The Argonauts

Nelson describes the changes in the cervix that take place as a woman enters labor. Her own contractions began in the afternoon and didn’t progress much through the night and morning, despite attempts to speed the process up with walks, castor oil, and baths. On the ride to the hospital, her pain began to worsen: “[T]he pain turns into a luge. […] I begin to count, noticing each one takes about twenty seconds. I think, any kind of pain must be bearable for twenty seconds, for nineteen, for thirteen, for six” (127).

By the time she and Dodge reached the hospital, Nelson was five centimeters dilated, but then stalled again at seven and took medication to induce stronger contractions. Finally, after the doctors broke Nelson’s water and encouraged the baby into a better position, she was ready to give birth: “Then they say I can push. I push. I feel him come out, all of him, all at once […] And then, suddenly, Iggy. Here he comes onto me, rising. He is perfect, he is right” (133). A few hours later, a lactation consultant visited Nelson and Dodge. The couple said they wanted “Iggy” to be short for “Igasho”—a Native-American name—and the consultant, who was a member of the Pima tribe, gave them her blessing.