Breathe In Breathe Out

We did indeed go "antiquing" today and we did indeed purchase two bookshelves which we will pick up next week for various reasons.

There is actually a section in the instruction manuel entitled: "Anxiety Over the Baby's Health: I am so afraid that something will be wrong with the baby, I can't even sleep at night."

Not me, no siree, I am the picture of cool-calm and collected.

It's on page 438 of the Third Edition, by the way and it helped me greatly.

For all the rules, lists and excel spreadsheets, it seems to me that so long as your are a relatively normal and healthy person, there is little else to be done to ensure the health of your unborn child.

You're not an alcoholic, you aren't a drug addict, you don't smoke a pack of cigs a day, you are not a linewoman for a professional football team, you basically do your best to eat and live healthy (and now that you know you are pregnant - even more so), What more are you going to do?

It's in God's hands. SO YOU PRAY. YOU PRAY LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER PRAYED BEFORE.

Actually even that isn't true. You know God loves you, you know that he wants the best for you, you know that it is not his desire that your child be stricken with some never-before-seen-disease.

There is little else to be done. Eat right - take it easy. Lay off the sauce and the smokes. Don't play professional football . . .

Provided all the above is true, those who have beautiful, healthy babies probably deserve no more credit for that fact than those same healthy lifestyle people who miscarry at 8 1/2 months (and we know some of those people). It's one of those things we strive to convince ourselves that we have more control over than we really do.

It's life (literally and figuratively) only so much of it is in your control - do your best - hope for the best - pray daily - allow yourself to love that which cannot be seen . . .

Buy bookshelves at antique stores if you can't afford new stuff - put the poisenous cleaning supplies out of reach . . .

You are parents now for pete's sake.