{If you didn't read Yolk's post yesterday about Facebook, you should go read it NOW. It is hilarious! And you have to read the comments, too. And people wonder why I have never signed up for the thing!! (PS. I see she has a followup post today!!)}
I tried to just look at those baby info books yesterday at Target. I almost passed out reading one of them- I closed it so fast and walked away, I don't even know what it's name was. It was giving nutritional suggestions, and from what I could tell, it said that I need to be eating 2 lbs of spinach a day, along with a few steaks (for iron), as well as a carton of cottage cheese, 4 glasses of milk, a few apples, broccoli, some blueberries, green peppers, sweet potatoes, and some carrots.
I can barely eat a sorry excuse for breakfast, a snack, and dinner!!! Much less eat all the things they were suggesting (okay, maybe I am exaggerating their list a little, but it was definitely overwhelming).
When TTC, you get used to TMI of all types. TMI with respect to what is coming out or going into your body. TMI when you come home from the RE with a folder of protocols, waivers, schedules, and med instructions. TMI when it comes to who knows what about the inner workings of your body. TMI when you hear about someone else's protocol that you think might work better than your one that failed last month.
And for the most part, all of this TTC TMI didn't bother me a bit. In fact, I was actively seeking more information!! I was out there trying to read every word written about meds and protocols and experiences and suggestions!
But pregnancy/motherhood TMI is scary. I would have thought I would be all over the details and suggestions, but it is very overwhelming. I don't know how normal people can digest all the information in those books, and I have no idea how infertile pregnant/new mom people do. Maybe the idea is to gloss over the chapters? TMI about nutrition (even when I feel like we have fairly good eating habits) is worrisome right now based on my lack of appetite. TMI about development (even with how much I've read about what is going on week-by-week) is scary because how easy could something go wrong. TMI about the 500 strollers on the market, and which baby carrier is the best, and what is the safest crib for sale?
Maybe I need to embrace my new TMI situation like I did my TTC one. It might take a while, though. Switching from TTC TMI to pregnancy/motherhood TMI is going to take some time.
10 comments:
I totally agree!! We will get there one of these days I hope!
Be very, very careful about researching anything pregnancy related. You will inevitably run across something to make you nervous, whether or not you're looking for it. It happened nearly every time I wanted to look something up. I'd usually inadvertently stumble across information that would have me quietly panicking until my next appointment. I don't know if I'd advise getting the pregnancy bible, What to Expect When You're Expecting. I enjoyed learning what was happening week to week, but that book had a knack of mentioning things that would cause me no end of worry (e.g. this should be happening and if it isn't, call your doctor because it might be something really bad). It was worst for me after I started feeling the baby move since she never moved consistently. She'd have high movement days followed by low movement days. The What to Expect and various informational sites would have had me calling my doctor every 8 days or so.
As for the nutritional recommendations, they mean well, but I think they can often go overboard. Just eat as well as you can and trust in your doctor to tell you if you need to add or remove something in your diet. As an ovo-lacto vegetarian, I'd have expected to have low iron in spite of the prenatal vitamin, but I never did until after I gave birth.
Overwhelming indeed. I still can't grasp onto some books about "being a mom" and "what your child should be doing/milestones" without obessing over it.
You'll get there but I agree with Hope, just be careful what you read, don't put anything into it because it'll cause so much stress.
You can do it!!! What an exciting time, but I can see how it would all be very overwhelming. Best of luck and enjoy navigating these new waters!!!
Haha. I totally understand. I was reading through the nutrition section of What To Expect When You're Expecting yesterday and having a heart attack. Took me a while to calm down. Reading all that stuff about what I should be eating, and I can only keep down a plain baked potato at the moment, not exactly nutrition. But I am SURE, just absolutely positive, that you are a healthy enough eater for pregnancy. It really all boils down to the same things as basic non pregnant healthy eating, just with a little bit more need for protein, folic acid, and Vit C, and Calcium. So just do your best. Eat a lot of everything "good." And maybe throw in an extra yogurt with blueberries on it. Personally, I've decided to try out some dried apricots and see if I can keep them down. :) Ease into all the TMI pregnacy stuff and just do the best you can. Pressure= stress and stress = bad. *hugs*
Oh my gosh - LOVE Yolk's blog, I've never read it before. Thanks for the link. :)
I agree with Praying for Hope - be careful about TMI research for pregnancy. As IFers, we just know too much about what can go wrong, and I think sometimes we're better off just NOT knowing those things and pretending we're fertiles.
I so know what you mean. It is TOO MUCH! I go on overload. I started to read a couple books, but I haven't opened them in weeks. I am just going for the one-day-at-a-time mentality and trying to follow my gut instinct. Otherwise it's too overwhelming to say the least!
Echo a lot of what's already been said re: food - especially during the first trimester. I was nauseous every day from 4 PM to bedtime, which made it difficult to eat well. But I also had the most appalling jones for Mexican food for about four weeks - I think I ate a Taco Bell bean burrito every day. Just eat as much of the good foods you already like as you can and take your prenatal and you'll do great.
The "Baby Bargains" book is really good for helping to wade through all the gear questions. I started reading it at about 22 weeks and that was plenty of time to be ready.
Most of all, remember that God has created your body to do this wonderful work - learning to trust Him to be with you on this journey can be a new joy to you!
TMI indeed!
You eat just fine. Try not to let those suggestions overwhelm you. I think it’s great for people who eat carb-only meals or nothing but junk food to make an adjustment, but when you already eat healthy, just continue *when* you can. Many foods do “double duty” anyway. If you ask your Dr., he/she will likely tell you that many women can’t hold down any food in the first trimester let alone aim for a balanced diet. Baby A will be just fine.
The product search is so funny. Had I bought anything initially, I would have fallen into first-time parent syndrome and bought way too much of stuff I do not need. Having to sit and think about it and research it all b/c of my self-imposed won’t-buy-before deadline, I think I have much better list now. Just focus on one item at a time (if that helps). But you are absolutely right: overwhelming!
I could not agree more about the tmi part of infertility. I usually feel like I should be putting a filter on my Blog posts. Lol But then I really think about how I want to share every part of what I'm going through.
Thank you for your sweet post in my blog as well <3
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