One more day til motherhood

As many of my friends and family know, tomorrow I am scheduled for a cesarian birth, and thus the official beginning of motherhood. I have many preconceived notions of motherhood, books I've read, relationships I've observed, my own experience with my mother, my husband's experiences with his mother. All of these ideas are free floating inside of my head, yet at the same time, there is an inner calm. It will come. I will become a mommy.

How recent is the phenomenon of choosing a date to become parents? As I recall from a recent article in the New Yorker on cesarian births, more and more women in developed nations are opting for cesarians, and more and more doctors are turning to cesarian births when natural pregnancy poses problems--such is our case. Doctors also push for a cesarian to avoid potential lawsuits, and knowing the litigious nature of American society, I don't blame them. Some of my European friends look upon me with pity, that I can not experience natural childbirth. I look upon the experience as a miracle. It is through this process that my life and the life of the baby will not be threatened. It is not fool safe. A million things could still go wrong, but statistically speaking, we are in good hands.

No one can tell us what it will be like, as one thing that is for sure--we are all individuals and will have our own experience as parents. I am looking forward to it!