Labor

::: This post is not an announcement. The question posed in this post does not stem from anything happening in the confines of our home. We attribute this query to an inquisitive 5 year old. That is all, please proceed :::

B-Man: "How does a baby come out of a mom's belly?"

Me, thinking, "I wish the Mr. were home" and something along the lines of:

There are several stages to labor and delivery In stage one the upper part of the mother's uterus muscles start to contract and the cervix then starts to thin and dilate because of the pressure on the blood vessels in the cervix In the beginning, contractions take place every five minutes but once the cervix is dilated contractions resurface at three minute intervals This typically means the mother feels more pressure and pain more frequently now However, some women have actually reported to have no pain at all during delivery and deliver their baby very quickly. Once contraction frequency increases the cervix dilates even the more At this point the contractions begin every two minutes and the cervix is fully dilated After the cervix fully dilates the baby's head usually begins to surface In stage two you may also feel like you need to make a bowel movement. After the baby comes out, fluids are removed from the baby's nose mouth and respiratory passages In stage three the baby is finally out ...

Me, speaking: "They labor."

B-Man: "What's labor?"

Me: "Work."

B-Man, satisfied, replies: "Okay."

And then he went to play ...

(Dancing time ... Look close at B, it's an action shot of him jumping in the air whilst playing a mean air guitar.)