Tuesday, February 9, 2010

A simple request

If you know me at all, in any fashion in the real world, could you do me a favor? Could you help me out with a little confidence boost?

Let me explain.

As the months wind down into weeks, and soon days, I think of the birth and labor ahead of us with mixed feelings. I know it will be tough and painful, an endurance marathon, not a quick sprint, but I am confident that we can do it. More confident than I can express.

In preparing for that day, I think of the many strong women in my life that have labored ahead of me and birthed their children, whether it was natural, through c-section, or any combination of the way birth happens and of the husbands that have supported these women through hours and hours of labor, and they all inspire me. But as much as hearing other people's experiences and advice can assist in bringing confidence one way, hearing from people that know us and love us that we can do this, is a whole other confidence boost.

So I'm asking for your help. What do you know about us that will give us strength to labor and birth? What stories do you have to remind us that we are strong? What character traits do we exhibit that will carry us through the pain and long hours?

If you would take a moment to write down your thoughts or just make a list of things you see in us that will remind us we are strong and prepared and email them to me, I would be forever grateful.

eggandmandy [at] gmail [dot] com

4 comments:

Elissa Parrish said...

so i don't know you all that well, but i had to comment on this because it's my passion and all that...

as women we are strong and able to go through labor... we are fighters and have incredible endurance. before i had gwen i don't think ANYONE was more for natural childbirth than i was... i had the arguments and reasons... i believed it was a rite of passage for our womanhood to be able to do what we were meant to do.

i still think that. however i think it is important to know that things don't always go as planned and if and when they don't, we as women need to trust our instincts... whatever and wherever that takes us. we need to not be led by fear but by what we 'know'... we need to be in tune with our bodies, our babies, our husbands, our spirituality...

i think the most dangerous thing i did in my labor is have in my mind what it HAD to be instead of being led...

you'll do awesome...

ep

meg said...

Elissa - such a good reminder and something I think about a lot. I know what kind of birth I'd LIKE to have, but I also want to remember that the kind of birth I MAY have may not be that. To trust my body, my baby, my husband, my spirituality..all good reminders.

skylana said...

if women squatting in huts in africa can do it, you can do it!

you got this babe!

meg said...

haha! I'll totally remember this at a really crucial moment and laugh, I'm sure.