June 17, 2003~~4:31 p.m.
The Marines and the Mucus Plug
Has it really been almost a month since I�ve updated? I feel so lame. So much to catch up on, I don�t know where to start! Maybe I could tell you about how Andrea emailed me the day before the Marines came home, hoping to �tag along� with me and my family to Camp Pendleton to pick up Omar and her husband. She said she didn�t know exactly where she was going and would I mind an extra person? I said, yes, I would mind a great deal and that was that. Actually, I put it more nicely than that, but you get the gist. Maybe I could talk about how I stood at said Camp Pendleton homecoming from midnight to 3 a.m. waiting for Omar to turn in his gun and get to go home with us. Then we had over an hour and a half drive back to his parents� house, which made for a VERY long evening. But now he�s home and we�re so happy and we get to actually ACT married and do things like go to Lamaze class and Costco and buy in bulk. But lest you think the time at war is forgotten, rest assured. Omar has many interesting stories and our unborn daughter now owns a pink camoflauge onesie to remind us of where he has been. Courtesy of a Corporal friend of his, she also is the proud owner of a bottle that sports the Marine Corps emblem as well as a bib emblazoned in red and gold pride. Not to mention her �Littlest Marine� tee shirt in a rather lovely shade of light pink. Perhaps, speaking of babies, I could delve into the world of Lamaze class. I can probably make this a running series for the next 5 classes, which meet once a week, but we�ll have to see if they stay as interesting as the first one was. The most interesting couple at Lamaze class was Ivan and his wife, who live on 16 acres out in the foothills outside of Sacramento. They are outdoorsy people, you can tell. I would say Ivan and his wife (whose name escapes me at the moment) are in their early 40s. Interesting time, to say the least, to be having your first child, especially when it turns out that Ivan plans to build their �retirement home� on their 16 acres in about three years. So the first class did not involve any heavy breathing lessons or re-creations of the labor process. However, we were privy to a short lecture on what physical changes indicate that a woman is going into labor. One of these �signs� is the passing of the mucus plug which, for the past 9 months, has been lodged at the opening of the cervix to prevent bacteria from getting into the uterus and making the baby sick. It�s really quite ingenious. And it sounds worse than it is. Not so much �cork-like� and more snot-textured, �mucus plug� is somewhat of a misnomer, at least, for people who live on 16 acres outside of Sacramento. When the instructor was finished discussing the mucus plug, Ivan raised his hand feverishly. The following ensued: Ivan (waving his hands frantically for emphasis): �So what�s the deal with this mucus plug thing?! I mean, I would think it could be kind of shocking if, all of a sudden, this mucus plug thing just comes SHOOTING out of the woman with no warning! Is this mucus plug thing dangerous? I mean, I can imagine that it just comes out all at once and it could be a problem.� Instructor (a little taken aback at Ivan�s very VIVID and detailed account of an imaginary passing of the mucus plug, which, I have to say, if it happened that way, I would be as shocked and appalled as he): �Um, well, since it�s sort of stringy and women experience a bit of discharge their entire pregnancy (and sometimes LIVES) it sometimes even happens without notice. I had 6 children and never noticed when I passed my mucus plug.� Coupled with the man who kept asking for clarification on what it meant to have �decreased urinary frequency� and �increased bloating�, Ivan and the class in general was very entertaining. However, I DID have a momentary relapse into what it was like in the good ole� law school days where the PITAs (Pain In The Ass(es)) abound.
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