Best. mattress. ever.
Argh.
Is there anything harder to wait out than the birth of a baby? This is why there are so many scheduled inductions and c-sections and the like. It's killer. I know that I haven't even made it to the due date. I shouldn't complain. With no complications and no real discomfort, even--I'm just being an impatient ninny. It doesn't help things that I really thought that he would come early, somehow--that I've been thinking for weeks, "any day now, baby boy..."
All of this waiting has given me a lot of time to think and theorize. Here are some of my (mostly baseless) ideas about childbirth:
(Note: I have my own preferences (avoid c-sections and interventions unless necessary), but this does not mean that I think people with other preferences are not completely justified in their own.)
1) In addition to (or maybe previous to) the physical changes that happen before a baby comes (without help), I sort of think that there has to be a sea-change in the mother, too. Maybe some women are already in-line with this mental/emotional state and so they don't notice any change... I guess I've heard a lot of stories where women either decided that they'd had enough of the discomforts of pregnancy, enough of the waiting...and this decision--being fed up--is the catalyst for active labor in one way or the other. The other, even more unfounded part of my theory is that the mother lets go of the situation enough to allow labor to start. In my mind, they amount to the same thing... For some women, maybe it's fear that keeps them from going into labor, others may have control issues. To me, it makes sense, but I'm going to go ahead and point out again that I was the first one to say that my theories have no real basis of which I'm aware.
2) With all that focus on the mother, you may think that I have ideas of the child not having much to do with when he or she is born. Well, I happen to think that he or she does have something to do with it. For instance, I have tried to talk baby boy out of my womb a good dozen times, at least. These one-sided conversations usually go something like this:
Me: You know, you can come out any time you want... I understand if you don't want to, but there is a lot out here that I think you'd like. I could show you the mountains, and your dog... You can watch the fish in their bowl... You'll like it when your daddy holds you. I'll keep you nice and warm and rub your back for you...
Baby boy: No response.
Maybe I should read "Getting to Yes" before I try it again with him. I'm sure my technique has a hundred different flaws.
Impatience isn't always my primary feeling about all of this waiting. I've had some success with a calmer approach. Some days, I'm pretty good at "enjoying where we are." When I spend more time focusing on projects that either need to be done or projects that I just randomly adopt, it's a lot easier. Lots gets accomplished that way, it turns out.
Some pretty major projects have been completed to kill the time. To name a few: organizing the basement storage areas, finishing a quilt, painting a bank of doors that has gone unfinished for about 15 months, mulching our yard, setting up a compost area in the yard, refining baby boy's room (relatively speaking), purging of lots of things I don't love or need, cleaning and organizing the garage, lots of housekeeping, acquisition of long-sought pieces of furniture...
My next appointment with the doctor is tomorrow morning. Today? I might get a little more progress on one of my projects. Lucy has the stomach flu, so we have a little more puke and sleep in the house than we're used to. It's hard to see her sick. On the other hand, it's a luxury to get to hold her so much and to feel no pressure to keep her awake during the day.
Lucy and I picked out a little dance leotard/tutu ensemble a few weeks ago at a local shop...a complete impulse buy. Lucy has LOVED the outfit and wears it with an appropriately disproportionate frequency, which is to say not every day, but nearly. ...She puts on the outfit and asks me to put on ballerina music for her. Her stage is the area between our fireplace and the back windows. This allows her to admire her own exquisiteness.
A week ago, Lucy was pretty insistent in asking to wear her dance outfit. I kept telling her that she might get to wear it later (but not now). I just didn't want to deal with the dressing and undressing, as I had projects to get completed... Anyway. While I was doing dishes, Lucy gathered up three of the nearest stools and made herself a nice little tower so she could reach her dance outfit (hanging above the laundry sink).
I only became aware of this when I heard a thump and Lucy whimpered. I don't know how far she fell, but she wasn't hurt. Check the joy and pride on her face in this picture of her holding her prize. I love this girl. (She likes to stick out her bum in pictures.)
