26 Weeks

 

26 weeks and things are starting to get real. My midwife sprung a surprise blood test on me at my appointment this week and I freaked out. I couldn’t decide if I was about to faint or vomit. All the while at the back of my mind I was thinking ‘Oh boy! If I can’t deal with a tiny blood test, how am I going to deal with labour?’. I know I’ve done it twice before. And they weren’t by any means dramatic, complicated births but the experiences loom large and scary in my mind. I hear stories from women who have these fantastic, ’empowering’ births and I’m green with envy. But I’m also realistic enough not to expect one of those. The majority of women don’t get that experience and that’s OK. Yes, birth is natural and our bodies know what to do but that doesn’t always mean it’s easy or uncomplicated. Pain and fear are also natural and necessary parts of life. And so, as I head toward my third trimester,  I go about my days hoping for the best but planning for something a little more realistic. I know that the prize at the end will be more than worth it. However it happens.