Fucking Baby Center sent me an article yesterday--which is apparently all over the news--about how sleeping on one's left side during pregnancy halves the risk of stillbirth. Now, the academic in me recognizes this for what this is: pretty questionable science. The control group was "normal" pregnant women and the other group was women who had a stillbirth who were asked about their sleep habits the night before fetal demise. Even then, the number they came up with is less than 4 stillbirths out of 1000, which is to say, not many at all.
Now, having known women in this community who have had stillbirths and being at "high risk" (at least according to my first OB) for stillbirth myself, I don't take this news lightly, however specious I find the "study" itself. The logic, as most pregnant women know, has to do with increased blood flow (i.e. oxygen) to the placenta; this "news" isn't really "new" to obstetrics. And, to be sure, when I was pregnant with LG, I really did try to sleep on my left side, even though I usually sleep on my right. So I guess it's time to start practicing again, now that I've got the beginnings of lower back and hip pain anyway. Because the last thing I want is to blame myself for something that goes wrong during this pregnancy. A-hem.
I don't want to be a complete freak about what I do and what goes into my body. And generally I am comforted by the basic epigenetic idea that this baby will end up being a different person--that is, MY KID--because s/he's gestating in my uterus, instead of the donor's uterus, or another woman's uterus altogether. (One of the major reasons that DE was much more appealing to me as an option than adoption.) I eat pretty well, if perhaps a tad light on the green veggies. I don't take OTC drugs indiscriminately, though I will admit to needing a daily antihistimine (okayed by Dr. Gorgeous and my OB) and using Tylenol on occasion. My major source of caffeine is dark chocolate. I'm on track to gain the 28-40 lbs I'm supposed to gain, starting this pregnancy underweight. And my stress level is unquestionably lower than it's been probably in the past three years, even with this ongoing tenure drama. That is, if the Lovenox/aspirin combo does what it's supposed to do, I should end up with a healthy average sized baby at the end of all this. And if both donor's baby photos and profiles are any indication, s/he'll probably look a whole heck of a lot like me and LG.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go fret about my "real" writing. Over a cup of decaf.
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