Lying down

All the baby books tell you: Don't lie on your back after the fourth month. It could compress a major blood vessel and cause low blood pressure.

Now, I have to look at my belly, which has always been substantial, and wonder exactly how it is I haven't killed myself by lying on my back throughout my life...

Anyway, I did the Big Girl thing and asked my midwife about this. She looked nonplussed, shook her head, and said, "Seven months. It should be fine til seven months."

Remember the bit about the abs stretch? Well, cmccurry finally got in touch with his yoga teacher, who was worried that bending and twisting the torso could be bad for baby. So... bending, how? Should I stop doing crunches?

And behold, Babycenter.com answers this question... inconsistently.

But bless Dr. Artal, who finally tells us where this mystical prohibition against lying on one's back comes from. Six to ten percent "of pregnant women experience rapid drops in blood pressure when they lie down -- even if it's only for a few minutes. The problem can begin in early pregnancy, though it's more likely to occur after 20 weeks."

Six to ten percent. Huh.

Edit: Those two crazy kids! I've also frequently heard that you're not supposed to let your heartrate go over 140 bpm while exercising while pregnant. Pre-pregnancy, I would regularly get mine up to 160 bpm and keep it there for 20-30 min - without trying hard. This is nowhere near "strenuous" for me - heart rates of 170-180 bpm on the elliptical actually get me out of breath (but they're also out of my "safe" cardiac workout zone, based on my age). My resting heart rate is around 80, and even slow walking brings it up to 100. I've had to abandon the elliptical machine - I couldn't go slow enough! The machine shuts off at 30 rpm. I can only do about 3 mph on a treadmill without "going over."

Well, the same two doctors who couldn't agree on the safety of lying down can't agree on heart rate, either. Dr. Artal, the wild and crazy risk-taker, maintains that the 140 bpm figure is outdated and that core body temperature is more important. Sounds reasonable, but exactly how am I supposed to measure that at the gym, doc?

Other Christmas traditions.

It's the dark time of the year. Celebrations often focus on light, but - as all the evergreen decorations around ought to suggest - renewing life. The promise, if you will, of rebirth in spring.

In the Catalan region of Spain, once very agricultural, fertility and health are apparently linked to poop. "[O]n Christmas Eve Catalan children beat a hollow log, called the tio, packed with holiday gifts, singing a song that urges it to defecate presents out the other end." And the caganer, or pooper, is a common addition to the nativity scene.

This isn't unreasonable, right?

• Leave work at 3:30pm
  
• Arrive home 4:30pm
  
• Choir practice is in Baltimore at 5pm; service at 7, goes til 8 or so, home by 9.
  
• Traffic on MD-295 all screwed up.
  
• Dinner would be nice to eat at some point.
  
• Can't possibly make 5pm practice, as drive in zero traffic takes 30-40min.
  
• Decide to skip practice, make and eat dinner, compulsive guilt-blog blowing off practice.
  
• Leaving now.