"Message from Insects" - Dec. 10, 2006

12-10-06 Sunday 1:25 am

Mushi no Shirase: Message from Insects …errr Instinct

I’ve heard about the nesting phenomenon before. Instinct informs the mother to hurry up and prepare the nest before the baby is to arrive. I’m the hubby, but something told me late Saturday night to prepare the portable crib called the “Pack ‘n Play.” We're just about four weeks away from the due date, but something told me to act. The Japanese have a beautiful phrase called, “mushi no shirase.” Literally, it means, “message from the insects,” but I prefer to call it “instinct.”

I noticed Friday night as we were watching the DVD, “The DaVinci Code,” that my wife had a series of contractions. I would rub her belly, then the momentary pain or discomfort would go away, and her hardened belly would once again revert to being its soft self. Late Saturday night, after my wife went to sleep, I began reviewing the notes from our month-long Lamaze class, the last session of which ended Saturday. My notes said that 30-second contractions that lengthen to 45, then 60 seconds were signs of early labor. We didn’t do any of the breathing exercises we had learned to alleviate the discomfort, for any pain went away within about a minute. But her belly tightened several times that night.

That got me wondering. So I took the “Pack n’ Play” unit out of the box and set it up, finishing about 1:15 AM Sunday. I then prepared a card that we can take to the hospital outlining the fundamental information, such as name of patient, physician, insurer, etc. I, in effect, began preparing the nest. My wife is still asleep. She felt so weary today that she went to bed without the sheets, which had been washed and dried earlier Saturday. She skipped dinner. She seemed a tad depressed, but now, I’m wondering if she was rather tired instead. I had proposed going out to dinner, but she opted to stay in because of the frigid weather.

Before going to bed, I’m going to figure out how to use the new Panasonic camcorder I got as a gift. I’m going off to bed, but later this day, I plan to prepare the bag to take to the hospital. The Japanese have another word for this, “kan,” i.e., “feeling.”