May 24, 2005

  • How Times Have Changed


    My daughter is pregnant with our first grandchild, and Beth and I have been amazed at the changes that have occurred in how pregnancy is treated these days.  Catherine is 27, so it really hasn't been all that long, but what a difference a generation has made.


    Beth was a smoker when our children were born, as was her doctor, and nothing was ever even mentioned about the hazards of smoking during pregnancy in 1973.  Beth was in a semi-private room, and she immediately made friends with the other girl in the room, also a smoker.  I have a vivid mental image of both women smoking as they fed their babies.  The other woman said, "This baby is going to be around smoke all his life, so he has to get used to it."  Beth agreed, and that was the attitude back then.


    Drinking alcohol during pregnancy today is totally verboten, but Beth's doctor recommended she have a glass or 2 of wine every day, or a mixed drink or 2, to help her relax.  Beth didn't do that because the very thought of that made her sick to her stomach, but that's what the doctor recommended.  And her doctor wasn't unusual in recommending that.  Many of them did.


    We had no ultrasound pictures of our babies, and we certainly didn't know the sex until they were born.  Yesterday, halfway through the pregnancy, we found out what the sex is.  We also know how much the fetus weighs, how long it is, and that it's fine.  What a change!


    And how ironic!  The kids of the previous generation--smoking, drinking, no sonograms--turned out just right.  I pray they turn out just right with all these precautions, too.


    ED