Prodromal labor can be frustrating… some birth professionals will refer to it as pre-labor. We do not want to call it false labor because even if the labor pattern does not become active labor or we do not see progress in the form of continued effacement and dilation, it is doing something! My own experience of three weeks of off-and-on prodromal labor before my son was born, and 5 weeks of prodromal labor before my second daughter was born acquainted me well with this aspect of labor and birth.
The last three months of my schooling has felt like prodromal labor all over again. Gearing up for the ‘real thing’, over and over. I have gritted my teeth and hung on… determined to not only get through this part but to do it on time and do it well.
Well, now I’m excited to say that I’m going to crest that hill into full-blown, hang-on-tight labor. Within the next few days I intend to mail my Orientation Submission. After the assignments are received and reviewed I will be in the full benefits phase. I have set my first quarterly submission goal set for my birthday in early January, which means I don’t get to slack during the holidays… but I know myself well enough to know that keeping my momentum is vital.
It is interesting to me, how labor correlates to life in so many ways… and how giving birth to my children has taught me so much. Or maybe I simply eat, drink and breathe birth. 
Living and learning,
Michelle
