Friday, January 06, 2006
Being Fully Prepared
This is short and sweet, but I have a couple of thoughts. We had our third unassisted birth at the end of September of 2005 and our daughter, is now just over 3 months old.
Anyway, to get to my point. I was prepared, of course, physically and even mentally. But I had some emotional preparation which wasn't quite complete. This created, for me, less integration of the pain. It hurt, dang it. With Regan I knew that and yet it wasn't even a quarter as painful as my first birth. With Aisling I knew that, but I had homeschooling, two busy children, a household, a calling etc etc etc to keep my mind off the much needed emotional, mental and spiritual preparation that is important.
Keep this in mind when preparing for a birth, whether at home, the hospital or wherever. Preparation doesn't just mean washing baby's clothes and diapers and having warm towels ready. It means connecting with the Lord and with your baby and being in tune with your own body. I will likely expand on this in the future, but we are busy packing to move and just with everything, I continue procrastinating.
Anyway, to get to my point. I was prepared, of course, physically and even mentally. But I had some emotional preparation which wasn't quite complete. This created, for me, less integration of the pain. It hurt, dang it. With Regan I knew that and yet it wasn't even a quarter as painful as my first birth. With Aisling I knew that, but I had homeschooling, two busy children, a household, a calling etc etc etc to keep my mind off the much needed emotional, mental and spiritual preparation that is important.
Keep this in mind when preparing for a birth, whether at home, the hospital or wherever. Preparation doesn't just mean washing baby's clothes and diapers and having warm towels ready. It means connecting with the Lord and with your baby and being in tune with your own body. I will likely expand on this in the future, but we are busy packing to move and just with everything, I continue procrastinating.
