Friday, May 6, 2005

Baby Time Remember a couple of weeks ago, when I said that we were having the baby on May 6th unless something happened? Something happened. The placenta has moved out of the way. The door is now wide open - so no c-section. Yes, we're surprised too. It seemed to be moving at a glacial pace. Last time we were checked, the placenta was 1.8 cm away from the cervix, and they want it at least 2, and ideally 3 cm, away from the cervix before they feel safe. So it had to move 12 millimeters on its own in two weeks. Not a lot of distance - we're talking about a half-inch or so. But it had taken so long to clear that we were convinced it was just done. We had the c-section scheduled. We had both checked out of our jobs, called friends and family, studied Cliff notes on diaper-changing and breastfeeding. We were ready. But I guess he wasn't ready to come out yet. I'll admit that we're a little disappointed. It seemed so orderly before - we had a scheduled surgery time, we knew the days we would be in the hospital, everything was planned and timed. Now we're back on baby time, and waiting for labor. All we know is that sometime in the next three or four weeks, we'll get the call and the process of labor, the real oldest profession in the world, will begin. I guess it's good for two new parents to be reminded that babies won't work on standard predictable schedules. I was just sorta hoping. Oh well. Here's the other real reason that I'm a little disappointed. Surgery, for all its scariness and blood and peeling back of muscle tissues, is a known quantity. You know how surgery works. Labor is like a mysterious ritual, like communion with God. We were advised in our class that part of the brain shuts down during labor ("the part that thinks rationally") in order to get through the labor process. I've been trying to think of any human activity that would be so intense that part of your mind. Marathon running? Fire fighting? I've never heard of anything that does this. Labor is a cleansing ritual, and it's dark and sweaty and intense and ... well ... scary. I know we'll get through it. My wife is the strongest person I know. But still, I can tell you these things. We're friends right? Friends? I can tell you about my anxiety and not worry about you getting the wrong idea. Good thing, because I think the anxiety has only begun. So anyway, since we're friends, I'll let you know that our due date is May 21st. I can almost guarantee you that if we end up in the throes of labor and we have to rush to the hospital, I will not be stopping to blog about it. So you're just gonna have to wait until Oliver appears to hear about it. No play by play, no live blogging. After all, there's your friends and then there's the mother of your child. I'm sure you understand. 6:10:03 AM     Speak up!  []