Lol, PfT, two days before you're due to give birth you're here railing against FishEaters feminists? I always thought more preparations were involved... Like a boxer before the big fight, perhaps just sitting in a dark room with a spirit of recollection, steeling your nerves. Shows you how much experience I have with preggo women.
Rofl.
I'll tell you what. I have been going to bed earlier, and taking a nap here and there, and trying to escape this heat. Believe me, I'm rested enough.
Most of my work gets done in the morning, and some after my nap in the afternoon. I stayed up a little later last night but I got enough sleep. I'm ready to go to the hospital anytime, at least when she signals that she's ready to come out. I am well-rested.
The only way I can "steel my nerves" is to just breathe and focus on other things rather than the pain of it all. I can usually handle it pretty well, except when I'm not allowed to move. Lamaze is a very good thing and I'm thankful that somehow, I always remember exactly what to do.
Last time, my son had the cord wrapped around his neck
. This caused me to have to be on the monitor so the nurses and the doctor could monitor his heart rate. Whenever I would have a contraction, his pulse would plummet, practically down to nothing. It was so terribly frightening. He was also posterior, which means he was facing the wrong way, and the doctor wasn't going to risk turning him. So, dealing with the pain was very hard for me last time, because I couldn't go and let water run over my back (posterior babies cause tremendous "back labor." Horrible pain in the lower back that is almost unbearable, especially when you're stuck in bed, and you can't go in the shower or walk around.)
Being sweaty and uncomfortable doesn't help. I would have gone and hung out at my parents' house today, (temperature being 66 over there in the house, and approaching 90 when the sun blazes in at MY house) but that would have added an extra 15 minutes of travel time to the hospital, and my labors are relatively short, since I'm "old hat" at it.