For a while, yeah. But not forever. (But it's a pretty long while. Like, a few years.) And it really depends on your family. Do you have parents or siblings or cousins or whatever who love your baby and would be happy to come babysit for free and who you love and trust to raise your kid? Then you'll get to go out a…

:long, hard, loud applause

I actually went to the website to see what other insanity therew as, and whoo boy, is it chock full! This is a choice bit:

I'm pretty sure she's learning about "future cleavage" to go with her "future eating disorder," "future intimacy issues," and "future devastating self-hatred."

I wish we could still like comments! This is awesome. Please make it happen.

That "wear white underwear" thing doesn't even make sense. How does the color of your underwear affect whether you have plumber's crack or your pantyline is showing? :copyeditor growl

I know! I'm glad I got to be the one to give them the welcoming handshake. :)

This is long, but I'm promoting it for being reasonable and well-written on a subject that rarely inspires either characteristic. Your note that CNMs are a *huge* difference from a lay "midwife" who may have no credentials whatsoever is much appreciated by this registered nurse. :) And I wish more women had the…

On the other hand, the idea that things magically happen instantly if you are at a hospital and something goes wrong is a common misconception. At most hospitals, if something goes terribly wrong and you need an emergency c-section, the standard of practice is that they need to *begin* the c-section within half an…

I like to think that the Hitchhiker's Guide is, in fact, a religious book. At least, I find it far more inspiring than most traditional religious texts.

Someone who isn't sure is called an agnostic. An atheist is someone who definitely believes there is no god. As far as Richard Dawkins goes, I believe you're right—he calls himself an agnostic, not an atheist, because there is no way to prove there is no god.

I imagine the bios of the waitresses would be about as real as the likes and dislikes of Playboy playmates. Are they really going to reprint their menus every time one of their waitresses quits her job? I doubt it.

I think it's definitely see as a "feminine" weapon (even though that's silly). It's relatively light and it can be used over a long distance—that means there's no icky worries about showing a woman (especially in Brave) hacking some guy's arms off with a sword. I think it's seen as kind of less violent, because you…

That "not being able to pick your doctor" shit is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. I'm a 35-year-old American, and I have never once "picked my doctor" in the sense they mean. I get the list of doctors my insurance company will cover, call to see if they actually accept my insurance, and then go to the closest…

High five—another back labor veteran here! It really is hell on earth. I really, really wanted a nonmedicated childbirth with my first, but the back labor killed me. My daughter was sunny-side-up and couldn't progress no matter what I did—after 20 hours of 3-minute-apart contractions, I was at 1 centimeter. I finally…

Birth hypnosis is totally a Thing. You can Google it—Hypnobabies is the most famous program. It did NOT work for me, but I thought the entire idea was stupid to begin with, so I wasn't exactly a fervent believer.

I think he or she might be better served to get *off* the Internet and do some research.

I think part of it is just how easy it is to have all of those mementos these days. Your mom probably never had a pee-on-a-stick pregnancy test to put in a scrapbook; she got a test done at her doctor's office. And before digital cameras, we didn't have ten thousand photos to choose from—you took the 24 on your roll…

Huh, I'll have to look that up! I'm an RN, and I give vaccinations all the time, although they're primarily to adults who probably don't bother to take anything afterward, but it's still worth looking up!

Well, given that the Pope's official policy positions (those that become Church dogma, not just his personal statements or regular conversation) are considered the literal Word of God, it would be impossible to believe anything other than that the Vatican is automatically correct, if you believe in the official…