Okay, I should be blogging wonderful things about pregnancy, right? Well, if that's you want to read then just leave this page right now because this will probably be more like a rant and more then likely not very haha. I promise the next post will be awesome and it will be all " pregnancy is awesome and this is why I heart it!" Deal? Deal!
| Mine is much much worse. |
Well, I'm seven months now, 29 weeks on Monday. My back is starting to hurt and no, I can't go to Dr. A for an adjustment and will explain in a later post. My boobs are so heavy that I actually have to lift them up to place in a bra or wash them...I now know why guys always grab their balls because I constantly do the same thing with my breast. And could we just ignore the fact that I rock boob pit stains? Oh, whats boob pit stains you say? They are just like arm pit satins but under your boobs! No, its not colosturm leaking down only because I wear breast pads. Thats right, if pumping didn't cause contractions I would be doing it, its that much.
I hate the hot weather, period! I hate the fact that my vagina can hock up a loouie! I hate that there is never enough icecream in the house. And I hate that I think I got my first stretch mark ever. Yes, I am aware that I have said that they are beautiful before. And in reality I do. I just don't want them because then I can't dress to embarrass my mother, husband and kids. Which I really enjoy doing. I hate the fact that my two favorite articles of my maternity wear are now too small. AND to top it all off I hate Ultrasounds! Why, you ask? Well, would you like the scientific explanation or the personal experience explanation? Well, too bad. You're getting both! If I'm going to rant I might as well educate, right? First, the scientific explanation....
Ultrasound, sonograms, and dopplers use high frequency sound waves to produce an image of the baby on a viewing screen or amplify the baby's heartbeat so it can be heard more easily. NO STUDIES have been done which prove the safety of these devices, and the American Medical Association recommends against unnecessary exposure. Yet, most ultrasounds are done over and over for unnecessary reasons and the average woman will have many in a OB's practice with no scientific basis, solely for curiosity of the provider and sometimes mother. So, what would constitute as unnecessary Exposure? Well, unnecessary exposure includes the use of ultrasound to:
1. Confirm the sex of the baby.
2. Assess gestational age (how many weeks old the baby is).
3. Assess fetal size and growth.<- Big one! Thanks for the rise in the CS rate , ya'll!
4. Confirm multiple pregnancy
5. Determine fetal presentation (the position of the baby in the womb).
5. Determine fetal presentation (the position of the baby in the womb).
*All but gender can be determine by a care provider with training on how to detect with skill, yet for some reason we think that technology is better, never mind the fact ultrasound is HIGHLY inaccurate on the accounts of age and weight which has risen the CS rate by giving women unnecessary C-Sections and robbing them of their birth experiences and yes, unfortunately their lives as well.
Anyway, many health care professionals still use ultrasound for these purposes anyway, even though the American Medical Association has not approved its use for any of these purposes. With the exception of confirming the sex of the baby, all these pieces of information can be obtained with hands-on skills,as I listed above. A fetoscope or stethoscope can detect the baby's heartbeat without the danger of ultrasound.
According to the World Health Organization and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, "It is not clear at this time whether ultrasound fetal monitoring is beneficial to the mother or fetus in terms of pregnancy outcome.If there is no generally acknowledged benefit to the monitoring, there is no reason to expose mothers to increased cost and risk. The question of benefit has not yet been resolved and the potential for delayed effects has been virtually ignored.
In other words, Ultrasound technology carries potential risks that have not yet been evaluated, yet many doctors are telling women that there is no risk.
Having an ultrasound is NOT essential to a healthy pregnancy. However, most doctors are trained to use expensive technology and NOT trained to use hands-on skills, once aging I repeat this!
Before you allow an ultrasound to be done on you, do some research, thoroughly question your healthcare provider about safety as well as the value of the information that would be received. And don't stand for "There are no risk." answer.
In other words, Ultrasound technology carries potential risks that have not yet been evaluated, yet many doctors are telling women that there is no risk.
Having an ultrasound is NOT essential to a healthy pregnancy. However, most doctors are trained to use expensive technology and NOT trained to use hands-on skills, once aging I repeat this!
Before you allow an ultrasound to be done on you, do some research, thoroughly question your healthcare provider about safety as well as the value of the information that would be received. And don't stand for "There are no risk." answer.
Don't be afraid to refuse the test if you are not comfortable with the information you have discovered. It is your constitutional right to refuse any tests you do not want. And, I want to make it clear this goes for any intervention during labor and birth as well.
To give you some means of comparison, I offer this analogy. Have you seen a woman with an extremely high voice break a glass by singing an extremely high pitched note? That is an example of what just ONE relatively slow sound wave can do. Ultrasound technology is based upon ultra high-frequency sound waves, which bombard the child in the womb at an extremely high rate of speed. If one slow sound wave from a woman's voice can break a glass, what can super high frequency sound waves do to your child? Well, ultrasound waves in laboratory experiments have been known to damage chromosomes, produce internal cellular heat which damages cells, retard the normal development of cells, and many other phenomenons. Interesting, huh? If you want to know how ultrasound technology was invented and more about its uses read this very informative article written by a man who I love, Dr.Marsden Wagner. If I can offer you one piece of advise, evaluate the reasoning your care provider wants to do an ultrasound. If your care provider says to you at 38 weeks "I think your going to have a big baby and might not be able to give birth. We'll to and ultrasound to determine." you reconsider.! That care provider has NO idea of what your body is capable of! And, furthermore offended that your care provider has no confidence in your ability to birth your own child. If intervention is need during birth then your care provider is there to intervene. That why you hired them. But even this goes with out saying inform ,inform , inform your self. You feel me?
Okay, so whats my personal experience that makes me despise ultrasound? Well, one, I have seen many of my friends that have unnecessarily robbed of their birth experience and it breaks my heart. Or, my clients get bullied. But, luckily my clients are informed and can stand their ground. And might I just add all have had vaginal births and all the babies were about 2lbs less the the ultrasound said. But, my personal experience is how a joyful moment can turn into a very scary situation.
I have had a total of 5 so from in this pregnancy. So, lets break down the reasons. The first one was done at 7weeks, the day I found out I was pregnant with Higlet. I had been vomiting all night long and had become severely dehydrated and bright red bleeding became present. So, to be safe I went to the ER. An US was done to see if the pregnancy was still vital. So, that was done medically. Everything was fine. The second one was the routine us done at 17week, actually it pretty early to have one but I agreed. Now here is a little side note: If our family had no life threatening birth defect in our history and I had absolutely no history of complications during pregnancy I would have refused this US. And only would have agreed if my midwife and myself felt that there was a medical reason.
Well, Monster was born with a two vessel cord as apposed to a three vessel cord and no test were done to follow up on the reasoning that Monster was born with IUGR. It could have been caused be the two vessel cord or the pre-eclamcia. So, when the 17 week came back with the report saying unable to see the cord. I asked for another. But my placenta was fundle (at the top out the uterus). I wanted to know if the cord was three or two vessel. So, we could be on the look out for complications in the future. So, once again medical but a little curious too. So another one was made, number three at 25 weeks and between 17 to 25 weeks I had one in L&D during the kidney stone hell to make sure there was placenta abrupto due to me being in so much pain. Okay, medical.
Okay, so whats my personal experience that makes me despise ultrasound? Well, one, I have seen many of my friends that have unnecessarily robbed of their birth experience and it breaks my heart. Or, my clients get bullied. But, luckily my clients are informed and can stand their ground. And might I just add all have had vaginal births and all the babies were about 2lbs less the the ultrasound said. But, my personal experience is how a joyful moment can turn into a very scary situation.
I have had a total of 5 so from in this pregnancy. So, lets break down the reasons. The first one was done at 7weeks, the day I found out I was pregnant with Higlet. I had been vomiting all night long and had become severely dehydrated and bright red bleeding became present. So, to be safe I went to the ER. An US was done to see if the pregnancy was still vital. So, that was done medically. Everything was fine. The second one was the routine us done at 17week, actually it pretty early to have one but I agreed. Now here is a little side note: If our family had no life threatening birth defect in our history and I had absolutely no history of complications during pregnancy I would have refused this US. And only would have agreed if my midwife and myself felt that there was a medical reason.
Well, Monster was born with a two vessel cord as apposed to a three vessel cord and no test were done to follow up on the reasoning that Monster was born with IUGR. It could have been caused be the two vessel cord or the pre-eclamcia. So, when the 17 week came back with the report saying unable to see the cord. I asked for another. But my placenta was fundle (at the top out the uterus). I wanted to know if the cord was three or two vessel. So, we could be on the look out for complications in the future. So, once again medical but a little curious too. So another one was made, number three at 25 weeks and between 17 to 25 weeks I had one in L&D during the kidney stone hell to make sure there was placenta abrupto due to me being in so much pain. Okay, medical.
 |
| Yep, medical reason to have a US. |
Now, back to 25 weeks, I told the tech about my concern about the cord. She immediately looked and told me it was a three vessel cord. :-) I noticed at this point she was spending a lot of time on the abdominal area of the baby. I asked if she saw anything. My concern was because we have life threatening abdominal birth defect. She said " I can't tell you. You will have to wait and talk to you care provider." And BAM! Fear! The same fear that we got when we had Monsters US and the tech told us that Monster had a two vessel cord and her words were " There is a big possibility he could be born mentally handicapped.But, then again he could be fine." Then she giggled. This is not what a first time parent wants to hear and it was very upsetting to say the least. I told my midwife and it was taken care of. And this is the reason why I choose to go to another location to have my US.
So, the 25 week US came back and what did it report? That I had low amniotic fluid and my placenta was posterior ( on the back of the uterus, so it slid?) So, back to the tech to get one at 26 weeks. Now, I honestly thought it was lame.There are real medical reasons why the amniotic fluid could be low including birth defects and/or something wrong with the baby's kidneys and as well the onset of pre-E. But these are very unlikely reasons for my fluid to be low because we live in Hell, well at least it is just at hot, which we call Florida and dehydration is more likely. How do I know? Well, my fluid was measuring at 8.5 rather then the 8.9. So, borderline! And lets not forget US is highly inaccurate. The baby could have just been laying to where the tech could not measure it. But it does give your fear. So an any case another one was scheduled at 26 weeks.
The 26week US turned out that indeed my fluid was normal. But then the tech begin to focus on one part of my uterus and even calling another tech to come in and look and to give her opinion. All of a sudden my placenta had fallen from my fundus to the edge of my cervix. When they tech began to become concerned about it, I couldn't help but to laugh. Your placenta can't move down and around like the mole on the prince in princess of the bride. It can't just slide down! Can it move? Yes. UP! It will move up as your uterus grows. So, even if I have a uterine urchin placenta it will move up and out of the way. And yes, I will have to have another one about 38 weeks to see if I have placenta previa that will require at CS. But, I honestly would have to be a freak of nature for that to happen. So, do you see how US can cascade in to fear?And can you see how not being informed can lead to a unnecessary CS? And all the while each one of mine has the chance of being inaccurate.
Now ,I just want to say, I do not hate technology. Hello? Its there to be life saving and is when used correctly. However, in many cases it is not in the benefit of the mother and child. This is why it is so, so, so important that you are informed and your rights. I promise to have nice things to say next time ;-)
Now ,I just want to say, I do not hate technology. Hello? Its there to be life saving and is when used correctly. However, in many cases it is not in the benefit of the mother and child. This is why it is so, so, so important that you are informed and your rights. I promise to have nice things to say next time ;-)
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