向前一步:第143期 让你的另一半成为你真正的人生搭档(1)

 　　Chapter 8 Make Your Partner a Real Partner 第8章 让你的另一半成为你真正的“人生搭档”

　　Being a mother has been an amazing experience for me. Giving birth was not. 做母亲对我来说是相当不可思议的经历，但分娩过程却不是。

　　After nine months of serious nausea¹, I could not wait to move on to the next phase. 9个月的妊娠反应让我对分娩阶段望眼欲穿。

　　Unfortunately, my son was in no such rush. 不幸的是，我肚子里的儿子倒一点儿都不着急。

　　When my due date arrived, my OB decided² I should be induced. 预产期到了，我的产科医生决定人工催产。

　　My parents and my sister, Michelle, joined me and Dave at the hospital. 我父母和妹妹米歇尔都到了医院，和戴夫一起陪着我。

　　Some say it takes a village to raise a child, but in my case, it took a village just to get the child out of me. 有人说养个孩子得“全家总动员”，而我的情况是，仅仅是要把他生出来就得劳师动众。

　　My hours in labor³ went on ... and on ... and on. For my supporters, excitement gave way to boredom⁴. 分娩过程很漫长，亲友团的兴奋劲儿很快就过去了，取而代之的是百无聊赖。

　　At one point, I needed help through a contraction⁵ but couldn't get anyone's attention because they were all on the other side of the room, showing family photos to my doctor. 我一度希望他们帮我挺过一次次阵痛，但没人注意到我，他们都在房间的另一侧给医生看家庭相册。

　　It has been a running joke in my family that it's hard to hold anyone's attention for too long. Labor was no exception to that rule. 这件事后来成了家里常提的笑话，它证明要长时间吸引别人的注意力是很困难的，分娩也不例外。

　　After three and half hours of pushing, my son finally emerged, weighing nine pounds, seven ounces. 3个半小时后，我儿子终于出生了，体重约4.3千克。

　　Half of that weight was in his head. 他的头占了体重的一半。

　　My sister is a pediatrician and has attended hundreds of deliveries. 我的妹妹是儿科医生，参与过上百次分娩过程。

　　She kindly⁶ did not tell me until much later that mine was one of the hardest she had ever witnessed. 出于好心，很久以后她才告诉我，我的分娩是她见过最困难的。

1 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

5 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

6 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。