Leave the Process Alone

Once again I find myself in the bathroom at 11:40 pm waiting for my toddler to do her thing. Bear with me here, this isn’t a post about toddler poo per se.

She is potty learning, but her body’s clock tends to interfere with when I’m falling asleep (if I am so lucky). I can’t begin to tell you how normal this is from infancy and beyond.  Anyway, she knows she needs to go & isn’t as distracted at midnight as she is during the day. She needs help getting her diaper off & getting on the big potty. But after that she only needs some time & a little atta girl. No one needs to help her or tell her what to do or how to push. She knows how to follow her body’s cues.

As I was waiting for my wee nymph it dawned on me, this is not that different than birth. I’m not comparing poo to birth, but the two events themselves. Many labors start in the dark night hours as everyone is trying to rest. As things ramp up, Mommas might need some help changing positions, rooms, clothes or to be supported during the surge of a contraction. But other than that laboring women don’t really need that much assistance. If left undisturbed, no one needs to tell a momma how to make her surges stronger, to make her cervix dilate, or how breathe or push her baby out if she is left to listen & respond to her body’s cues. Gentle atta girls for support, time et voila, baby.

It’s all about not messing with the process.