Today (Tuesday 10/8) was my last day of work for a while. It feels really strange and surreal. Last Friday 10/4 was supposed to be my last day, but with a coworker on vacation I said I'd make it in until he was back To work Wednesday morning. So, I went in Monday. I did some paperwork, caught up my coworkers on some stuff and left for the day before noon. I'm trying to ease into this. Today I woke up early, at 4:30am when my husbands alarm went off. He was gone by 5am but I did not fall back to sleep.
I stayed in bed listening to Earwolf's Comedy Bang Bang podcast and laughing. Not a bad way to wake up at all. Cozy, hysterical and add my loving dog Snorp to this picture snuggling up next to me and it's pure bliss. Something felt off though. When I got up, I just felt off. No, could this be? Is it finally happening?
I have caught the cold that was going around! Noooo!
Everyone has been sick at work, no one stays home. I've been diligent about washing my hands and not putting any of the ball point pens in my mouth. But to no avail. I am sick. What a bummer. This is not something I want, or thought I'd have to deal with right now. This was not a part of my birth plan. HA!
I went to work anyway, thinking maybe this cold thing was just a false alarm. Sometimes in the morning I may feel stuffy, but once I get moving around I'm good. I got to work and was sneezing and sniffing and no, this is a cold. It's official. I caught up the paperwork and told my boss I would need to take a sick day to get over this cold so I can go have a baby. That, of course, was just fine.
I went back to our break room for our 10am body shop meeting. All the guys were back there and I said a formal farewell and see you soon. They all got a few more questions in and a few more tips on birth. I love hearing 2cents on labor and delivery from 50 year old men. They remember what it was like when their kids were born 20 plus years ago and what their wives went through. Never mind that things may have changed or that each experience is different. I love it. 'Go for a C Section, you'll be done in an hour.' or 'Make sure you get that back shot thing before it's too late.' or 'No, you're gonna want the drugs.'
I like to tell them I'll get my drugs in a doggy bag and save them for a Saturday night. They liked that. I also told them it was okay if they were threatened by my toughness. I told them they could stop by the hospital when I was in labor and we could arm wrestle and chew tobacco.
Lots of things I've read talk about how mad women get when people tell them what they are planning is wrong. If they want an epi someone is telling them to do a natural home birth. If they want to drugs someone is telling them they won't survive without a spinal block. If they have a scheduled C Section someone is telling them that you can have infection and it will be bad for the baby. This is life. It's annoying and constant. Get over it. You can't control what opinions are thrown at you. Don't let it upset you, you do have control over that. If you're not sure about something, do some non biased research and come up with your own opinion. Sometimes your opinion may change, be flexible. Don't let people upset you just because they think differently than you do.
The other day, I was on the phone with a very familiar repeat customer. She is known for being overly chatty. There she was, chatting away and she got out of me that I was taking time off to have a baby. She told me 'Oh, make sure you have them give you the epidural before it's too late.' I told her I was trying to go without medication. 'Oh, no. If you have back labor like I did you WOULD DIE. You can't do that. You'll NEED an epidural. Make sure you get one. Tell them that I told you you'd need one before it is too late.'
'Well, we'll see' Is all I said, thankfully I was on the phone so I could roll my eyes too. It feels good. I don't have to get upset or let this ruin my day, scare me or change my plans but shit yes, I will roll my eyes. It's funny, I've thought a lot about this topic and this person is just assuming I know nothing about anything and her experience over 30 years ago was more valid than any other documentation on the subject. Oh, people. Sheesh.
That is okay, people can have their opinions no matter how stupid or invalid they might be. I can chose to agree or disagree. I can choose to get upset and angry or I can choose to laugh. Usually, I choose to laugh. Laugh at myself and others. It's all funny. We can read and plan and remember past experiences all we want but we can't control the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment