I live, so I have no choice but to go to the nearest reputable hospital which is the Apollo. I haven’t heard any good feedback regarding my present OB the same way that there’s no negative feedback about her also. So for now, I’m sticking with her. In general, OB’s here are distant and cold. They don’t really explained things to you unless you ask them. And it seems they don’t really build a “relationship” with their patients, unlike in the Philippines. I did inform my OB that I prefer normal delivery and her reply was she don’t force her patients to go for CS, if they think they can handle the labor pain then they can have normal delivery. Well, it’s good to know that the decision is mine; I just pray that she is helping me with this one.

Well, I did prepare myself before getting pregnant. As soon as I got engaged, I went to my sister’s OB to have myself vaccinated with MMR. I started drinking folic acid also a few months before I got married. These plus healthy married life and of course prayer helps us get pregnant.