We just finished a childbirth class with about 12 other couples at Pennsylvania Hospital, where we’ll have the baby next month.  The instructor started with introductions and asked us to share a word or phrase that comes to mind when we think about childbirth.  As expected, the answers were quite varied, ranging from “joy” to “fear”.  All of them were thoughtful, honest and valid.

One participant said he considered the word “ordeal” appropriate for childbirth.  Someone else equated it to a marathon, in that it’s a long drawn out process that sends mind and body on an unpredictable course.  Tears, anxiety, and excitement were words in the mix as well.

My answer was “the great unknown”. For all the books and articles I’ve read on the topic, or stories I’ve heard from friends and family, none can conjecture to say how a particular birth will go.  There is only hindsight, no precognition.

We can plan routes to the hospital, build an email distribution for sharing the news, pack a bag, pick an old t-shirt to wear, visualize relaxation techniques, practice massage, build a playlist, imagine how to pass the hours of the first phase of labor at home, bounce on a birthing ball, but the details of the day, the way it’ll all unfold and the manner in which each individual baby comes into this world is completely unpredictable.  All you can do is hope for the best.

The last response was my favorite: “blessing”.  Isn’t that the truth?  No matter which way a new person shows up–with an epidural or without, via c-section, in a birthing tub, inside a fire truck, on the side of the road, amidst a wash of blood, sweat and tears–his or her arrival is a blessing indeed.

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