Monday, July 16, 2007

Local Touring and Second Deliveries

Over the weekend we decided, once again, to be tourists in our own town. Honestly, lately I’ve been wanting a vacation SO badly but with a baby coming and school starting, that’s not an option. So we’re doing the best we can locally. And it’s been fun.

We went to White River State Park and walked around the canal downtown. At the end of the day we were going to see an IMAX movie but thought that Meredith would be too scared of the 3-D sharks and 3-D dinosaurs. Or that maybe she wouldn’t keep the glasses on and then wouldn’t be able to see anything anyway. So, we opted for a movie back at the house.

I’m definitely ready to shed my big belly. Although the weather was nice on Saturday, it was still exhausting to lug around this pregnancy weight during our long walk.

Now that I’m near the end of this pregnancy, I’ve finally started thinking about labor and delivery. Unlike last time, I haven’t read any books on the subject and we didn’t take the child birth prep class (which was a waste of time and money anyway).

Because I had such a great experience with Meredith, I hope I’m not disappointed this time around. With Meredith, everything happened very fast and, thanks to that beautiful thing called the epidural, I was rested, relaxed and really (honestly) enjoyed the process of welcoming my daughter into this world.

Although most people apparently have easier deliveries their second time, I know of two examples where things were significantly worse. So, I’m trying not to be overly hopeful.

When you’re going into your first delivery, everything is “unknown.” When you’re going into your second delivery, it’s not that much different. Although I now know what a contraction feels like, I still have no idea what lies ahead with baby number two’s delivery. It’s hard for me to not let my first experience taint my views of this upcoming experience since they say each one is different. Right?

I’m glad Kevin has a sterling memory ‘cuz I sure don’t. The other day I started worrying that I wouldn't remember how to breathe, when it would be time to go to the hospital, etc., etc. After vocalizing these concerns to Kevin, he immediately piped up with all the relevant information to respond to my questions.

How he remembers all this stuff from two years ago, I’ll never know. But I’m glad.

Recently I read a statistic—one in 300 women in the U.S. has given birth in a car. Doesn’t that figure seem high to you? I personally can see the advantage of having a baby that fast (aside from the bloody mess in the car, of course). Kevin, I’m sure, would rather it not be quite that fast.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Having a baby in a car...that is one thing that I am worried about since it could take over an hour to get to the hospital if we have to go during rush hour. Not sure why it's called "rush" hour, since I could walk faster (if I could walk 3 miles at that point!). But it's even worse to have a baby in a car here, I think. Since it will be a yellow cab. Eww!

Shan said...

I was thisclose to having my first in the car. Sometimes those babies can make their appearance surprisingly quick.