Ramblings of a Possessed Homebody

Ramblings of a woman, going crazy, slowly... completely...deeply insane!

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Take it... like a Woman!

I'm back to blogging... can you tell I've hit an idea that won't let go ? :)

Anyway, Demented Michelle had a post on today that really made me think. It made me think about my own Theory of Pain. Labour pain for the moment, but pain in general too. Why is it that some people are so sensitive to pain, while others aren't? Why is it that some people can "take" so much more than others? Well, I'm hardly a researcher with all the answers, but I can relate my own tales.

For me, I have a high tolerance to pain. Why? I think it has to do with genetics, and also how my family perceives pain. I know, sounds wonky, but stay with me. My family is hardly ever prone to hysterics. We are a very "even" bunch. We don't fly off the handle when bad things happen - quite the opposite, we put our heads down and get things done. I remember when my father died, my family was in tears yes, but none of us were slobbering through the service or otherwise. We got through it, we bonded together, we were together all the time - helping each other silently.

When I was young, if someone was injured it wasn't a big deal. I remember skinning my knees or cutting myself, and never did my mother make a fuss. She just talked about how we had to take care of it, and clean it up. It would be all better. I didn't even get any candy to make me feel better - that was up to me. I remember my father cutting off his finger, and I happened to stop by. There was my father and mother rushing around, looking for something to wrap it up - my mother was more concerned about the blood getting everywhere than the actual injury - mostly because my father wasn't yelling or screaming. I'm sure that initial scream happened, but then he was really calm. I drove him to the hospital. He didn't complain... well, until the guy who was stitching him up wasn't doing a great job, in which case he asked if he could give the guy a few pointers on how to sew something up right - all in his broken English.. :)

So, how does this get back to my theory of pain? Well, it's all back to that simple equation. Mind over matter. If you've been trained all your life to view pain as not a big deal - any pain will not be a big deal. It's something you work through, not something you try to mask. It's there for a reason, and once you get past it, it will go away.

That's how I view labour. After going through this 2 times before, I see myself getting through this with no problems again. Yes, I have started to prepare for it. I practice maybe 1-2 minutes of relaxation in the shower every day - nothing fancy, just practicing relaxing my body parts. I've gone to see my chiropractor, just to make sure that everything is in alignment. I sit properly - I take care of myself. And I guess my body has been practicing for labour with all these Braxton Hicks contractions that I've been getting - it's basically your body prepping for the big day.

It's also one other thing.... It's taking it slow. I can't imagine ever being induced into labour. It's like asking a person to start running full out from a dead stop. Very difficult. But, if you ask that same person to walk for a little bit, to see their target, to slowly start speeding up, then run full out, I'm sure it's a lot easier to get to a good speed. Why would we ask our bodies to start dealing with full out pain, via induction when we can slowly get there... getting used to each contraction, each stage, understanding how the pain is working, and what position feels better - instead of being strapped to a bed, unable to move, and having to get more chemicals pumped into your body to counteract the other chemicals that were pumped in earlier?

Hmm.. that's just my little rant. Do I plan on getting induced into labour? No, unless it's a natural induction via pressure points and acupuncture. Do I plan on using drugs for this one? No, I know that I can do it... and I've done it before... so I know that I can work through this one too. My body knows how to do it, my mind is getting ready for it... and I've done my homework and appointments like I should. Am I scared? Of course. You can't go through 9 months of gestation, and expect to be all smiles about the end. There are many uncertainties... but, the one thing that keeps me going, is that I've got everything ready. I know my contingency plan, and that makes me calm. I'm like a boy scout - prepared!

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