I think we all fall victim to the google trap, but us moms seem even more susceptible than the rest of the population. The time spent trying to conceive has always been the worst for me (hello, ovulation calendars), followed by actual conception (literally treating google like a magic eight ball, “am I pregnant“?), and then I more-or-less fall off the google wagon as raising two boys has given me some confidence in the instinct department. But given that every pregnancy seems to be unique, it’s a trap that’s easy to fall into time and time again.
That’s why I’ve opted to have a google free pregnancy. It saddens me a bit that I’m even creating such a thing.
When I make the tags for the shirts we sell over at The Bee & The Fox, I cut and handle a lot of Jute. This seems inconsequential except for the fact that I only recently learned that my skin is super sensitive to Jute and following making tags, the palms of my hands become deathly itchy. It doesn’t necessarily happen right away; I’ve noticed the following day to be the worst.
Given that we were hoping to conceive and before I recognized the Jute as the culprit, I turned to google in hopes of it acting as my positive pregnancy test and I googled, “itchy palms during pregnancy”. And you know what? There is such a thing.
And that’s when it dawned on me: Anything you can feel – cold, itchy, sweaty, bloated, crampy, crappy, nauseous, hot, and so on an so forth – can be a pregnancy symptom simply based on the fact that some women, somewhere, make note of it during pregnancy.
I googled “heat intolerance” (which has hit me hard this pregnancy) which led me to wonder if I could be suffering from hyperthyroidism, which can result in low-birth weight (I kinda wish), stillbirth (wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy), weight loss despite increased appetite (I kinda wish), heart failure (no added note in parenthesis needed), and preterm labor (which, to be honest, having a baby before my due date – for once – sounds kinda dreamy. I’m being facetious, obviously. Or kinda, anyway). In reality, I know I’m simply affected by triple digit heat and I don’t find that entirely mysterious.
The 4th edition of the now infamous book, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”, even boasts that it contains even more content when it comes to the physical concerns with pregnancy “with even more symptoms, and more solutions” (this is in addition to even “more” in terms of workplace concerns, emotional concerns, nutritional concerns, sexual concerns, etc, etc).
I know pregnancy is precious, but like parenthood, it has become really precious. Too precious, in my opinion.
So that’s the short of why I’m challenging myself – though it’s less of a challenge and more of an instinctual insistence – to a google-free pregnancy. Because I’m my own best resource and if stuff comes up along the way that causes concern, I can kick it old school and ask my good ol’ doc.
Who’s with me? And who has found that google caused fears that in hindsight were unnecessary?
*Image on left by Cass Bird, Image on right found on Pinterest
You are so right on. I find with many things in life, google just puts crazy notions in our heads. I once scared the crap outa myself when I googled about a funny looking rash I had on my thigh. I was convinced I could have merca and instantly started worrying about what effects it might have on my nursling 2 month old. Of course said rash was nothing more than “foliculitus” according to the dermatologist, a random patch of irritated skin.
I don’t remember feeling the need to Google during either of my pregnancies. The only things I looked up were updates on what was happening with baby in the growth department, like, when does it begin to grow nails, hair, fingers, a brain! That kind of info fascinates me, but I guess you can easily get that from the baby books or an app. However, I’ve more used Google when it comes to looking up symptoms to things my kids have experienced. The most recent, staph infections. Before I knew it as such, I searched for “skin rashes” or “skin conditions” which I KNEW would turn up the nastiest of images but just had to do it. Ultimately, I ended up at the pediatrician’s where the final word was decided and antibiotics were prescribed (dammit). But I’m notorious for using the search engine to identify any and everything that pops up on my kids.