Research isn't always a good thing

The basic premise to losing weight is simple....take in fewer calories than you burn. We all know that put into action, it is more complex. What you eat makes a difference, how much cardio and weight training you need to do varies on results you want and your body type.

As I went along my weight loss journey, I did TONS of research. I read COUNTLESS weight loss memoirs, magazine articles, books written by doctors and trainers. I, of course, searched the Internet and read your blogs. I still read these things - daily.

So when I wanted to get pregnant, I started doing the same thing. There are somethings I just find hard to believe. If you have a regular cycle (sorry boys) there is a small window of a a few days each month that you can fertilize an egg. I think it adds up to about 30 to 40 days total all year and that is if you are regular and functioning properly which most of us are not. Are you kidding me? Are you telling me that all the "oops" and "I got pregnant my first time" and "I got pregnant while on birth control" and the TONS of babies born each year are all because these women had "relations" on one of the just right days in the year? I am not saying it isn't true, I am saying it is EXTREMELY hard for me to believe. And then I have to ask, if you do not complete your cycle for 2 more weeks after those days, what happens to the egg? If it cannot be fertilized, where does it go?

I should have known then to just stop reading. It spurs too many questions for me. Oh, did I ever mention my mother is a nurse for OBGYNs? So guess who I call with EVERY question? She gets a little annoyed. I make her ask the doctors things that I think embarrass her sometimes. But I need to know!!

There are these evil people out there who write these things called pregnancy books. So far, these books are horrible. I keep trying more of them and going on to the next chapter thinking it gets better. It doesn't. I thought I would feel better once I had a sonogram and heard a heartbeat. I did, for about a day. I was reading this book about week 8 of pregnancy and it starts out all good and sweet with drawings and how it is the size of a kidney bean and it has elbows that bend. Then, BAM!! The rest of the chapter is about miscarriage. Which I have read LOTS about already. I know it is a possibility but really does it need to be in EVERY chapter of EVERY book? This time it was about how it happens alot (they think) due to the age of the sperm. If the male is over the age of 35. My husband is 37. NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT THAT A-HOLES. They should have one chapter called "Let me depress and scare the SHIT out of you" so we can skip it and move on to actual USEFUL information.

Of course I called my ma to ask about statistics on miscarriage after you hear a heartbeat. After she asked around, she said 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage before there is a heartbeat (so 25%) and the risk drops to 5% after there is a heartbeat. So why is there so much written to scare us all when the reality of that actual population is so small? And do you know what is written about it? "We don't know why this happens" or "No actual studies have been done to determine the cause" blah, blah, blah. THEN DON'T WRITE ABOUT IT!!

My mother's advice? "Stop reading all that crap!" She is wise beyond her years. But I want to know what things to expect that are interesting (not scary). I guess I will continue to read with caution. Sorry for the bitching. I think it would be less stressful to lose 115 pounds again. In fact, I know it would. I have experience at that. Weight loss people are WAY more logical.