certifiably semi-sane
last night i picked up justin from work and we went to the bar where all the airline guys hang out, and we watched the cavs' game and ate pizza and drank beer (well, not me, but you know, justin drank for both of us) and i felt a little better. i think it was just the distraction. i get really into cavs' games.
and then i said, "we need to talk." (i'm sure he loves to hear that phrase from me.) we've been talking about my anxiety, and he read yesterday's post, so at least he was prepared. i told him there were two things i wanted to do:
he actually thought the doppler was a great idea. apparently (he says) he brought it up before and i turned my nose up at it. i don't remember having had that conversation, but i won't deny that it's entirely plausible.
the meds are a little trickier. he's not a giant fan of them, generally, but there's no doubt that they saved my life a few years back, and made getting the talk therapy i needed possible. of course, his concern was their effect on little z. from all of my research, the worst i can find is that if the mother takes meds in the last trimester, the baby is likely to be a little crankier than normal as it goes through withdrawls after birth.
on the one hand, it sounds horrible to me to put a baby through withdrawls. but on the other hand, at the rate i'm going, i'm going to do much worse to this kid than make it cranky for three weeks. and justin said a lovely thing to me, approximately: having little z is meaningless if you're not healthy and present. which is kind of how i feel.
my ob's on vacation, but i called his secretary this morning and told her what i want to talk to him about, and she was lovely about it and promised to hook me up with him one morning next week to discuss everything. i felt better already.
until then, please comfort me with the apples of your experiences. what kind of doppler do you like? did you rent or buy? if you took meds during a subsequent pregnancy, how did that work out? tell me all your stories.
and then i said, "we need to talk." (i'm sure he loves to hear that phrase from me.) we've been talking about my anxiety, and he read yesterday's post, so at least he was prepared. i told him there were two things i wanted to do:
- get a doppler
- go back on anti-depressants - and maybe for the whole term of the pregnancy
he actually thought the doppler was a great idea. apparently (he says) he brought it up before and i turned my nose up at it. i don't remember having had that conversation, but i won't deny that it's entirely plausible.
the meds are a little trickier. he's not a giant fan of them, generally, but there's no doubt that they saved my life a few years back, and made getting the talk therapy i needed possible. of course, his concern was their effect on little z. from all of my research, the worst i can find is that if the mother takes meds in the last trimester, the baby is likely to be a little crankier than normal as it goes through withdrawls after birth.
on the one hand, it sounds horrible to me to put a baby through withdrawls. but on the other hand, at the rate i'm going, i'm going to do much worse to this kid than make it cranky for three weeks. and justin said a lovely thing to me, approximately: having little z is meaningless if you're not healthy and present. which is kind of how i feel.
my ob's on vacation, but i called his secretary this morning and told her what i want to talk to him about, and she was lovely about it and promised to hook me up with him one morning next week to discuss everything. i felt better already.
until then, please comfort me with the apples of your experiences. what kind of doppler do you like? did you rent or buy? if you took meds during a subsequent pregnancy, how did that work out? tell me all your stories.
posted by laura at 7:10 PM
9 Comments:
rented from BabyBeat, just got the low end one. i didn't feel a need to record because i only cared if his heart was beating right that minute and i didn't need the digital readout because i can count! ;-)
it was lovely and i kept it all the way through the pregnancy and, er, a month after, too, but that was out of laziness more than anything else.
no experience on the meds but three weeks of crankiness after the birth is an okay trade-off IMHO for 7 months of reduced anxiety.
I used the basic model Baby Beat doppler too. It was great.
I was on Lexapro when I became pregnant with my third child. My OB found the same as you did, that the only effects seen are maybe a bit of crankyness. We both decided that having a functional mother was in the best interest of all involved, so I continued my meds for the duration of my pregnancy and post-partum/breastfeeding. Baby did great...she was a sweet easy going baby like her siblings, not cranky at all. I had to wean her from the breast at 6 months and she did fine. Never seemed to have any withdrawal. As for me, my postpartum period with her was so much better than with my first 2 when I was unmedicated.
I hope that helps! Feel free to email me if you have questions.
I've not had any experience with meds but I do believe that everything is shades of grey and mostly you have to balance what is ideal for the child with what is ideal for you. And generally a compromise makes for a far better situation than one or the other getting the 'ideal'.
As for the doppler - bought the cheapest I could find. Like Cat, I can count so didn't get the digital readout, also I wasn't concerned about recording the h/b, just that it was there.
With the exchange rate it would be very cheap for you to buy (got it on ebay at fertilitynaturopath) however a better quality one will detect the h/b sooner and more consistently.
Cheers to an anxiety-reduced 7 months:)
doppler: www.sweetbeats.com
LOVED IT. LOVED IT. LOVED IT.
$25 a month i believe, worth every freaking penny.
took prozac, my kid had birth defects. the docs all say it wasn't related. my placenta wasn't fully attached to the lining of the uterus; had nothing to do with the prozac - i wasn't even taking it then.
however, in subsequent pregnancies iw ill be taking what i am taking now - zoloft.
oh, it works wonders, it does
best of luck
GET THE DOPPLER - it alleviated SO much fear...no more " will I hear a heartbeat when I go to the doc today?"
i lied - it's www.bellybeats.com - i knew it was something "beats"
Wow, I'm really shocked by how many people are on meds, and how many people are on meds during their pregnancies. I think there are many alternatives to chemical fixes for anxiety that actually help you change yourself in positive and lasting, instead of doing what meds do, which mask the issues and one's own lack of anxiety-reducing skills. I know this isn't a popular opinion with some people, but I don't see any quick fixes for this stuff and I don't agree that there are 'low' risks for children. There's no reliable testing on infants or pregnant women, the drug companies are corporations trying to sell you shit in a 'quick fix' money-making climate and I think considering those relationships should be part of anyone's decision-making process. My stepsister was on a nice cocktail of anti-depressants while pregnant and my nephew has attachement disorder, some of which is because of the meds that she took. Based on this, I think very careful consideration needs to be taken about what is appropriate during pregnancy.
I'll write about this at my site... but maybe not today... i'm at an internet cafe and its almost time for veggie thai buffet with Steve.
I'm sort of freaking out about this same issue... when to TTC, what AD's to take, do i need AD's... effect on the baby... blah blah blah...
My OB yesterday said that all AD's except Wellbutrin (sp?) are class C which I think means we don't really know what the effects are during pg... Wellbutrin is a class B... and the insert in the sample she gave me said there have been tests done on animals. She said she thought Zoloft may have been changed to a class B, but she wasn't sure.
So maybe thats one (or two) you might want to talk to you docs about.
Email me. I'll call today and see if they'll just let me keep the babybeats since I've rented it for like 10 months now.
I had the best model from storkradio.com. I DID like the digital readout because I can't count. LOL.
I also considered meds, but ultimately was just too paranoid that they would have an effect. Dr. F didn't seem to think so. He apparently thought they were safer than using the doppler all the time...so now I've probably made you paranoid about both. Sorry.
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