Week 22: Oops

When you’re pregnant, you’re totally inundated with advice—things you should do while pregnant, things you shouldn’t … things you should do once baby arrives, things you shouldn’t. It’s all a bit overwhelming, especially if it’s your first pregnancy. When I ate a piece of chocolate, I thought, Oh no! There’s caffeine in chocolate. I shouldn’t eat this. (I thought that a few times, though I’m sure I ate some pieces without regret.)
Because this is my second pregnancy, I have the benefit of already knowing some of this sage advice. And the second time around? I’m much less anxious about what I should and shouldn’t do. This lack of worry is both good and bad. It’s great to feel more confident and not fret about everything like I did last time. After all, stress isn’t good for the baby, so reducing anxiety is—of course—very good. Go me! But at the same time, this lack of rigidity means I sometimes find myself saying, “Oops.”
Like just a moment ago, for example. Not once while I was writing about caffeine in chocolate did it cross my mind that the popcorn I was eating (mixed with M&Ms) also contained chocolate … and thus caffeine. Oops.
And cheese. You know how I feel about cheese, as mentioned in last week’s post about my complete lack of will power. Pregnant women are supposed to avoid soft cheeses. You know, the good stuff … like brie and all of the lovely holiday cheeses I’m sure will be present at our Christmas parties. Last Friday, I went to Costco to get a flu shot and obviously had to do a little shopping and some sampling while I was there. Did it cross my mind to ask what kind of cheese was inside the breaded appetizers? No, of course not. It was brie. Oops.
At night, I’ll lie on the ground with Olivia, and we’ll play. Tonight, I bounced her on my shins while lying down for a few minutes before I even thought about the fact that I was lying on my back on the floor. You’re not supposed to do that when you’re pregnant either. Once again … oops.
Just before writing this, I Googled: “things not to do while pregnant.” One of the sites said not to eat hot dogs. Now, that’s pretty much a sound piece of advice for everyone due to their excellent nutritional value (cough, cough), but I didn’t know it was a specific suggestion for pregnant women as well. I haven’t eaten a hot dog lately, but I know I’ve had at least two since I’ve been pregnant. Oops … I did it again. (Thanks, Brit.)
Luckily, another benefit to being pregnant for the second time is having more confidence that our baby will be born healthy (of course, praying for a healthy baby is certainly helping, too!). So when I make one of these mistakes, I don’t freak out like I did last time. Thinking about my new found lack of anxiety makes me so proud; I might need to celebrate with a half-caf coffee. Oops.