Preparation

The past two weeks have been a time of preparation for the new babe that will makes it way quite soon. There always seems more to do, one more thing to make clean. And, i have realized lately how much preparing for a baby is like preparing to tackle Life. I have found this to be true in two major areas.


Tension & Contractions
Since this is our third go round, cleaning with toddlers under foot as been a source of frustration. Every time I get the baby's area 'just right' I turn around to see my 2 year old son slowly dismantling everything I had just put together. The basket with all the baby blankets has now been turned over and he has become a 'blanket monster.' Or has spread them all over the floor to make a bed. Some one has crawled into the crib and gotten peanut butter on the newly washed organic sheets. And while stripping said 2 year olds bed, out flew a half eaten quesadillas. While I inwardly groaned, he exclaimed: "Mama, I found my cheese quesadillla!" 
Tension much like a contraction has to be recognized, acknowledged, breathed through, and then released. If only I could live like that. Seeing the frustration in my life, taking a deep breath, and then letting it go. Because much like contractions, the more you tense and fight against tension and frustration-the worse it gets. 
Breathe deep & ride it out.


Fear vs. Trust
The other major area I have been learning in both preparing for labor and preparing for life is how fear plays a major role in hindering labor and life. I have been reading a fabulous book called Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method. The major premise of the book is believing the body knows exactly what its doing. We need to trust it, not fear pain, and let the body do its work. I mean, if you think about it our bodies are amazing. One hormone signals to another and wham-you're in labor. The body takes over-each muscle knowing its work, each part of the body working in time with the others. It's positively amazing.
Yet as women, we come into with a lot of fear. Control issues really. How long will labor be? Can I handle the pain? What if something goes wrong? Fear-it creeps in.
And fear causes the body to tense up-to shut down. Mammals who are in labor have a stop response in case there is danger or its not a good place to have their baby. Their bodies shut down the labor when they experience anxiety. It's a perfect mechanism but as humans when our irrational fears get in the way, it hinders us.
Trust our bodies. Trust the path we are on. Trust that everything will indeed work out in the end. Accepting that truth frees us to relax all our muscles and let nature and God do the work.