You Have to Tell Your Dentist if You’re Pregnant

Turns out, when your dentist asks if there have been any recent changes in your health, becoming pregnant qualifies.

Pregnant Skiing

2.6.17

“Once my secret was out with the hygienist, it was an amazing moment of relief. For just maybe 10 minutes, I could tell someone what I was going through.”

Turns out, when your dentist asks if there have been any recent changes in your health, becoming pregnant qualifies.

I went to the dentist and, throughout the appointment, learned I had to come back and have a quick procedure that would require some local anesthesia. Being asked whether there were any changes in my health didn’t seem to merit sharing my secret, but being told I would have local anesthesia did. After the dentist left the room, I asked my hygienist, “So, can you have local anesthesia if you’re pregnant?”

From there, it was like everything just came gushing out of me. I shared my excitement, my nerves, my questions, my emotions… I don’t even know my hygienist’s name, but I think I could have taken her out to coffee and given her a hug for finally being someone I could talk to about it without getting in trouble with my husband for leaking our secret.

I would suggest finding that person in the early stages of pregnancy – someone you can spill everything to without feeling like you’re giving your secret away. I’ll be forever grateful for the conversations and excitement we had pre-trauma, while things were still “normal”.

So thanks, dental hygienist whose name I do not know… you played an important roll in a special time of my life, and props to you for being the first person to know I was pregnant. If I recall correctly, when you asked why I didn’t tell you, my response was, “Because my own mom doesn’t even know yet.”

Also notable: We bought cross country skis in December. While you should probably not downhill ski while pregnant (though I think people do it), I’m so glad we got out on those skis when we did. In a year where I’d become so inactive, it was nice to at least have seen the woods – to have used my body.

In the stats: 
Gestational Age: 7 weeks, 2 days

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