The Rabbit Died.

With the coming of new grandchildren, I have been reminded of the days when there were so many unknowns in pregnancy. First of all, there was not an internet to ask questions that you didn't want to ask just anyone.

In the 1930's a doctor would inject a woman's urine into a rabbit to see if she was pregnant. Then they'd do an autopsy on the rabbit to see if it's ovaries had burst. If they did, the woman was pregnant. The rabbit died whether she was pregnant or not.

Even in 1978, when I began having babies, there were no "early" pregnancy tests and there was nothing over-the-counter.

I remember calling my doctor one day and asking the nurse if I could come in to have a pregnancy test. She told me I had to wait for about a month more before they would do a blood test. That would be 10 weeks after conception. Believe me, by the time they did a pregnancy test, my nausea told me better than any stinking blood test.

On my first pregnancy, this is what I wrote, about two weeks after conception: " I have been feeling some indications that lead me to believe that I might be pregnant. I haven't been sick. I've been a little nauseated at times but always feel better when I eat something....We are worried that we won't be covered by my insurance.” I was very hungry for about 2 weeks. It would have been nice to have a little at-home test and a better date calculator. As it turned out, I was covered and little Whitney was born safe and sound the day after school got out. I was a third grade teacher.