After announcing I was pregnant with my first child I realized that I must be horrible at being pregnant. My doctor thought everything was going great, but the world in general seemed to disagree. People I knew and people I didn't overwhelmed me with a list of things I needed to do and things I needed to stop doing. “You need to read this book.” “You need to stop wearing heels.” “You need to keep a journal.” “You need to stop eating spicy food.” “ You need to take a birthing class.” “You need to stop exercising.” The list goes on and on. I wasn't doing the things everyone seemed to think was supposed to be doing. The worst part was the attitude I got if I dared to mention I wasn't going to be following the suggestion. People got mad. They seemed to feel that I was doing them some harm by not being pregnant the way they thought I should be. I heard story after story of why I should do this or shouldn't do that. When did all these people become an expert on my life.
I didn't read the books. What growing up on a farm didn't teach about what to expect, my nursing degree did. I didn't take a class. I read up on the principles behind the different birthing methods and talked to a close friend, my mother, and my nurse. We all agreed that I probably wouldn't get that much out of the classes. Being a life long student of various martial arts and yoga, I already understood the concepts. Why waste the money and even more importantly my time. I have never kept a journal and I was too busy with baby planning to start. I kept eating spicy food, wearing my heels, and kept my exercise routine with a little modification. Of course I talked to my physician about anything that might be dangerous, like the exercise. Instead of doing all the things people thought I needed to be doing, I did what fit my life. My pregnancy was great. The baby was born healthy after a brief four hours of labor. Everything was fine. Now, I am going to ignore most of the advice on how to raise my son. I am sure he will turn out great, even if I let him stay up late of watch T.V.
Necole Ivey
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