one born every minute
I'm not really a fan of One Born Every Minute. I watched a couple of episodes of the first season but couldn't really stomach it afterwards because most of the men came across as unsupportive assholes and the series seemed to be portraying only a particular kind of birth. (Hospitalised, and medicalised. Lots of important looking machines, not much active labour). So I ceased watching because it made me angry and because Z felt that while being there for your wife's labour was a contractual requirement, watching some in his spare time was a step too far.
On the other hand, this episode of the new series is not at all bad.* The staff are lovely. There is a pretty chilled-out waterbirth. The men are occasionally confused/helpless-seeming, but still manage to be supportive of their partners throughout. (The guy who was fanning his partner industriously made me laugh - I wasn't sure how much she was finding it helpful and how much he was doing it because he had been given A Task - the modern equivalent of boiling water). I even forgive the guy who was texting, because he's 22 and maybe he was live-tweeting the whole thing or something.
I had a fabulous labour with Helena, and watching all those babies being born made me feel quite teary-eyed. A new baby's cry! So amazing! Although also the sound whose novelty wears off really quickly.
Finally, all this segues quite nicely into the story about Z, who, once it was confirmed that I was in actual labour with Helena after weeks of yes-maybe-I-guess-notness, sat down on the sofa to read a book (Cloud Atlas) while I pranced around the room in between contractions.
"You're reading?" said I.
"Well," said Z, "it seemed like a good opportunity. Things will probably get intense and tiring later and I won't have the time." **
*Unlike, say, the NHS plans to cut surgeries they offer. Which is very very bad.
**To be fair to him, I was managing very well by myself at that point because the glee of finally having this baby was completely trumping any uterine discomfort.
On the other hand, this episode of the new series is not at all bad.* The staff are lovely. There is a pretty chilled-out waterbirth. The men are occasionally confused/helpless-seeming, but still manage to be supportive of their partners throughout. (The guy who was fanning his partner industriously made me laugh - I wasn't sure how much she was finding it helpful and how much he was doing it because he had been given A Task - the modern equivalent of boiling water). I even forgive the guy who was texting, because he's 22 and maybe he was live-tweeting the whole thing or something.
I had a fabulous labour with Helena, and watching all those babies being born made me feel quite teary-eyed. A new baby's cry! So amazing! Although also the sound whose novelty wears off really quickly.
Finally, all this segues quite nicely into the story about Z, who, once it was confirmed that I was in actual labour with Helena after weeks of yes-maybe-I-guess-notness, sat down on the sofa to read a book (Cloud Atlas) while I pranced around the room in between contractions.
"You're reading?" said I.
"Well," said Z, "it seemed like a good opportunity. Things will probably get intense and tiring later and I won't have the time." **
*Unlike, say, the NHS plans to cut surgeries they offer. Which is very very bad.
**To be fair to him, I was managing very well by myself at that point because the glee of finally having this baby was completely trumping any uterine discomfort.