Second pregnancy still full of surprises

Expect the unexpected when you’re expecting.

That’s my new motto, after giving birth to my second child last month. I had spent much of my pregnancy free of the worries and concerns that marked my first pregnancy. Been there, done that, I thought.

Little did I know there were some curveballs waiting for me this time. Here are a few that took me by surprise, things all expectant moms should keep in mind – even pregnancy veterans.

Check up on your doctors. I blogged just before giving birth that my doctor’s office informed me at the last minute that there was a real possibility that my doctor may not deliver my baby and that the only way to guarantee it would be to schedule a C-section. (She didn’t deliver my baby.)

I didn’t think I’d also be in for a surprise with my pediatrician. About a week before giving birth, I called my pediatrician (my son’s doctor) to let him know that my due date was quickly approaching. That’s when I was told that his medical group was not contracted with the hospital where I was giving birth. What? So who would examine my newborn baby at the hospital? Who would perform the circumcision if I had a boy? (I had a girl.)

In the end, it was the pediatrician on duty at the hospital who checked on my new baby girl. And it may have been for the best (see my second point). But it’s best to sort out these questions well before your due date to avoid a mini-breakdown (like I had) when your hormones are all out of control.

Bones break. I made it through my five-hour labor; held my new baby daughter; heard her first cry. It wasn’t until hours later when one of the nurses whisked away my little girl for yet another battery of routine tests that they returned with the shocking news: My daughter’s right clavicle broke during birth. (Thanks to the neonatal specialist who stood in for my pediatrician for discovering the break, which can go undetected in many newborns.) The doctors chalked it up to her being a big baby. No one looked worried. They seemed more concerned with how I would take the news.

I’m just glad this was my second child, not first. I’ve learned the hard way how resilient babies and children can be. I asked what I needed to do. They said, “Nothing.” Nothing? That’s right. The bone would heal itself and within 3-4 weeks she’d have full range of motion in that arm. I didn’t really believe it. But now, at five weeks old, my daughter is stretching both of her arms up high and pulling my hair so hard it makes me want to cry (literally).

Pay up. Babies are expensive. In all, I’ve paid a total of 8 bills related to my daughter’s birth. Just the birth, not the check-ups that came before or since. Before I left the hospital, I called my healthcare company to make sure it added my daughter to my plan.

As is standard, two days after leaving the hospital, I brought my daughter to my pediatrician for a check-up. After countless conversations and several phone calls, I had to pay out-of-pocket for the visit because my daughter was not yet showing up on my insurance plan. I’m still waiting to get reimbursed. Lesson here: Set aside some money for unexpected bills.

POSTED IN: Anne Vasquez (44)

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Comments

I have read the article based on the Second pregnancy and the environment around it.I like post very much as it contain informative knowledge.I know that it was the pediatrician on duty at the hospital who checked on my new baby girl.It doesn't to feelings and environment during the second pregnant.I want to know suggestion from others.

Posted by: weight loss pills | November 9, 2009 11:18 PM

Why would you even consider circumcising a boy? You want to take away main male pleasure zones and change the mechanism for life? You would not do that to your daughter!

The foreskin is not just skin and does not just protect the glans(head). Circumcision is now known to ablate the most sensitive parts of the male genitals. This surgery takes away the main male pleasure zones with over 20000 fine touch and stretch nerve endings amputated. The foreskin has several parts including the ridged band that is great for ones pleasure (that is why nutters like Kellogg wanted to chop em off, to curtail masturbation), Masturbation is important for a mans physical and mental health. The ridged band directly contacts the vagina for very great pleasure all around. The dynamics of sex and the actual mechanism of the penis are drastically changed by circumcision. The foreskin can normally be slipped all the way, or almost all the way, back to the base of the penis, and also slipped forward beyond the glans. This wide range of motion is the mechanism by which the penis and the orgasmic triggers in the foreskin, frenulum, and glans are stimulated. The only touch organ possessing as rich erogenous innervation as the foreskin is the clitoris. Circumcision deprives man of 2/3ds of the main erogenous zone constituted of the foreskin and the glans.
is recognized.

Posted by: Jack | November 10, 2009 12:24 PM

You wouldn't cut parts off a girl's genitals, so why do it to a boy?

If you have a son in the future, then remember that it's his body, so let him decide for himself. If you wait, it's safer than an infant circumcision, it hurts less, and the results are cosmetically better. In England, only 1 in 140 males left intact ever needs to be circumcised for a medical reason, and it's getting rarer.

If my son wants to be circumcised when he's 18 (16 if he knows what he's going), I'll gladly pay for it, and help him find the best surgeon. Until then, no-one is cutting parts of his genitals off. His body, his decision.

It's worth remembering that no-one except for Jewish people and Muslims would even be having this discussion if it weren't for the fact that 19th century doctors thought that :
a) masturbation caused various physical and mental problems (including epilepsy, convulsions, paralysis, tuberculosis etc), and
b) circumcision stopped masturbation.

Both of those sound ridiculous today I know, but if you don't believe me, then google this : "A Short History of Circumcision in North America In the Physicians' Own Words".

Over a hundred years later, circumcised men keep looking for new ways to defend the practice.

Posted by: Mark Lyndon | November 10, 2009 3:52 PM

This is the US and should circumsize. Those are real crazy responses!

Posted by: MH | November 10, 2009 5:01 PM

I left the choice of circumcision to my husband. I don't have a penis so it was up to him. SInce he is, our son was. I don't buy for a second that its less painful or even less traumatic older in life. If any, research says the surgery can cause other complications the older the patient. It's fine to leave to choice up to the child but part of the responsibility of being a parent is making decisions for your child. Circumcision included.

Posted by: Zach's mom | November 11, 2009 8:17 AM

By Zach's mom's reasoning, here is what a father in Africa could say about his newborn daughter:

I left the choice of female circumcision to my wife. She has (or had) these female body parts so it was up to her. Since she is, our daughter was. I don't buy for a second that its less painful or even less traumatic older in life. If any, research says the surgery can cause other complications the older the patient. It's fine to leave the choice up to the girl, but part of the responsibility of being a parent is making decisions for your child. Female circumcision included.

Posted by: PJ | November 11, 2009 1:11 PM

For PJ: it's a personal choice whether or not to circumsize your son. Apparently, you would rather your son, who, traditionally is of the sex that do not want to take baths, to get a painful infection under the foreskin. My son will still feel pleasure just as my husband and any other man who has been circumsized does. I in no way condone female circumcision in Africa or elsewhere. Perhaps you, PJ, have gone too extreme.

Posted by: Zach's mom | November 11, 2009 3:35 PM

Oh yeah, and CONGRATULATIONS, ANNE! We've missed you on this page. :)

Posted by: Rafael | November 11, 2009 8:16 PM

It's so, SO sad that you parents who had your sons tortured and sexually mutilated (euphemism: "circumcised") did so because of your sickening, appalling ignorance, your foolishness and your deep denial about male sexual mutilation (i. e. infant circumcision sexual mutilation). [Please learn to spell too: there's no 'z' in circumcised/circumcision.] In allowing your sexually mutilated husband to 'decide', you ensured that your son would be sexually mutilated to 'match' his dad and other sexually mutilated boys. [Sexually mutilated men **FEAR AND HATE** the normal, natural intact penis and its owner. This is why it's been so difficult in the sexually mutilated US (where probably 80 to 85% of US born men were tortured and sexually mutilated at birth) to convince cut fathers to leave their sons normal, natural, INTACT as Nature intends all girls and boys, women and men to be.] When that boy's birthright -- his foreskin -- was cut off in his infancy, you created another future sexual mutilator. DISGUSTING!!

Posted by: Frank | November 16, 2009 1:23 PM