I Must Know (Almost) Everything

I've made it no secret that I'm not interested in knowing too many details about pregnancy and childbirth before I'm actually pregnant (read more here).  I don't feel like preemptively mourning over the long list of "do nots" or preemptively gagging myself to sleep over the long list of supremely gross details.  The day will come, I will buy the books and consult with doctors.  But, for now I'm all set.  I'm not rude when such topics arise in conversation, but I tend to exist stage left as soon as politely possible.

Turns out my somewhat stuffy attitude about pregnancy doesn't quite work.  Well, it works in the sense that I can certainly avoid the information.  It doesn't work in the sense that I actually need to know some of the information even being a non-pregnant lady.  With so many of my friends being pregnant and trying to be pregnant, avoiding the details sort of means avoiding my friends.  The subjects of ovulation tests, good soft cheeses versus bad soft cheeses and breastfeeding come up fairly regularly.  If I faked a bathroom break every time I heard the word nipple and mucus in the same sentence my hands would be raw from all that scrubbing.  What's more is that in order to actually participate in the conversation and not just smile and nod, I have to know a bit.  Asking relevant questions not only prevents me from looking like a jackhole, but it also moves the conversation along more quickly.

Then there's the other, newly discovered and major reason that I need to know some stuff - emergencies.  A good friend of mine developed preeclampsia or had preeclampsia or almost had preeclampsia (I still don't know for sure) at the tail end of her pregnancy.  When I was first given the news I almost burst into tears, assuming it was some sort of worst case scenario.  The word "preclampsia" didn't scream light and fluffy to me.  With a little more information I was relieved to find out it's a common enough condition, it was manageable in my friend's case and both mom and baby were just fine.  But, initially not knowing anything about it was a huge handicap.

This is a clamp.  It has nothing to do
with preeclampsia, but I didn't know
that at the time.  No, I didn't assume that
this tool was directly related to the
medical condition but this is vaguely the image
the popped into my head upon
hearing the news - not light and fluffy.

So, a little over five months after writing my lovely post entitled The Things I Don't (Want to) Know, I'm changing my mind.  I refuse to make a full 180 degree swing toward I Must Know Everything, but I've found that absorbing a few details here and there is necessary to be a good friend both in conversation and in emergencies.  And, I can now admit, some of the stuff is interesting and even fun.