Photo by  Nota/SXC

I hated being pregnant. I am just going to come right out and admit it. Both of my pregnancies were non-stop morning, noon and night (and yes, middle of the night) sickness. I got diagnosed with gestational diabetes with my first (right before I had to prepare a huge Thanksgiving dinner for the family that I could hardly touch). I got put on bed rest with my twins for 2.5 months. I had all three children six weeks premature, and all spent time in the NICU (my first over Christmas).

Perhaps the only thing I loved was feeling my babies kick and move. I loved that so much that when they were born and each was in the NICU, I was sad to have lost it since I didn’t have them home with me.

I had multiple visits to the hospital for the pregnancies for preterm labor and contractions. They were all stressful and scary.

What was probably the worst was when I got my first contractions with my twins at 18 weeks of pregnancy. We rushed to the hospital, and their cut-off for taking pregnant women with contractions to labor and delivery was 20 weeks.

I could overhear the triage nurse on the phone with my OB/GYN begging her to let them take me to labor and delivery, saying “but she is having twins,” and the doctor refusing. At labor and delivery, they would monitor the babies.

It was terrifying. After a couple hours, the doctor apparently did give in or the nurses just decided to ignore the orders. They got me in and found the babies were doing just fine. They may have injected me with something. I honestly don’t know.

When my doctor finally showed up, she didn’t even remember me from my last doctor visit a week before. She was so crass, stating basically as soon as she walked in the room that if I was losing the babies, she couldn’t do anything about it. Even if that is true, the way she just matter-of-factly and bluntly announced it was awful.

The next day, I found a new doctor. I hated to switch mid-pregnancy, but I was just appalled. The doctor I switched to was amazing. He always remembered me. He was extremely concerned about any contractions or signs of early labor (preterm labor was highly likely, being that it was twins and my first was premature). He even came to the NICU every day they were there to check on the twins.

I know to this day that had I stayed with the other practice, my twins would have been severely premature. The 2.5 months I spent on bed rest, I know, saved their lives. So while I was tempted to say bed rest as the most difficult part, whenever that got really tough I remembered how crucial it was to their safety.

What was worse was not knowing if I would even get to the point of bed rest.

So the lesson there is that if you aren’t feeling comfortable with your prenatal care, don’t be afraid to switch. I did halfway through and it was the best decision I made in that pregnancy.

Becoming pregnant changed my life, and I’d love to hear more about your best or most difficult pregnancy moments. By replying, you will be entered to win an exclusive Million Moms Challenge Gift Pack, which includes an all expenses paid trip to a conference on mothers hosted by the UN Foundation in DC (Jan/Feb 2012), an iPad2, a custom-made Million Moms Challenge pendant and $50 donation in your name to Global Giving.

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Million Moms Challenge. The opinions and text are all mine. Contest runs September 19 to October 16, 2011. A random winner will be announced by October 18, 2011.

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