I'm learning a lot!

About pregnancy!

Yah, you'd think I'd have learned a lot the first time around, and I did. This time, however, I'm getting more history, which is very very cool.

I have two books that are distinctly different from one another and each one is calming me down more, but in different ways. From Misty, I have a copy of Birthing From Within, which is very touchy-feely and new age-y, but it talks about the history of obstetrics and mentions fun things like this:

"Until the late 1700's, women the world over labored and gave birth in the positions of their choice....Lying on a birth table was first [popularized in 1738] by Francois Mauriceau, physician to the queen, who proposed it as an alternative...because it facilitated his control of problematic delivery and the use of forceps.

Others say it all started with King Louis XIV of France. Women in that time often gave birth sitting on a birthing chair, revealing little since they remained dressed and often were covered by a sheet. King Louis engaged his court physician to convince the ladies of the court that childbirth would be easier and simpler if they reclined on a high table. This arrangement allowed King Louis to gain sexual gratification by secretly watching the births from behind a curtain."
--p. 141

Nice, huh?

I also learned about the very first successful cesarean section:

"The first record of a successful Caesarean [the mother also survived] comes...when in the year 1500 the wife of Jacob Nufer, a Swiss sow-gelder, went into labor and could not seem to deliver...In his desperation, Nufer at least knew where to begin.

Thirteen midwives (so the story goes) had tried and failed, at which point Jacob collected his tools of the trade and did the obvious. Is it possible he had the intuition to clean them first? To wash his hands? To protect his wife from the barnyard flies? We will simply never know. All that is apparent is that at the operation's close, both mother and child were doing well. In fact, Mom Nufer did very well indeed. In time she gave birth to six more children, including twins, all of whom she delivered normally. She lived to the fine age of seventy-seven."
--Nancy Caldwell Sorel
Ever Since Eve
-p. 150

Now, most of the book is clearly aimed at people that don't want medical intervention and jumps up and down at how unnatural it is to give birth in a hospital. Those parts, frankly, made me feel bad. However, I know from my personal experience that I wouldn't have survived Caitlin's birth without medical intervention. Caitlin might not have survived. My kid sister might have died, possibly Daniel as well. My sister-in-law may also have been on the list. My husband also had a difficult birth (Not to mention a crazy high fever and a double hernia later in infancy, and driving a car off a cliff as a teenager! Talk about lucky!) So while it may not be "natural" or ideal, it has its place and has value. Is the industry trying to push more expensive treatments on mothers? Very likely. Everyone likes to make money. However, it doesn't mean that hospital births don't have a time, place or value.

This is where education of the parents-to-be comes in. If you want a natural childbirth, without drugs or interventions, you need to get educated and learn the ins and outs of the system. Figure out if you're a good candidate for an at home birth and get a skilled mid-wife. Then go for it! Or do what Misty and Lee did, which is to find a hospital that is open to your ideal birth and do it in a hospital.

From the twin book, I'm learning that giving birth to twins is way more than What to Expect When You're Expecting ever led me to believe! They said you'd only need an additional 300 calories for the additional infant. Well, um...bullshit! The way I've been eating has been instinctual, but has been backed up by the research of Dr. Barbara Luke of the Multiples Clinic in Michigan and Florida. The book is When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads. The discussion is all about how to get your multiples born healthy, safely and full term.

Full term for twins appears to be 36-38 weeks. Yet, I'll look like a 40 week pregnancy by 32 weeks, which is why bed-rest came up already. Seems that once your uterus has reached what it deems to be full size, the party is over. The point behind bed-rest is to keep your physical stress low and give the babies more time to "cook". They give poignant examples of the physical difference between babies born at 32 weeks, 36 weeks and 40 weeks - head sizes and footprints. It's pretty scary, in a way. The main point of the book seems to be this:

EAT.

A LOT.

Now, when I say that I've been eating a lot, it's almost nothing compared to the recommended amount by Dr. Luke. Frankly I'm terrified and can't figure out how to stuff that much food into me, but I'm going to try. My goal is full term, healthy twins and if it takes eating like a sumo-wrestler to get there, well, I guess I'll just pull up a fork and a chair.

Weight gain goal for twins: 40-56 lbs. for a normal weight woman.

The weight is also front loaded - the more you gain in the beginning of the pregnancy, the better off the twins will be. Check this out.

• Weight gain by 20 weeks: 25 lbs
• Weight gain by 28 weeks: 38 lbs
• Total weight gain: 40-56 lbs.
• Average length of gestation: 36 weeks

So I don't have 40 weeks to gain weight and plump up the twins. I've got to get it on while the gettin' is good. While there's still room between the twins and my stomach. Just so you know, the average multiples born to women that follow the advice of Dr. Luke?

• Twins are generally born 20 percent heavier than the average twins delivered at the same gestational age.
• Sixty percent of our mothers of twins deliver at 36 weeks or later, compared to only about 40 percent of twin moms nationwide.
• Infants born to patients in our program go home sooner than the average multiple-birth baby, spending only half as much time in the hospital.

-p. 3

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

There are a thousand other cool things about this book, and I'll probably get into them later. Right now, all is well. I'm getting used to the idea of twins and now I just want them to be healthy.

So if you see me, I should probably be eating. Or drinking water.

Munch!