Compartment 14B

A boy! 2004-07-29 - 10:20 a.m. I didn�t know it at the time but right as I was writing yesterday�s entry, baby JJ was coming into the world. At 9 pounds, 3 ounces he�s a hefty little guy and kudos to his mom who did the whole thing drug-free. I don�t know if that was the plan going in but that�s how it turned out. I haven�t gotten the gory labour details yet, but I�m sure I will. Actually, that�s the second baby born in a couple of weeks that I know and I for one was greatly relieved by the labour story of the first one. That particular friend had been dreading the whole birth thing and frankly, she was making me nervous of ever getting knocked up. Maybe how hard the process seems is inversely proportional to expectations going into it. On the other hand, I don�t think anyone would deny that a 6-hour labour (with minimal ~ quick, avert your eyes if you�re squeamish ~ tearing) is an enviably short one, plus, like dooce, she loved, loved, loved the epidural and sang its praises to me. I�ve heard mixed reviews on the epidural but I would never, never rule out having one myself. My doctor once told me (and I don�t know where she got this number so I have only her word for it), that only about 25% of women have pain nerve endings in their cervix. Guess who finds pap smears uncomfortable? Guess who thought that a cervical �pinch biopsy� was really friggin� painful? Why, that would be me! Guess whose jaw once dropped when I mentioned the whole pap=stinging sensation because she didn�t even feel them? Well now, that would be the friend that just gave birth without drugs. Coincidence? I suspect not. Shawna in front of her class at the gym last night: So in the last 24 hours I�ve had one friend get engaged, another tell me she�s pregnant, and a third give birth to a baby boy. If you hurry, you could be the 100th person to ask when I�m going to start a family. I�m thinking of giving a prize. Before - After All content � Shawna 2003-2010 That means no swiping my stuff - text, images, etc. - without asking. P.S. If you're emailing me, replace the [at] with @ in the "to" line. Oh, and if you put the word "journal" in the subject line it'll have a better chance of making it past my junk mail filters. recommend me HTML and design help by Jo hosted by Diaryland