Nerves

Julie is feeling occasional panic at what's involved to transition the child from an internal existence to an external one. It's the total lack of control, probably, coupled with the medical beepy things all over the room. Oh yes, and the excruciating pain.

Plus there was that darn birthing video the other day. I suppose it was helpful in some ways to get a sense of just what on earth will happen. In another sense, it scared the crap out of us. I mean let's be honest: if you were on the fence about whether you ever wanted to have sexual intercourse, that video might inspire you to abstain forever.

So my plan is to acquire some meditation and yoga DVDs or CDs or whatever. Julie needs some techniques or else she'll be forced to resort to her everyday relaxation techniques, which are nil. Well, I'll be there to yell at for being a slob, but that's literally all she's got right now.

Her current analogy is that it's like you know you're going to get in a horrible crash but there's nothing you can do about it. So you wait. And you know it's going to be okay, and you know that a baby is your prize for living through it, but the inevitability of the crash remains. And that, folks, is a bleak perspective.

But don't worry. I'm on it. By the time we drive to the hospital, she'll be totally zen.