Around the corner

And that corner is approaching really, really quickly. Our son is getting restless and is wanting out, I believe. Michelle is effacing at an alarming rate (*note: the fact that she’s effacing at all is alarming to me … I’m sure the rate at which this is happening is perfectly normal … but it’s just a sign that he’s comin’ round the mountain).

Last night Michelle was spending more time than normal rearranging our bedroom (with my help) and paying very close attention to the details. She’s detail-oriented anyway, but we were both thinking the same thing, “you’re not nesting are you?” Nesting is a great thing, and supposedly happens right before baby. So last night we took a 9’x12′ drop cloth and wrapped it around our mattress, under the sheets, in case her water breaks in the middle of the night.

Yesterday at our visit, we shared our birth plan with our doctor. We weren’t too nervous, but this can be a touchy thing, because basically, in our quest to deliver naturally, we are requesting things that not everyone in medicine/hospital/epidural land is used to, even though we’re certainly not being crazy or ultra-demanding about anything. We just have things that we prefer, and we felt it was a good idea to go over them beforehand with our doc. She was incredibly cool about it all. She’s terrific and laid back. She didn’t really see any reason why we couldn’t have the baby the way we want. (In fact, Michelle designed the Plan so beautifully, that the doc took it around and showed it to the nurses) Lots of the things on our plan that we do not want, she doesn’t really do anyway. But at the same time, we’re not anti-doctor or anti-drugs … we just want to be given a fair opportunity not to be rushed and to let nature take its course. At first the idea of delivering without drugs seemed insane to me. Back in the Old West they gave you whiskey and a bullet before hacking your leg off with a dull machete. Then God invented drugs. Why would you go back to the no-drug days? But then after talking to some people and doing lots of thinking and research, and witnessing how amazing the human body is if you just let it do its thing (along with all the potential risks that come with interventions), and most importantly, the fact that Michelle really wants to have a natural birth, I am now 100% for it. So that’s why we’re taking natural birthing technique classes. The general classes at the hospital were great, but they weren’t nearly in-depth enough when it came to this kind of thing.

We are going to labor at home as long as possible before going to the hospital. I can’t tell you “how long” but I guess we and the doula will know when it’s time to get in the car and go.

Note to Futureson: I know I’m a little crazy sometimes and talk about how the house isn’t ready and I have too much work to do, etc … but please know that I’m just a perfectionist who’s not very perfect, and only want this place to be sparkling like a palace when you get here. If you got here tomorrow, everything else would slink into the background. Whenever you decide to show up, your mother and I will be the happiest people on the planet. Our door will always be open and our porch light will always be on.

Figuratively, of course. That’s also how bugs get in.