I Give Up

There is no point what-so-ever in trying to compare different pregnancies, labors, or children. God has taught me this before my second child has even been born. Isn't He nice like that?

With Olivia, I felt no contractions until my water broke and had her five and a half hours later (who knows how much faster that would have gone if I would have know that being upright and moving is much more productive to labor than simply laying on my back watching Sponge Bob Square Pants). With this baby, I've been feeling regular Braxton Hicks contractions for the past two weeks and haven't dilated since week 37. Yep, I'm still at 2cm. The only difference is that the head is now in a -1 position as opposed to the -2 it's been for the past 2 weeks. That means it's a little further down. Not exactly what I've come to expect from my weekly doctor appointments that I had with Olivia where I progressed by 2cm each week.

So I'm left with no predictions. No way of controlling this process. You think maybe that's why God gave the "gift" of childbirth to women instead of men? I think we tend to try to organize and control our lives a lot more than men do. And childbirth (right alongside child-rearing!) is the opposite of "control" unless you want to do the whole induction/epidural combo. Which, as I already explained in a previous post, I don't want this time.

So I put it in God's hands. Here You go.

I've also decided to try Raspberry Tea. Even though it's not *supposed to* cause labor to start, it has been proven in some studies to make your contractions more efficient. I was drinking this while pregnant with Olivia and I didn't even know the benefits! I was just more of a stickler about caffiene and this was my favorite flavor herbal tea.