Transitions

During the child birthing process there is a time called transition. It is the most intense and painful segment of labor. It is usually at this time that even the most committed of natural birth advocates find themselves pleading, “Give me drugs, anything, I don’t care, just make it go away.”


Although it is the most intense stage of labor, it is also the shortest. Its duration is about 15 or 20 minutes. Transition is when the REAL work of labor takes place. Often a new contraction starts before the last one is over. The urgency to push begins. The body takes over and you could probably stop a train easier than to try and stop what’s happening now. It ends with an amazing new person being placed in a mother’s arms.

One of the many miracles of birth is the fact that not only do you survive this process but memories of the intensity begin to fade almost immediately. A new phase of motherhood has just begun.

Transition is also what we call the time period between life changes. It is possibly the most difficult stage of life. Most of the people I’ve talked to over the years HATE transitions. It is emotionally painful, intellectually intense and spiritually challenging.

It is a time in our lives when we are forced to ask who am I now? What should I be doing? What do I want to be when I grow up? Our world is shook up and we are struggling to put all the pieces together.

Many things can happen to cause transitions- new jobs, no jobs, schooling changes, health issues, new family members, deaths, moves, empty nests, marriages, divorces, etc.

We can be overwhelmed with the change and plead, “Just make it go away, please!” And yet, when it ends, as it almost always does, an amazing new person is placed in our arms- ourselves. Very soon, the intensity of our transition begins to fade. We throw ourselves into the “new” and let go of the “old”. We look back and realize how much we’ve learned.

Until the next transition finds us again pleading, “Just make it go away!” Boy, are we stupid!

That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?