I got to nearly 8cm only using TENS! I only ended up using that and the birthing pool because I didn't like the gas and air. I have no idea why g&a isn't standard in the US though.

I'm so sorry you had that experience and glad you got help the second time. I have no doubt you were an awesome parent right through.

Yeah! I love the Christmas edition of the BMJ, and I'm not even a doctor. It always has an awesome funny study. My favourite, from some years back, was the researchers who studied the disappearance rate of teaspoons from a shared kitchen, and reported seriously that "teaspoon dispersal is moderated by degree of…

I KNOW RIGHT PLEASE STOP EMBARRASSING YOURSELVES.

gravity is your friend! A long walk on my due date did the trick for me.

Thanks, I'm veggie these days, so I'm good :) Seriously, though, the amount of fat that came out of standard American bacon when it was fried was something I had NEVER SEEN.

When I was in NZ early this year, I remember it being explained to me that it was cheaper to buy NZ lamb in a UK Waitrose (fancy foodie supermarket) than in an NZ supermarket. I still have no idea why. The UK is drowning in NZ lamb and it hardly seems to get eaten in NZ at all.

One of the major reasons I don't think I could ever live in the States again is that I hated the food so much. It was just so... processed and cheap and fatty. I still get the shivers thinking about the bacon.

I've heard this more than once from women, and I totally agree - if your "partner" is in fact functionally an extra child who requires emotional and practical caretaking, it sounds a hell of a lot easier to just be on your own. I have female friends who have made this calculus and divorced.

....? Well, the UK isn't really "Northern Europe" as Europeans would think about it, but women in Great Britain (not Northern Ireland) have free, on-demand access to abortion which is legally protected and nobody is trying to restrict. I'm not sure how that doesn't qualify as a "fundamental legal right to an…

Who cares? He was (apparently) birth-partnering a woman who still had the legal status of "wife" and was birthing his child. Even if they are both dating other people, REALLY NOT THE TIME DUDE. Plus I seriously doubt the nurse/midwife was really looking to be picked up while she was working.

Hey, "born before arrival" deliveries tend to be fast & smooth. I'd pretty much prefer that to a 50-hour non-progressing labour, and can definitely think of worse things!

Are you seriously implying that no woman should accept professional mentoring or collaboration from a married man, and that if she does she has brought rape on herself? And that working with a man is "overlooking" his wife?

No, it doesn't make a difference. They did not agree to live with you, you are not paying to live there, you should not be living there. They are the ones with a right to say what is and isn't OK in the apartment, not you. You are in the wrong. Move out.

Askamanager has lots of great posts on the topic! Go there: http://www.askamanager.org/2012/06/how-to…

That is an awesome story, and also reminds me of the episode of Don't Trust The Bitch where Chloe gets some truth dropped on her by a hungover bee.

Wanting a "lasting relationship" rather than just sex doesn't make you "better" or "nicer" than other guys. And you're no more entitled to any kind of relationship than you are to sex. It makes 0 difference.

Yes, exactly. Well done!

If she won't phase and allow the drift, tell her honestly that you feel you have less in common now and you can't be there for her in the way she needs and wants, so she probably needs to rely more on other people. Your choices are, pretty much, hurt her feelings or keep being her friend. At least this way you'll have…

We were staying at a friend's place in SE Asia. We found out the bedroom door lock didn't work when the air-conditioning fixing guy walked in on my husband going down on me.