Pap Smear or No Pap Smear?

Eight weeks: I just phoned Jane, my OBGYN. We had that second Pap Smear appointment due this week. I told her I was pregnant and was concerned about doing a Pap. She agreed she didn’t want to do a Pap so early in the pregnancy. So we scheduled it for when I was 12 weeks along.

But now I’m thinking. Should we do the Pap, and the test says Cin 3 again, what will I do? Certainly a biopsy would be out of the question as it would endanger the pregnancy. And then how would that information affect me during the pregnancy? This feels like a bit of a quandary. I’m going to do some more research. Mothering magazine’s forum is always a great read—it’s like hanging out with girlfriends and having a good chat about things. It’s a good place to start, before researching the serious stuff. Soon Kindred will launch their own forum. Check out the thread about Pap Smears during preganancy

PS – I miss my Corona with a twist of lime.

The Gift of Morning Sickness

Seven weeks: Yesterday I felt the full kick of morning sickness. I wasn’t paying attention to my body and started rushing around in the morning. We’re selling our home and someone wanted to see it…so I was frantically making beds and tidying up. I forgot to take my herbs and forgot to eat breakfast early. Walking my daughter to the bus stop, it suddenly descended on me. I felt so nauseous and light headed and wasn’t sure if I could make it home. As well, a whole emotional overlay came with it—I felt angry, frustrated and totally hormonal and it was projecting itself onto everything. I came home quickly and ate, and had to stay very very centred so as not to start going at Alok or burst into tears. Every thought frustrated me, the whole world looked bleak. After about twenty minutes it cleared, but I paid the price all day as it just remained like a thin veil physically and emotionally.

I’ve decided that morning sickness is a call from the body to be present. ‘What do you need right now?’ it is asking. If something is upsetting me or troubling me and I’m not being present with it, the morning sickness sets in—as if something is making me ‘sick’, or I’m ‘sick’ of something. And if I’m not feeding myself properly, with the things my body needs, again the morning sickness sets in. I notice if I stay present with these things, the morning sickness stays at bay. But like a sentinel, it’s there waiting, keeping guard over my body and my baby’s needs. Embracing the morning sickness as an invitation, as a helpful force rather than an annoyance also seems to help. Interesting how culture ‘informs’ our opinions, that in turn informs how we relate to things such as morning sickness. In medically-based thinking, morning sickness is a ‘problem’. And I can say, in a pregnancy mind, saying something is a problem just makes it worse!!