With arms outstretched...

Compartment 14B

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Hellos, goodbyes, and musings on our baser nature.

2005-12-01 - 3:27 p.m.

I�m back from a 2-day conference. Miss me? Bet ya didn�t even notice I was gone.

J comes home today! Yay! In fact, he should be in the air right now. He�s been away all week on a course but he�s flying home early in order to be here in time for our prenatal class. It�s a good class for him not to miss �cause it�s tonight that we�ll be learning �comfort measures� that our partners can do for us during labour. I am all over that topic.

A few things from over the last few days:

Last night was my last class at one of the gyms I teach at. It was a hoot: I chose all my favourite songs from all the releases I own and quite a few people came out for the class. I even got baby gifts from two fellow staffers and two of my participants! I had to promise to have the gym post the date and weight of Grommet, as well as whether I had a boy or a girl, on the bulletin board by the end of February.

I don�t expect gifts at the other gym on Saturday (not that I expected them at this one, mind you). Much as I feel well-liked there, I�ve only been there a relatively short time, whereas, I�ve taught at the first place for the full three years I�ve been teaching, and I�ve had the Wednesday night timeslot there for two years.

::

The night before last I attended a dinner for current and past members of the development program I just finished. It was fun to see some of the �old guard� out again. It�s amazing how much has changed for so many of us in the last 5 years! Relationships have formed, and foundered, some of the �players� have settled down (myself included) and babies are being born.

::

I�ve noticed an increase in the amount of colostrum, uh, escaping lately. I�ve also noticed a correlation when I�m at home but I can�t say for sure that this is true all the time, since I can�t just reach under my shirt and grab my boobs when I�m at work: when I�m deliberately paying attention to the Grom swimming around, especially when I�ve got my hands on the Belly to do so, the waterworks seem much more likely to start. Now, this could maybe be because the sides of my arms compress my boobs a bit when I�m reaching across the ever-growing Belly for the exact spot that�s undulating, but maybe it�s one of those natural reactions too? Like when a mother hears a baby crying and suddenly the front of her shirt is wet?

I don�t know the reason for sure, but to me it�s just more proof that we�re not that far removed from all of the creatures that walk the earth and are governed by their hormones and instincts. In fact, I�d have to say that the whole pregnancy and birthing process are a good reminder of this fact. Try as we might to intellectualize everything, pregnancy and birth are, for the most part, beyond our control and subject to the most primitive aspects of humans as animals.

To me this does not make it any less miraculous and, in fact, I find it kind of comforting that I�ve seen a cow give birth (and hey, by the way, those calves are WAY bigger than human babies), and the cow couldn�t get an epidural or even complain or do anything except endure through the experience, yet get through it she did and she seemed none the worse for wear when all was said and done.

I too will endure (though perhaps with not as much silent grace as old Rose), and no matter what happens, or how painful it is or how long the recovery, Grommet will get out and I know it�ll be worth it.

Before - After


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