Pregnancy Info Overload

I am a reader but when it comes to pregnancy books and internet sites, when do you stop? There are so many "week by week" books out there. And far too many web sites to monitor, follow and read about what's going on with the baby, with the mom, how to prepare, what you need, etc. It becomes a little overwhelming. What should I read? When do I stop looking?

That is the question really, isn't it? We all feel differently when it comes to all the pregnancy information that is out there. This is a good thing, if we all felt exactly the same, I think that would be a little weird. But here is a little food for thought...my thoughts: I must be in research mode, because I find myself drawn to information. Yes, it is a lot, and yes it is overwhelming (I think the internet is more overwheleming than anything as whereever you look, there is always something else to look at), but I think some of it is so important. When I think of the actual labor part, I have the same or similar thought that many have; so many thousands of woman of gone before me, I too can do this too, I don't need to read about it. I find it encouraging, yes, that I am not the first woman to ever conceive and have a baby, I could only imagine what she thought! Even though I am not the first, and I am one of millions, I think it is important to gather some knowledge of what it going on. If not for anything else but to recognize that I am different, and our world if different today. Let me step up on my soap box for a minute: What my mother went through and what she was told when she was pregnant is very different than what my grandmother went through and what she was told. Which in essence is different than what our generation is being told. Thus the beauty of ongoing research. There are things that we, in our generation, are being told that we should not eat/drink while being pregnant that were second thoughts to our mother's generation. Not because they were naive, but because the research wasn't necessarily out there, or because the world was different. I often wonder what our daughters will be told when they are grown up and are pregnant and what will be different. The air is different, they way foods are processed, or not processed is different, etc. Not that I believe you necessarily need to surround and overload yourself with information, because, yes, woman have gone before us, and they too have survived. But it is absolutely facinating the information that is out there. To know what is developing inside of you each day and how our own bodies are changing. Yes, each pregnancy is individual, and our bodies will all look and respond to pregnancy differently, but I feel it is good to know (at least for myself) to know what I am missing (like the blessing of morning sickness that never entered my home) or to know what is coming so I can be prepared (if I am having "I feel fat days" now, wait until my hips start to really expand). Although I have always enjoyed to read (although seldom had the time), the idea of reading research and science type information never really facinated me. Although now, I have a different perspective (I am sure my research in college days have a little something to do with this).

So do I think we need to read every book and visit every web site for information, no. But I think to some degree, new, current information is important. My most recent find (not on the internet actually) is a book recomended by a good friend of mine in Montana. She is currently prego with her second child and has been a certified yoga instructor for years. She is my yoga guru when I have questions, especially about yoga when my own doctor says, "yes you can do yoga, just listen to your own body" and my instructor tells me there are yoga positions that I cannot do. The book she recommended is called, "Maternal Fitness" (I think there might actually be a DVD out there, but I like the book thing) by Julie Tupler, R.N. I just received it in the mail a couple of days ago and have been impressed so far as to what I have read. The book is all about preparing yourself for pregnancy, labor, delivery, and thereafter. There are specific muscles to work (transversus muscles and others) that actually will help when delivering. It talks about breathing techniques beyond what the prenatal classes teach and how most doctor's and hosptials make delivery a routine rather than allowing the woman to be the director of her delivery. It also talks about how these exercises and stretches not only benefit the woman for delivery, but benefit both the woman and her husband after a baby is born so that sex is still enjoyable. :) Check it out, at least your husband will be thankful.