The largest zinnia in the vase on the dining room table is at least 10 centimeters in diameter. I think about a dilated cervix every time I look at it, and consider how valuable it would be to show to a group of students. It is irrevelevant that I am training no one at this time. Students and practitioners use a variety of tools to learn how to check dilation - charts, bottle openings, foam cutouts. I have never heard of a flower being a tool of choice. But it would be friendly, cheerful and memorable, if available.
Right now I'm at a lull between the last batch of babies and the next. Waiting is slightly stressful (will I sleep all night? how will the next birth go?) and makes me grateful for some time off. During these lulls I have more time to garden and enjoy the multitude of zinnia colors. I watch the sunflowers unfurl their petals like individual fingers and I notice the great variety of bees nourished by the Queen Anne's Lace.
Although the last birth was two weeks ago, I can't really relax, because I'm on call as I am most of the time. Being on call means no alcohol, the car is always packed, and I don't travel far. It means that if my husband is out of town, the kids don't have friends stay over. It means I miss the annual midwifery conference. And there is the constant hope that my phone will ring with someone in labor or that my radio will tone for an ambulance call and I'll get that rush of adrenaline that I love. With a birth there are greater rewards: the shiny new baby, the empowered mother and the surge of oxytocin everyone in the room feels.
Upcoming births: two first time moms and one having number four.
Upcoming gardening jobs: keep working on the irises. It's a year for dividing and replanting.
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