The Blog-o-sphere

So, throughtout the time we've been expecting the Kidlet, I've been reading this blog: www.Dooce.com. Heather is funny, honest, and willing to call something meaningful that is such. She posted the third part of her labor and delivery story recently and I sat on the couch, laughed out loud and cried reading it.

One thing she said about her labor and delivery and a natural childbirth experience really hit home:
"I did it. I totally did it. And I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be able to have this experience, that nothing went wrong. That they didn't have to intervene. I know that. I know there was a lot of luck involved. I know how lucky I am.

But I'm also so damn proud of myself for conquering this challenge, for doing the work and having it pay off, and having lived through that kind of pain, having gone into that place inside Jon's palm, I now have a new perspective on life. Yes, on life. It's just changed everything, I can't deny it.

She changed everything."

We are 9 days away from the Kidlet's due date and the most I seem to be able to do in a day is a few essential things and then wait and prepare. When talking about her decision to have a natural birth, Heather writes about some people who compare the pain of a root canal to the pain of childbirth, you get pain meds for a rootcanal, right? Why not for this too? And then she says that it's like comparing giving life to someone to a ... tooth. And I'm there with her. At 3am after my 5th bathroom run, I lay awake in awe and wonder at the sheer enormity and miracle of this experience. At some point soon this person I've been growing inside of me will come out, perfect in his or her imperfections, beautiful and wonderous and independant and soulful. I am in awe of this process. And I believe that this next part, delivering this baby, deserves the same amount of reverence in my book which is why I'm going in with all sorts of tools that bring me closer to the experience rather than keep me separate from it.

I feel prepared, not that I know what will happen finally or have any control over what happens, it's the bit of risk that make it worth it somehow. But I feel prepared to go into this experiece with enough knowledge and practice to be able to be present. And I can't wait to meet our little one. Whenever you are ready Kidlet, we are.