And So the Story Goes

It's been almost three weeks since I birthed Lucy. I have intended to write the story of Lucy's birth sooner, but for some reason it has felt very difficult to devote time to it. I mean, it's a birth story - it must be a great work of literature that can be read for generations to come. And, there is no concise way to tell a birth story. Only TLC can concisely edit birth stories to tap into the dramatic parts and shave out the rest. My birth story actually involves a lot of sitting and waiting.

In hindsight I can see that my labor with Lucy was very similar to my labor with Grayson, except I spent a majority of my labor with Lucy in the hospital. A quick recap, the labor I experienced with Grayson was very long but also very quick. I was dilated at about 5-6 cm for days. I woke up in the middle of the night to the sensation of my water breaking, and Grayson was born shortly after we arrived at the hospital.  Since everything was such a rapid whirlwind after my water broke, it was assumed that this labor would progress even faster once my water broke.

When I was pregnant with Grayson I wanted to labor at home as long as possible. I got my wish. I practically did all my laboring at home and in my sleep. My first birth experience was great. I cherished every unique minute of it. This time, however, I was not so adamant about laboring at home as long as possible. We live less than a quarter of a mile from the hospital, but the midwives still joked that I could deliver at home, in the car, in the parking lot - basically anywhere but the delivery room. With every joke I would give a small chuckle and mutter something like, "Yeah, my husband is reading Emergency Childbirth to prepare just in case." This would make the midwife laugh. But in my gut I would have a knot. John really did read Emergency Childbirth in preparation of a rapid birth, and I personally know women who delivered in their home, in the car (the gal just threw her legs on the dash board and gave a good push), in the hospital parking lot. As much as the extreme stories make good fodder for conversation, I did not want a birth experience that would require me to think about anything beyond allowing my body to do what it needed to do.

Thankfully - spoiler alert - John and I did not have an emergency childbirth situation in which we had to MacGyver our way through the birth of our child.

Ready or Not

The most common question I am asked these days is, "Are you ready for the new baby?" In one word, "Nope." I have accepted the fact that I am not one of those women who is absolutely excited and always ready to bring another child into the mix. I know I will very much love all my children, but I am also realistic that transition is work, and sometimes I am not in the mood to work.

Everyday I think about how unprepared I am to have another child, and everyday I am one day closer to welcoming a new child into the world. Sure, I have clothes, a place for the baby to sleep, diapers, the car seat, all the things, but mentally I am still operating on being the mother of one. Last week, when I was having regular nightly contractions, I just kept thinking about how we have a good system of how things work in our house, and how another child is going to change that entire system. I am certain that we will adapt and that we will love our new little one so much that we cannot imagine the world without her, but adaptation takes time and effort. This week I am more open to the time and effort it is going to take to have a new little one. I have not have the reoccurring thought of, "What have we done? How did we get into this mess?" nearly as many times each day. I guess that is growth; I guess that means I getting ready to have this baby.


*Photo from http://www.turbosquid.com

Second Child Syndrome

I have been far from proactive in preparing for this upcoming labor and delivery. I see how easy it is to let a second child come into the world without as many bells and whistles as the first. Poor second child syndrome. I am probably fostering it.

Yesterday I was very proud of myself for taking some intiative and pre-registering with the hospital. This is something that has been on my to-do list for at least a month. I confidently logged in to the hospital's website and carefully provided the most intimate details of my life online, details that would make any identity thief salivate. I was so pleased with myself when I completed the online registration. It was 9am, and I felt like I had done a solid day's work. Thirty minutes later I received a phone call from an unusual area code. I assumed it was a telemarketer, so I sent the call to voicemail. The call was from a sweet woman, Cindy, at the Alamance Regional Medial Center, confirming my registration. I realized that in my zeal to be proactive for this second child I registered at a hospital in Northern North Carolina, not the hospital down the street from my house. Again, poor second child syndrome; everything seems to get lost in the shuffle. Thankfully when I returned Cindy's call I received her voicemail. I was not ready to discuss my complete oversight and lack of awareness. It was a relief to leave a voicemail stating that I mistakenly registered for a completely wrong hospital, in a town I had never heard of, and to please cancel my resgistration. Later in the evening I received another voicemail from Cindy. She graciously offered me Internet browsing tips and provided the web address to the hospital where she presumed I was intending to register. Few things are finer than a gracious middle-aged woman leaving late evening voicemails with advice for navigating the Internet. She must be trying to break the cycle of second child syndrome.