Arrive by Nina Lane Page A

years. The woman knows what she’s talking about.
    But what she’s talking about are things like dilation and pain management and mucus plugs and the baby descending into the birth canal. Like it’s going to come out as gently as a balloon losing helium.
    Truth be told, I really don’t know much about labor and delivery yet. Prior to getting pregnant, I didn’t have a reason to learn about it, and the past six months have been so busy with the café and figuring out what to do with our newly purchased (and badly in need of renovation) Butterfly House that I haven’t exactly had time to peruse all the pregnancy books I’ve checked out from the library.
    Somewhat guiltily, I glance over the info sheet Mary gave us for tonight’s lecture. There are seven other couples in the class with us, all parents-to-be for the first time. We arrange our chairs in a semi-circle around Mary as she takes out a plastic model of the pelvis and shows us how the baby, in this case an infant doll, makes its way into the world.
    “Dilation and effacement of the cervix happen together for most women,” Mary says. “As we discussed last week, dilation is the opening of the cervix. Who remembers what effacement is?”
    Everyone raises their hand except me.
    “Dean?” Mary looks at Dean expectantly.
    “Thinning of the cervix,” he says. “Which is measured in percentages rather than centimeters.”
    “Correct.” Mary beams at him.
    Two classes in, and already Professor West is her star student.
    “The cervix must soften in order to dilate,” she continues, “and often contractions help the process along. Now let’s discuss what happens when the mother begins to experience contractions.”
    I glance at Dean. He’s taking notes. Seriously. The man brought a yellow legal pad to class and has already taken two pages of notes. I nudge him with my elbow.
    “There’s no final exam at the end of this,” I whisper.
    He looks at me over the tops of his reading glasses. “You’re kidding, right?”
    “What? There is an exam? Mary didn’t say anything about that. Is it multiple choice? True or false? Omigod, is it an essay test?”
    “Liv.” Dean takes off his glasses. “ Birth is the final exam.”
    I stare at him. Birth is the final exam.
    “Oh.” I sit back. “Right.”
    Holy crap. He’s the one taking notes, but I’m the one who actually has to push the little bugger out. And really, if I think about my vagina, and what has been inside it, and the indisputable fact that Dean’s erection is a very tight fit… and a baby’s head is the size of a baby’s head …
    My heart starts to beat in a nervous rhythm.
    I must look a little panicked because Dean reaches over to squeeze my knee. He’s supposed to be all concerned and loving, but instead amusement lights his eyes.
    “You can do this,” he whispers. “We can do this.”
    “We?” I hiss. “When your cervix starts dilating and effacing, you can talk about we. ”
    “Do you have a question, Liv?” Mary asks from the front of the room, where she is standing with a diagram of a uterus.
    “Um, no. No, I’m good. Thanks.”
    I frown at Dean for getting me in trouble. He winks and returns to his note-taking.
    When the class takes a fifteen-minute break, I head for the bathroom with most of the other women. After taking care of business, I dig into the chocolate-chip cookies and milk. Gwen and Marshall, a young couple expecting a girl about a month after my due date, are standing near the table.
    “What kind of labor are you planning, Liv?” Gwen asks.
    One that results in a healthy baby.
    “Just, you know… the usual,” I reply.
    “We’re considering a home water birth,” Marshall says.
    “A what?”
    “It’s when the mother sits in a bath of warm water to give birth,” Gwen says. “It’s a very peaceful, calm way of bringing a baby into the world and it’s supposed to ease the pain of labor. I want to keep things as natural as possible. No drugs or