Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Lesson #1 - Babies don't adhere to Gantt charts (or if you want make God laugh - tell him your plans)


Part of my job is project management – something I love doing! Drawing up PRINCE diagrams and Gantt charts is a source of much fun for me. Yes, I am a project management tragic. I approached pregnancy as though it was another IT project. There were lists and milestones. Each bit of weight gain was diligently recorded and graphed. Each appointment summarised and documented in a spreadsheet. Every item of clothing given to us for Isaac was listed with size, date received and date washed. You probably think I am exaggerating – I am not. I walked into my midwife appointments with my carefully cross referenced folder and was greeted by a wry smile and "first baby then?" The midwives knew that babies have little regard for PRINCE 2. Isaac was born 4 and half weeks early. The evening of the 24th I had mild cramps - much like period pain but I dismissed it as baby starting to descend. There was a small voice that said - what if this is it? But I decided it couldn't be labour because I didn't want my baby to born so near Christmas, we had a holiday planned for early January and I hadn't yet finished up work. By 10:30pm the next evening, I held our new little baby in my arms. Strangely enough, once labour had definitely established a feeling of calm fell over me and I started to be quite zen about the whole thing. At some point I accepted that our little miracle was coming into our lives and that was a wonderful thing, no matter how ill prepared we might be. Isaac arrived after a dream labour, lasting only 7 hours from water breaking. Despite being so early, he was a good weight and the only issue was some jaundice treated by billi lights. Suddenly, plans are out the window and priorities have shifted.

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