cousin Trish says...

I spoke with my cousin Trish this evening. She's a nurse for many years and is a long-time lactation specialist to boot. For years and years I've heard all the wonderful benefits of breastfeeding and just knew I would, should I choose to have a child.

One of the things she wanted to remind me of is that the women on my side of the family give birth really fast. After my mom gave birth to me, she recalled thinking, "That's it? What are all these women complaining about?" In the past few years, my cousin helped two younger cousins pre-labor at home and wanted to remind me to be sure to tell my labor nurse that there's a history of fast birthing in my family.

How fast? One cousin went to the hospital dilated to 4 cm and birthed in two hours; the other went to the hospital dilated at 6 cm and birthed within one hour. That's fast!

I'm holding the intention that the birth of my child will be the same. :)