what are my options for pain relief when that time comes?

For many years women have went through childbirth without any type of pain medications or pain relief at all. Luckily we live in the 21st century where there are tons of options that you may not even realize.

Everybody knows there is the option of receiving an epidural when giving birth. But how many people know what an epidural really is? Are there any other options for me?

I have done quite a bit of research in order to enlighten myself, and complete a research paper for this English class, And I have found that there are options that are not as popular as the epidural, but also have less possible side effects.

There are always the natural options that do not really relieve the pain, but instead help you deal with it. Some of these options include breathing techniques, water therapy, having a focus point and massage or counter pressure.

Then there are medications that can be used that are less invasive than having a large needle shoved in your back, hoping it doesn't hit your spinal cord. Most of these medications are called narcotics and are only given to help make the pain bearable for a couple of hours, these medications are often times only given once due to the fact that they can slow the babies heart rate and/or lower your blood pressure. They also work less effective the more you use them which is another reason they are usually only given once during labor, so if you choose this route, make sure you are choosing to receive them at the right time!

The medication that surprised me during my research is Nitrous Oxide. This medication is more commonly known in the United States as laughing gas. I find it very shocking that this is the only drug on the list of drugs used during childbirth that has little to no effect on the baby at all. However this is also the only drug that is not hardly ever used in the United States for this purpose. It is commonly used in Canada and the United Kingdom, but The United States chooses to use medications which can and often do have negative effects on mother and baby.

Because of this research I am going to inquire more about Nitrous oxide the next time I go to the doctors, and when I take my childbirth classes. If it is as good as it sounds I might be going to Canada to have this baby!

Who is this Baby Inside of me?

I have one question that I have been repeatedly asking myself since I accepted the fact that I am pregnant. This question is "who will my baby be?" there has not been one day that this question has not crossed my mind in either one form or another. I find myself thinking it more and more now that I know my little baby is a girl and I have even seen pictures of her face.

There are the superficial questions like:
Will she be born with hair? What color will her hair be? Will it be super curly and nappy or smooth and wavy or possibly even straight? Since she is bi-racial, will she take after me and be super light like my 5 year old nephew, or take after her dad more and be dark skinned like my 3 year old nephew? When she gets older will she be skinny like her dads side of the family, or a little thicker like mine? Will she be a good sleeper (I really hope so she takes after me in this aspect).

Then there are deeper questions:
What will her personality be like? Will she be good in school? Will she be the "quiet" type or a talker like her aunt. Will she be athletic? If she is will she like sports like basketball or would she rather be a cheerleader and run track?

There is not one of these questions that I can answer right now. Many of them will take years before I find out the answer to them, there are obviously a couple of them that will be answered the day or soon after I deliver her this fall, and while I can't wait to find out, I am also not in a hurry for this whole pregnancy experience to be over. Every day when I see the other kids in my family they spark one of these questions. I love seeing each and every one of them showing more and more of who they are (I would say developing into who they are but I believe everybody is born exactly who they are, it just takes time for others to figure it out).

When my oldest nephew tells my sister he is staying at his grandma's and not coming home until school starts it makes me wonder, will she be a nana's baby? will she be a daddy's girl?
When my 5 year old nephew gets sad when he gets yelled at I wonder if she is going to be sensitive or more like my his little brother who acts like he don't have emotions, even though he has a baby that he takes care of all day every day.

Only time will be able to answer my question "Who is this baby inside of me?"

What is normal?

During pregnancy, especially your first, there are tons of changes you are going to experience. With most of them you will wonder "Is this normal?"

I do not believe in the word "normal" in the traditional since. I believe everybody has their own normal, particularly when it comes to pregnancy. No two people are the same and therefore no two pregnancies will be the same.

So far for me normal has been way different than normal has been for any of  my friends who are also expecting. 

I am currently 22 weeks along and I just started noticeably "showing" about a week and a half ago. Two other girls I know were "showing" around 12 weeks, both of these are NORMAL.

A coworker of mine did not experience any "morning sickness" at all, I was sick every night between weeks 4 and 12. Yet again both of these are NORMAL

I am the only one I know who has had constant migraine's as a side effect of pregnancy, even though I can't say I know anybody else who is or has experienced this it is still "NORMAL."

There will be tons of changes within your body as you go through the pregnancy experience. I can almost promise you, THEY ARE ALL NORMAL. Most of the time you will KNOW without a doubt if there is something truly wrong. The best way to know whether or not something is normal is to take the time to educate yourself. We are lucky enough to live in the time of GOOGLE where the answer to any question you have is only a few clicks away. 

I personally do not have many questions regarding pregnancy and all the changes that are happening to me, because I have always had a strange infatuation with pregnancy and what happens during it. My favorite classes were sex ed and other health classed that taught about pregnancy. I also took a lot of time to self educate while my sister was pregnant. All of those pamphlets they have at the doctors office can really teach a lot if you actually take the time to read them (yes I am one of those people who read pamphlets just because I am bored).