We have a code chin

There's this trick I learned a few months before I stopped eating meat. I was sad to give up eating meat because the trick is neat, but I guess I liked ol' Mike better than steak, so I stopped. Anyway, the trick is to test the done-ness of meat. You make an OK sign with one hand, then turn your hand so that you can see your palm. Then take the thumb of your other hand and press it into the flesh of your palm at the thumb. That's what meat feels like when meat is rare. Switch out your pointer finger for your middle finger and that's what meat feels like when it is medium-rare. Ring finger is medium and pinky is well-done. Works every time and you don't have to keep cutting into the meat to check its level of done-ness.

I was sad to not be able to use this little bit of knowledge anymore. I like being able to use my body as a gauge for things. It makes me feel all witchy and wise. Thus, I was thrilled to discover that I could measure the seriousness of contractions by comparing the hardness of my belly to areas of my face. I asked my midwife, and she said that it is true. When you are not contracting, your belly feels like pushing into the tip of your nose. When you have a contraction, it feels like pushing into your chin. When you have a hardcore for-serious contraction, your belly feels as hard as pushing into your forehead.

Okay, so that one isn't as useful or practical. But it is still neat to learn. So far I have only had chin-level contractions. I will let you know when we go up to code forehead.