On a lighter note

I love talking to women who want kids and who have questions they have never asked before. It is really fun to remember what I was like when I was trying to get pregnant or even before that. There is an innocence to wanting kids and not having them...here are some of the best questions I have heard recently:

How does the mucus plug get up there? Do you put it in or does the doctor?
Well, technically, the pregnant woman's body 'makes it'. No one actually puts it up there. It is a barrier that a pregnant woman's body puts at the entrance of the cervix to protect the baby. Not too glamorous or exciting, but another example of how the body just does what it is supposed to do to grow a baby. You don't have to get this installed at your first prenatal appointment. As a side note, some women don't notice when they lose it, some women do.

How do you get her to eat?
She eats when she is hungry for the first few weeks. I don't know how it works exactly but I think she gets hungry like an adult would and cries. Then I offer her food. If that doesn't make her stop trying I change her diaper. If that doesn't work, I see if her hands or feet are cold. If they are warm I walk around with her and pat her back to see if it is gas. No dice on the gas? I check for teeth coming in. Sometimes she just fusses. Somehow I just know if she is fussing, the cry sounds different then if she really wants something. I try to play it by ear. Call it adaptive management.

Do you feel like a weirdo changing diapers?
No, it is your kid. You have to get her little bits clean otherwise she will get an infection or diaper rash. I am doing my job as a parent.

When can you start 'doing it' again?
When your doctor says! For the first six weeks after, nothing can go up there...no tampons, no fellas, no nothing. After that, if you want to do it (between feedings and changings and general anxiety about being responsible for a life) your doctor will give you the medical all clear.

Anyone else have questions? Stuff you got asked or wished you had asked?