On dignity

(If you're allergic to TMI, skip this one.)

So I did open that packet from my hospital and skimmed through the materials. Most of them were about innocuous housekeeping matters. Fill out this form! Pick a pediatrician to examine E in the hospital! (They have a referral line you can call, which is pretty cool.) Tell your insurance that you're going to give birth! (The biweekly prenatal visits might have tipped them off, but ok.) Add the baby to your insurance policy!

And then...they sneaked this in: "You will be tested for strep B. This is not an STD. 25% of women have this bacteria." Then they described the doctor's test for it. That's when I stopped reading in dismay.

Basically, they swab your lady parts, AND your nether parts. Ahem.

The irony here is, they really haven't gotten up in my business that much, so I thought maybe they wouldn't. Now I can see that I was wrong. (Is that ironic, or just unlucky? I remember Alanis Morissette's song was criticized on those grounds.)

My mom assures me that I'll have no dignity after my delivery so it's good to get it out of the way.

I suppose she's right :D I do feel bad for the nurses, though. I mean...who wants to do that?

Comments

Roxanne said…
Your mom beat me to it. I was thinking the same exact thing. But, no worries. When you see his beautiful little face all the memories of indignity seem to fade away (mostly).

I wouldn't worry too much about the nurses. From the ones I have known, not much fazes them. I guess that's why they're so good at their job. :)
4:47 PM
Caro said…
Ah, the fun days of pregnancy.

My mom has also told me that once a gal hits a certain age, the nether regions are part of the yearly exam.

Oh joy!
4:55 PM
Bearette said…
Ack!
10:44 PM
This suzy said…
I don't worry too much about nurses (or doctors) at this point. It's their job, so I'm not going to sweat it, even if it's just me having hairy legs. lol
11:55 PM
Anonymous said…
Who wants to do that? Well, apparently, the doctors and nurses :) They know what they signed on for. But I would feel the same way you do--like you're the only one who's ever done these yucky things.
4:19 PM
Anonymous said…
I've heard that too, about the dignity. "You won't care WHAT happens!" they say, helpfully.

:)
1:25 PM
blackcrag said…
No, not irony. You've just been lucky so far. Maybe. I don't know about those parts of my sisters' and friend's pregnancies.
1:28 AM
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