Thinking about a second child? Don't listen to me

I have readthe news with bemused interest as Chinese doctors advise prospective mothersabout the risks of having a second child. I’m a skeptic.

But don’tlisten to me. I am not a doctor. I claim no medical knowledge whatsoever. Ifyou’re a woman contemplating having a second child, you should stop readingnow. I am not qualified to render a professional opinion about anything — leastof all prenatal care.

Yet I havealso been accused of knowing too much about reproduction. I have eight children— yes, three sons and five daughters. Shocking but true. I will say that a bigfamily is wonderful, especially now that the kids are grown.

Whenever myprofessional colleagues in the United States found out how many children I had,they would invariably gasp. “Good grief! Don’t you know what causes that?” Itold them I never really thought about it; I just did what I was told.

So I haveseen a lot of birthing. All eight of my children were delivered by caesarean section,all from the same woman. My wife set the hospital record for number ofconsecutive C-sections. I witnessed every one. In US hospitals, unlike many inChina, they typically invite fathers into the operating room.

I’ve now seenso many C-sections I’m confident I could perform one in an emergency with aball-point pen. So if you’re a pregnant woman who courageously kept readingafter being warned, take note: I can respond quickly if you every have need —in a taxi, on the subway or climbing the Great Wall.

There’s beena great deal of news coverage about China’s second-child policy. Articles oftenquote doctors saying that a woman is considered “old” for pregnancy if she’sover 35. Tut-tut. My wife was 43 when our eighth child was born. (She wantedmore, but I finally drew the line.)

Doctors saythe risks go up for older women. Regular checkups are essential. Diet iscrucial. I’m sure they’re right, so please don’t listen to me. What do I know?I can only report one couple’s experience.

With ourfirst child, my wife was very concerned, very careful, very picky abouteverything — diet, exercise, monthly exams, playing music to the baby in herbelly. By the time the fifth or sixth child rolled around, she would simplyvisit the doctor once and say, “See you in eight months.” She had faith innature. After all, women have been getting pregnant for thousands of years.

One Chinesedoctor warned last week about the risks of multiple C-sections, and advisedwomen in their second pregnancy to wait three months before exercising. But mywife exercised from the start. She even went bungee jumping when she wastwo-months pregnant, and that kid turned out to be supersmart. (I’m notadvocating this for improving agaokaoscore — just saying.)

It’s truethat parents may feel strained with a second child, but I can attest that itgets easier after three, if only because you don’t notice the additionalcraziness when you’re already nuts.