This Nearly Was Me
When I was pregnant with my oldest, I sat
down during an early visit with my OB and brought out my carefully
crafted List of Questions I’d mostly copied from some
pregnancy book. She tolerated a few of them, until I got to this
one: “Are there any books you recommend I read to get ready
for the birth?”
My doctor rolled her eyes, took a breath that was clearly designed to help her Count To Three, and then said, “I don’t really keep up on books parents should read about the birth process. But let me tell you this: if expectant parents read nearly as many books on actually raising a child as they do on pregnancy, we’d have a lot less messed up kids in this city. So why don’t you take some time reading books on parenting, which you’ll be dong FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, and let me read the books on delivering a baby? It’s kind of what you’re paying me for.”
My doctor rolled her eyes, took a breath that was clearly designed to help her Count To Three, and then said, “I don’t really keep up on books parents should read about the birth process. But let me tell you this: if expectant parents read nearly as many books on actually raising a child as they do on pregnancy, we’d have a lot less messed up kids in this city. So why don’t you take some time reading books on parenting, which you’ll be dong FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, and let me read the books on delivering a baby? It’s kind of what you’re paying me for.”