34 Weeks

Today at my doctor's appointment, even my doctor commented on how quickly this pregnancy seems to have gone. I would have to agree. If I were to have the baby now, I could be ready as far as supplies and equipment go, but I would not be mentally ready. I still need the time with Ethan and time to be prepare for the nursing and the late nights and the idea of having two children.

Tim thinks I should start charging my doctor for the counseling sessions he has every time I visit him. This week, his big thing was telling me about how he can't believe all the really overweight women who get pregnant, and how you can't even tell they're pregnant and how there just seems to be more and more of them. I didn't really know what to say, except for "it must be difficult." So lame.

For several visits he told me all about a girl he is treating that is pregnant with twins and is only 14 years old. He never has given away any personal information, so he must not be breaking any privacy codes. I'm not sure why he tells me about all of this, except that he's looking for someone to agree with him or someone he can vent to or maybe it's just because I teach 14 year olds and might appreciate the story. I guess the father of the babies is 17 and just got out of jail, and when the doctor was telling the patient and her mother about the risks the girl faces having twins--that they might be premature and have some sort of blood condition, the mother said, "Oh, I had that when I was pregnant too." The doctor replied, "Yeah, but you weren't 14!" and the mom said, "Yes, I was!" Oh, my. I think my doctor struggles with how he can help these kids, and I think it's hard for him to think of babies coming into the world with so little chance of a better life. I don't know. . . if anything, he can help them by providing the best care for the girl and providing as much positive support as possible, even if he thinks he's not helping much.

There are other times when my doctor vents about global warming or the level of education in Pakistan and Nepal. He goes to my church, so maybe he feels I must see things the same way as he does. Or maybe ob-gyn's just need to be good talkers because they like to keep the patient's mind off other things that are going on at the time. Maybe in my next pregnancy I need to consider seeing a mid-wife.