On July 31, 2008 Jessica sent me an e-mail {Jess, can you really believe its been 3 years?}. She had an idea for us to write a pregnancy book together. I think my first response was to laugh, which is likely why she sent me the request in an e-mail and not in person. Despite her most excellent ability to spin the idea and down play the work involved, I was not so sure I wanted to embark on such a journey. I decided to mull over the idea for a few days before I responded.

The next night when I was on call, I received a frantic phone call at 3 a.m. from a patient that went something like this:

“ Hello, this is … ummm…… Dr. Rupe?” Me, asleep

“ I’ve done something terrible….!” Patient replies in hysterics

“What ?” {I do not always have the most compassionate responses at 3 am}

“Is my baby going to die?” Patient replies, in tears

“You have to calm down and tell me what is going on?”

“Last night for dinner I had a ham sandwich and then I couldn’t sleep and then I started reading on the internet and it said that LUNCHMEAT CAN KILL MY BABY………” hysterics ensue.

After spending about 15 minutes calming her down and convincing her that her baby would be fine, I realized that this book was at least worth a shot. Giving women some solid medical information based on faith and not fear and guilt was a good idea. And it might even save me a few phone calls. So while I did pray through the decision, in the end it was a 3 am phone call about lunch meat that sealed the deal for me.

Listeria, which has been found in contaminated deli meat, causes a food born illness.  Recent news reports of an outbreak that has resulted in 15 deaths in the US, have been reminding me of that long ago phone call. This outbreak has been traced to cantaloupes that have been recalled. Listeria is a bacteria that can cause severe disease in people with lowered immune systems: the elderly, cancer patients and pregnant women. It is found in dirt, fecal matter, food products and animals. It also has the unique distinction of being a cause of stillbirth and miscarriage. Luckily it is extremely rare for it to cause serious infection. The rate of infection in 2009 was 1/300,000 people in the US, with most experiencing a ‘stomach flu’ type syndrome.

In the early 1990’s, a large outbreak of Listeria associated with deli meats occurred in the US. Since that time additional testing and safety measures were implemented by the Food Borne Disease Active Surveillance Network, further decreasing the rates of contamination. Additionally outbreaks have been associated with many other foods including: undercooked chicken, deli meats, hot dogs, soft cheeses, unpasteurized milk and now cantaloupe.

Refrigeration does not protect against listeria, however heat does. Using only pasteurized dairy products is wise. Additionally, juices from from raw meats and hot dogs should always been kept away from fresh food, and all surfaces thoroughly sanitized. Deli meats can be heated until sizzling to further reduce the risk of possible contamination, although the overall risk is extremely low to begin with.

For a lot of women, deli meats is one of the few sources of proteins that taste good to their puny stomachs. Yes, take the precautions listed above when handling food, but at the end of the day the OVERALL risk of contracting listeria from fresh deli meat is very low. The riskiest thing a pregnant woman does is get behind the wheel of a car. You are 100 times more likely to die in a car crash on your way home from Kroger than you are to actually get listeria from the lunch meat you ate when you got home.  I’m not reporting that fact to scare you away from driving nor to encourage you to do reckless things when you are pregnant; just to put the risks in perspective.

Carrying a human in your uterus seems to be the equivalent to wearing a sign that says “Please give me advice on what to do and what to eat.  While your at it, by all means tell me your scariest pregnancy stories.”  So, if your coworker freaks out when she sees you eating a carefully heated and appropriately cared for slice of salami, then just smile and tell her to make sure she wears her seat belt on her drive home from Kroger. Take all unsolicited advice with a grain of salt, check your facts with a trusted book and if there is any doubt call your doctor {not at 3 a.m. please }.

For additional information on listeria:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/pregnancy_gateway/infections-listeria.html

http://www.webmd.com/news/20110929/listeria-are-you-at-risk

We are so honored that CCM Magazine featured the book this month as a mother’s day gift suggestion. What kinds words they had to say! Read the feature below or to read the entire May issue FREE, visit CCMmagazine.com. I’ve been hearing about the book Help Wanted as well. How amazing to be featured next to this great resource! As a mom to a girl, I will definitely be checking out this book, authored by another former music industry professional.

The Pregnancy Companion CCM Feature

Our Nashville area signing was a great success! Thanks to everyone who came out to support us and our book.

We will be at the LifeWay in Tulsa, Oklahoma this Saturday March 5th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Please come out and join us if you can! Tulsa fans if you are able, please share a link to this post via Facebook and/or Twitter to help us get the word out.

I am excited to get to see some old friends and hopeful to get this great book in the hands of lots of women.

Thanks to all of you for your incredible support!

Dr. Rupe

How do you like the final cover? It’s a bit different than the first round you voted on. I’ll spare you the details of the cover process and just tell you we are really excited about how adorably bold it is.

We are so thankful for you, our early adapters of this project. Your input on cover design and subject matter has been so helpful because we want this resource to be exactly what Christian women need to enhance their pregnancy experience. We thought it was time to give you a little sneak peek of the book content. We’ve included Chapter 1 below because I suspect that many of you are looking to get pregnant – if not now then in the months to come. Please keep in mind this is a rough draft. We are still in the editing process. We hope that this will be helpful to you and we welcome your feedback.
TPC Chp 1 http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=34934357&access_key=key-2lk4tz2bb385ki0owf02&page=1&viewMode=list
Enjoy!

Well, the day has finally come. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve looked at “cover comps” for my clients. Books, CDs, DVDs. I’ve seen many an artist and author cry over really bad cover comps. I have to admit I was afraid that I would join them. I’ve seen it too many times before. When the email came to my inbox today my heart sunk and then started beating really, really fast. What if I hate them? I thought. I had heard great things about the designer who was given the task to put our book. . .our baby into a tangible and beautiful product so I was hopeful and still too scared to open the email at first.

I took a deep breath and double clicked. Too my great delight I was immediately drawn to what was before me. She gets it, I thought, she gets it.

Dr. Rupe and I talked tonight and I think we’re pretty much on the same page about our favorites and the tweaks we’d like to make. We wanted to make sure and get your input as our friends and early adopters of this project. I happen to know that many of you have really great taste so I’m dying to know what you women and mommies out there think.

Please, please, please take a few minutes to post a comment and let us know which of these three covers if your favorite. Let us know what you like and don’t like and what you would change.

Thanks for taking the time to give us your opinion. We believe this book is for a large number of women {God please, may a large number of women buy this book : )} so the more input the better. Feel free to share the link with your girlfriends.

We’re anticipating a lot of fun over the next few months as we finish the book. We appreciate your continued prayers.

Love,

{Please note: None of these covers have a white border around them. Blogger is just posting them that way so you can ignore it.}

TPC Comp 1

TPC Comp 2

TPC Comp 3

June is a month filled with many exciting, new things. . .for me personally and for The Pregnancy Companion. Dr. Rupe and I had lunch with our wonderful editor Heidi the other day. It was so great to get to know her better. We took her to a sushi place in town and encouraged her try it. I really think she liked it. Welcome to the world of sushi, Heidi! She let us know that the publication date for the book is April 2011. Sounds like a lifetime away but really we’ve got 10 months to get this thing out there, and just in time for Mother’s Day!! We’ll be working hard this summer to get the content ready for design and printing. It’s all so daunting yet so exciting. Will you continue to pray that God will show us exactly what needs to be covered in this resource? We want to give women a comprehensive tool that will guide them through pregnancy in the most peaceful way possible.

In other news, I have been cleared to start trying again. Now if only my cycle would start I can visit the fertility clinic to begin our process. I am currently taking Provera, a drug used to bring on your period so it’s only a matter of days before it will begin. Honestly I am experiencing a bit of anxiety and fear after my recent miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. What if my left ovary doesn’t produce eggs? What if I can’t get pregnant again? These thoughts creep up from time to time but I have to quickly remind myself that God is good and He is in control. All I can do is take one step at a time and trust Him. I truly do believe that. . .most of the time. I feel vulnerable saying that. I’m supposed to be writing a book that addresses these and other pregnancy and fertility issues with the utmost peace. I hope that it will help you trust Dr. Rupe and me as the writers even more so to know that we don’t have it all figured out. My girlfriends that are reading this right now are chuckling because they know that better than anyone. Just because we know the truth doesn’t mean we feel it all the time. The important thing is to quickly come back to the truth in your heart and mind when they wander from it.

I’ll keep you posted here on the site of course. Thank you for praying as we continue along our journey. Know that I also pray for all of the women that read this blog that you too would come to trust His will for your life, especially as it relates to motherhood.

Walking with you,

It’s that time! Time to get your input on which book cover you would be most drawn to. Actually, this is not an official poll. We have not started on the design yet but the publisher so nicely asked for our input (they don’t always) so we’d love yours!!

Dr. Rupe and I have said time and time again that we want this book to bring peace to expectant moms. The book cover should be the first glimpse of that peace. We also want this book to be fun. We did our best to write it in a very girlfriend to girlfriend type way and while it is jam packed with information we did try to keep it light-hearted.

So – with that in mind we have two images that each seem to express one of those styles. Which of these images would you be drawn to on a book cover about pregnancy.
Image A: “Girlfriend Fun”

Image B: “Spa-Like Peace”

We’d love your thoughts so feel free to comment. Thank you again for being a part of this exciting journey from the very start.

Be honest!

Hey girls!

We’re looking for quotes from real moms for the book! What one nugget of truth (spiritual or practical) would you like to share with future mommies-to-be? Post a comment here or visit our Facebook page to post a comment. Please let us know your first name, age and how many children you have. Please also let us know if you will allow us to use the quote in the book.

Thanks for giving us your input. We know each and every one of you has something wise to share!

Love,

Since Dr. Rupe recently posted about why we were embarking on this journey, I thought I’d share the story I recently recorded in the manuscript of how the idea of this book came to be. . .

{From Chapter 5}

I want to share with you a story from a time in my pregnancy where God pretty much whipped my butt into shape regarding worry. Actually, it’s a funny story, which shows you that God cares enough about our thoughts and our peace of mind to lovingly and laughingly discipline us from time to time.

Keep in mind my first two pregnancies did not make it past 12 weeks. After two miscarriages I was understandably on guard when it came to anything out of the ordinary. I was 19 weeks pregnant and we were getting ready for church one Sunday morning when suddenly I sneezed. This was a big ole sneeze and as I let it out something abnormal happened. I felt a little fluid down below and so I did what any post-miscarriage, 19-week pregnant mom-to-be would do – I referred to my “pregnancy bible.” “If you feel leaking fluid,” the book explained, “you may have broken or punctured your amniotic sac. Call your doctor immediately.” I put the book down and dialed Dr. Rupe’s office. Since it was a Sunday, I received a return phone call from one of Dr. Rupe’s colleagues. I explained what happened and that I wondered if I was leaking amniotic fluid. She obviously didn’t know my history when she candidly replied, “If you are, then there’s nothing we can do to save the baby at this point. But come in to the ER so we can check you out.” You can imagine my tension level while driving 20 minutes to the ER. My husband and I didn’t say one word to each other but we both knew the scenarios running through each of our minds. We arrived at the ER and they completed an ultrasound. To our delight they discovered that everything was fine with our baby and my amniotic sac. In fact, I had merely peed in my pants upon sneezing, an embarrassing side effect for many expectant moms. I’ve never been more excited to have peed in my pants in my life (not that I’ve otherwise done it too often). We laughed the entire way home and I knew the Lord was smiling down on me saying, “Why can’t you just trust me?”

Days later I realized there was a great need in the market for a resource like this. I approached Dr. Rupe and naturally she agreed to join me on this ride. We are so excited to have the opportunity to share truth and peaceful perspective with pregnant women. We pray that many will be blessed by our effort.

Pray for us! We spend most of the day Monday combing through this thing. We have 7 days to wrap it up.