saffie, I compare this all to childbirth often, too. In the back of my mind I keep hearing our childbirth instructor say that there is a finite number of contractions...you just don't know your number...how many you yourself have to endure in order to birth the baby. but it will end, it will not go on forever. and here are the tools to dealing with those contractions while you are dealing with them.
like childbirth, there is a beginning/middle/end. hopefully you have some good support around you. hopefully you read the books/took the classes/educated yourself so you can deal with all the peaks and valleys. but you are right, you don't know how painful it can be, or exactly when the final or the hardest peak are. you just have to remember to breathe.
of course, there is also what I went thru...going from dealing with contractions, to being rushed to the or for an unplanned section. and yeah, I suppose some marriage crisis/separations/divorce feel like that. where it is fast and furious and all you can do is pray the spinal holds and the morphine kicks in. and after, well, you have to force yourself out of bed, and to stand up straight, and to take those baby steps. as painful as it is, the only thing that will make you well again is to just do it. (cue nike commercial)
I think I just figured out which book I'm going to start with, btw. I think I'm going to start with Eat, Pray, Live. I think I need some hope from someone who has come out the other side. not hope for my marriage, but hope for myself.
M-41 H-38 M-10 years, T-14 years Bomb-PA 3/19/07 Separated-6/7/07 Piecing/h back home 5/08 S-6 S-4 D-4
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is that little voice at the end of the day that says, 'I'll try again tomorrow.'"
