THE BEST LAID PLANS...

Many of us plan EVERYTHING!  We plan our vacations, a Saturday night dinner out, when to go grocery shopping…everything!  This planning is never more evident than during the forty glorious weeks of pregnancy (well, maybe not glorious).  The big question is, how do we feel when events don’t go as planned?

My first child made his entrance into this grand world five weeks early, completely unexpected (as most preemies are) and with sheer panic on my part.  The last few weeks of pregnancy can be brutal, so it was with mixed emotions that I learned we would be meeting our baby earlier than expected.  A major plus was that I wouldn’t have to be pregnant anymore (YAY for me) and would soon learn if this little one was a boy or a girl.  On the other hand, I had great worries about my baby being healthy, having those mature lungs and being okay “on the outside.” 

After hours and hours of trying to get my body into labor, nothing was working.  I was in pain and unable to receive that epidural I had ordered as soon as I peed on the stick.  It was then decided by the powers- that-be that a C-section would be necessary.  I would have to be under general anesthesia, my husband could not be in the operating room and I wouldn’t be able to hear my baby’s first cry.  This was NOT the plan! 

All my visions of my labor and delivery were completely different than what actually happened, from rushing to the hospital contracting, to being awake when my baby was born.  I worried that others would know the sex of my little bundle before me, because I would be asleep.  Nothing was going as I had planned and hoped. 

Of course I went with it, because ultimately I wanted what was best for me and my baby.  I was put “under” and had the C-Section while my husband was standing outside the operating room doors.  He was able to see the doctor deliver our baby and no family was told the sex (A BOY!) until I awoke and learned it myself.  The BEST part was I had a healthy baby.

Well, in the five and a half years that I have been a parent (adding two more to the family) I have decided, with the above being the first clue, that the old adage by Robert Burns “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” should be a mantra in every mothers’ life.  No matter how well we plan something, always expect the unexpected.    
Sincerely,
From the Stork’s Nest ~
Rebecca