Hey everyone, I am in dire need of some answers, I am so worried/nervous/confused about all of this. These questions are for pregnant and/or been-there moms. Thank you!!

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1) For those of you still in highschool (im 16 btw) how did you graduate.. were you homeschooled or how did that work?

2) Approximately how long did your labor last for and if anyone has had a home/water birth could you please describe the experience and whether you liked it or not.

3) This is a paranoid question but I am so worried about slipping in the bath or falling over or something and landing on my stomach.. is this an irrational fear?

4) Does anyone know whether Prozac (30mg for depression) or Trazodone (a sleeping medication) are harmful to the baby at all while in the womb?

5)Is there any foods i should avoid eating?

6) How long should I take my prenatals for?

7) For those of you who have baby boys.. did you get them circumsized or not? Does it really make a difference/ matter? What influenced your choice.

8) About how long did you breastfeed your baby for?

9) How do I tell my parents?!?!?!?!?!?... I am 16 and I am pretty sure they would blow the hugest fit and explode everywhere...

10) Ive heard that after you give birth you can bleed for up to a month... would someone mind explaining their birthing process to me and what happened to their body afterward.. is stretch marks a problem for any of you? What can I do to prevent them? Will my periods be regular after birth or will they be irregular for awhile?


Wow sorry for the question overload there is just so much I am curious about/needed to know. Thank you so So SO much to anyone and everyone who takes the time to read this.

Enya.

I will do my best to answer the questions that apply to me but remember everyone has a different experience...
2. All of my births were induced, meaning I did not go into labor on my own so my doctor gave me medicine to get it started. My first was about 8.5 hours (about 4 hours of hard labor and 20 minutes pushing), second was 23 hours and 59 minutes..LOL (about 7 hours of hard labor and 40 minutes of pushing), and my third was about 18 hours (about 4-5 hours of hard labor and like 4 minutes of pushing), I personally enjoyed my second labor the most, I actually had fun and laughed a lot. I never tore with any of them but I give most of the credit to my doctor for that. I wont lie, giving birth hurts but as soon as your baby is in your arms you forget all about the pain.

3. It is very common to have those types of fears, I did, you will also find that you may have dreams where you do fall or that you miscarry or something else traumatic like that, I had the craziest dreams of my life when I was pregnant. Truth is even if you do fall, especially in early to mid pregnancy, your body is very protective and will cushion baby a lot, in the later months there is worry of baby getting tangled in the cord as a result of a fall but just be careful and avoid activities that would increase the risk of falling (skating, dancing, sports...etc)

4. There are many medications that are safe for pregnancy, even if the ones you are on are not your doctor can switch them to other medications that will suit the same purpose, just make sure you talk to your doctor.

5. The only foods I have heard of that you should avoid would be raw meats and raw seafood (sushi) and also some shell fish, I ate shrimp during all of my pregnancies and never had a problem though. The reason being is these foods tend to be a higher risk for bacteria, once again check with your doctor and more important listen to your gut feeling and the reaction that your body has to certain things. You also might want to avoid eating things that make you throw up..LOL...mine was cucumbers with my son, I noticed that every time I threw up it tasted like cucumbers so I stopped eating them and I stopped getting sick I also had to stop eating things with white seeds, like seedless watermelon...LOL...

6. Start taking prenatals when you think you are or know you are pregnant...continue to take them as long as you breastfeed. Listen to your doctor, they might tell you different.

7. I have a son and a stepson, they are both circumcised. I had my son circumcised for both reasons of health and cleanliness and also because or spiritual reasons. I have heard people say that you should make the son look like the father and I know people have made the circumcision due to whether the father was or not. Putting my spiritual beliefs aside I personally think that circumcision is a good idea because it is just cleaner and it makes diaper changing easier without having to clean his little guy out every time.

8. I breastfed my first for about 4-6 months (can't remember well) my second only a month because I was working full time and had mastitus 3 times in a month, OUCH, and my third I only fed from the breast for 2 weeks because I was not making enough milk so I started pumping and I did that for 4 months until I started battling with mastitus and stopped. However the most important part is what they get in the hospital, I always encourage those who choose not to breastfeed to at least give the baby colostrum, that will start leaking from your breasts during pregnancy and it has the most important stuff in it for baby.

10. After you give birth you do bleed for a while, I bled for 6 weeks after all of my kids. The baby comes out, then you will deliver the placenta, the nurses will come in and push on your tummy while you are still in the hospital to help get any clots out, it is kids of gross. You will have pretty big chunks of stuff come out and you will still feel period type cramps. Even if you do not tear it can still hurt to wipe after going to the bathroom so you use a squirt bottle with warm water after you go, also there is stuff called dermoplast that kind of makes you cold and numb before you go, that can help a lot. To be honest the worst of it all is the first bowel movement, after months of your intestines being squished and kicked by baby it can take a while to have an easy time going #2...they prescribe stool softeners to help though. Also you need to use pads, not tampons until you are done with the after birth bleeding, once you start a real period again then you can go back to tampons. I have bad stretch marks but I was never told to not scratch when I felt itchy... your tummy will itch DON'T SCRATCH IT...LOL...same with your breasts..sometimes you will get stretch marks no matter how much lotion or vitamin e you use but the baby is always worth it...they fade over time, they don't stay dark forever. They say it takes about a year to get back to normal on average, I still have not started my period and my daughter is 6 months old, most people do not have a period while they breastfeed but you can still get pregnant, I had my tubes tied so I know I am not pregnant but my body is just not adjusted yet.

I hope this helps a bit, ask questions any time...Love Meg

Hi sweety,
can't help much except on the meds fron tof things. the first trimester is very important, so speak to your doc about which meds are safe to use.
for info on using przac during pregnancy, go to: www.babycenter.ca
and trazodone: www.wellsphere.com

Hope that helps,
Eva.

Ahh meg thanks so much
<3 I am forever in your debt lol

I'm going to try to help out as much as I can. As background information I'm 17, got pregnant at 16 and had my son 1 month before my 17th birthday. He is nine months old now and I am about 10 weeks pregnant with my second who is due after I turn 18. Okay, on to the questions.

1. Since I got pregnant right before my Junior year, I staying in school until 2 weeks before Aiden (my son) was born. After that I was still enrolled in my regular high school but I didn't actually go there, I just had my boyfriend or brother bring all my homework home, I'd do it during the day, and then one of them would bring it back. I actually started my Senior back at my regular high school but I was taking 9 classes in a 7 hour day. That had nothing to do with my pregnancy though, it was just because I was a bad student my Freshman and Sophomore years. However, going to regular high school was getting stressful due to my class load, so I transfered to an Alternative High School in my area. I'm going to get my High School Equivelency Diploma (basically a GED) instead of an actual high school diploma but I will still get to walk with my class at graduation and do all that fun stuff.

2. My labor lasted 9 hours, but like Meg, I was also induced so I'm not sure how long a natural labor would have lasted. My labor was fine for about 2-3 hours and then that's when the pain started and I don't really remember a whole lot. lol. But before that I watched spiderman 2 and played blackjack and rummy 500 and enjoyed it a lot. Also like Meg, I didn't tear at all and didn't have any stiches or anything. Plus, I only pushed for 12 mins, I think.

3. A lot of women who are pregnant have those types of fears. It's not unusal. I'm like that with this pregnancy, as I fear everything I do will cause me to have a miscarriage. So it's completely normal. Just try not to worry too much.

4. I'm not sure about the medications, you would have to ask your doctor about that. I was on Lexapro and Ambilify (depression and bi-polar) and I had to stop taking them when I got pregnant. I do know that there are some anti-depressants you can take when pregnant, I'm just not sure which ones they are.

5. I know raw meat and raw fish are something to avoid, but I'm not sure about a whole lot else. I know you should avoid drinking caffine and aspartame.

6. Once again, I'm not so sure about this. I took my prenatals throughout my pregnancy and that was it. I didn't breastfeed though. With this pregnancy they have not given me prenatals yet, so I'm not sure about that whole situation. I know a girl who couldn't take prenatal vitamins because of how sick they made her.

7. I had my son circumcised and will do it for this baby if it's a boy. I've heard that it really doesn't make that much of a difference if you get it done or not because it's not proven to lower STD risks or anything like that but a lot of people choose to do it due to religious reasons or a personal preference. The reason I got my son circumcised is mostly because his father is. The only thing that made it a little harder was that it needed special care for a little while, but it wasn't a whole lot, just a lot of petroleum jelly to keep from sticking.

8. I wish I could answer this question but I wasn't able to breastfeed because of my medication. I started to get post-partum and needed to get back on my medication ASAP. I am considering breastfeeding with this baby if my mood allows it, since I will be a stay at home mommy to my two little ones.

9. Well, with Aiden, the police actually told my mom (a very long story) so if you think about it, it can't be much worse than that. My boyfriend told his mom on a car ride and she told his dad. I text my dad, which was a horrible idea, but he understood better than anyone else. With the second one, I told my mom I needed to talk to her and flat out told her. She was very angry, but since I expected it, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I just sat back and said "yes, mom" "I know mom". Everyone else took it much better. A really helpful thing to do when you tell them is to have a plan ready. How you are going to finish high school, pay for the baby, make time for everything, etc. That's what got my grandma through the shock of a being a great-grandma to be (again). Also, do not take people's first reactions to heart. My grandma told me to get an abortion at first and by the time Aiden was born, she was so excited and was buying him things and now she babysits twice a week.

10. Okay, Meg explained this really well. But I'll add that my situation was a bit different with the bleeding. My after-birth bleeding lasted 2 weeks and I got my regular period before I had my 6 week appointment. I went on birth control right after that, so my periods were very regular. And about the strech marks, I got them and I hate them but I just get over it because I have my son and they were well worth it.

I hope I helped a little bit. If you want to ask me anything else, just sign my guestbook.

Good luck:)

thank you everyone for the replies and for taking the time to read this!