So I'm all excited about Deji's baby, right, so while waiting to hear about such things as her name and the birth process, I've been reading up on some of the pregnancy and birth websites that she linked to on her pregnancy blog. In doing so, I have finally found the answer to a question I always wondered about, which is: why, in old books and such, does somebody start boiling water as soon as a pregnant woman goes into labor?

When I was a kid, I assumed it was for sterilizing... something; I wasn't too clear on the particulars of birth. (I mean, I knew the basics, but the actual experience was a Big Mystery.) But apparently, it's to make hot compresses to apply to the laboring woman's perineum (the skin at the bottom of the vaginal opening), to help it stretch to accommodate the baby's head, which would both make labor more comfortable and help prevent perineal tearing. ***The more you know***

Actually, reading the websites and (especially) Deji's blog, has helped lessen some of my fears about being pregnant and having babies. I didn't know, for example, that the transition stage (between contractions and actively pushing) is when many women feel like they can't take the pain, or they want to give up, or they can't go on. This stage only lasts for about half an hour, but for some reason it's the part you always see on TV. (Ha, silly woman! She thought she could make it through labor without painkillers, and now she's begging for something to stop the pain! High-larious.) So it makes it seem like all laboring women feel helpless and in unbearable pain, when that's not an accurate picture of the whole experience. Also, I sort of knew this, but the lying-on-your-back position is apparently the least comfortable position to labor in. Thanks hospitals.

More knowledge about something always makes me feel more equipped to handle it. It seems to me like the scariest part of labor wouldn't be the pain, but the experience of being out of control, if the doctors and nurses are ignoring your birth plan or not telling you what's going on. That part really got to me in Knocked Up, when she can't give birth according to her plan because her doctor is out of town. I think it's important to have an advocate there, someone who knows what you want and will do everything possible to make sure things are done according to your wishes, even if something goes wrong. Deji's birth plan illustrated some of the many things the hospital might do without permission unless you specifically state you don't want them. I didn't know about most of that stuff.

But I guess Deji didn't have to worry about that, because she gave birth by herself. No doctors, no midwife, no husband. The woman is hardcore.

She made a person! How awesome is that?