Aw, thanks! My daughter (who is a dyed-in-the-wool 'fraidy-cat) had both of her kids in the hospital but was attended to by midwives, and I thought I was going to have a coronary. I bit my tongue but I assume she knew I was bouncing off the walls. She's a teeny, tiny girl and had terrible, horrible labors/births…

Oh, thank you for this! Yet again, I just made a noise that scared the dog.

Well, I'm not sure that's what I was going for! Yikes! Yeah, there's pain involved in this whole process...how could there not be?...but I wouldn't ever say that I was scared at any point. Not going in, not during, never. It just hurt. Then it didn't. Please don't think that I am in any way validating fear; I'd…

Yep. That's what it looks like and that's exactly what it feels like. I hadn't expected, with everything else going on, that it could possibly hurt more than labor, but it did. Also didn't do any good. But I was sososososo lucky ... went into the hospital at 11:10 a.m. and it was all over by 2:20. I consider…

This didn't happen during, obviously, but 5 minutes after I'd been sent back to my room, husband #1 appeared, somehow, with a banana split. It's one of the few positive things I remember about him.

I had a bad feeling when I wrote that comment and should have learned long ago to never hit Publish when I'm not sure. :-( I absolutely did not mean to disparage you in any way; just thought that stringing those words together on the page may give you a different perspective. (I've learned a lot more Life Lessons…

Wait a minute. MrRDog works for the state of California and has always had paid sick days. He even took quite a lot of time off for a torn ACL and still got paid. What am I missing here?

LOL - I hear you! In my case, sometimes talk is very cheap. :-)

Emma, I need very seriously for you not to take this the wrong way...please: Am I correct in recalling that you recently indicated that you're 23-ish? I just want to appreciate your comment from the context of your age. NO OFFENSE INTENDED!!

Goodholygod. Do you want him around because you actually like this b-s or because you don't think you can do any better? You know there are men out there who would cut off their arm rather than hurt you like this, right? If you think a "good, long talk" will cure him, then by all means try to change him. You know…

Now there's one thing I wish I'd had at my disposal back in the day. "Oh. I said I'd be there at noon and over-slept? Technical glitch." "Hm. There appears to be a dent in your Targa that you let me drive last night? Technical glitch." "I forgot you said you were married? Technical glitch." Etc.

OK, now this is one of the terrific things about getting old. I simply wouldn't care. Wouldn't care if he's there; wouldn't care if he's not there. It just doesn't matter (assuming you're fairly certain he's not out serial-killing or eating pizza & not bringing some for you).

Emma, I was thinking the same thing! There's one lady in there who made me say, "Oh!" out loud and now I have do do my own damn work!!!!!

Isn't there some Gauguin in there?

I have seen far more peens than I care to admit (right now) in my day, and I think that's the ugliest one I can recall. It looks like some sort of albino worm.

Ativan is my Wonder Drug.

I'm 68 and still recovering from being raised Catholic. That shit just does not wash off.

Well, as long as nobody's claiming it "may be the key to a healthy marriage..."

Son of a bitch. I stopped as soon as she said, "I believe in the word of god..." I like having control over whether or not I listen to something that's going to make my head explode. Daniel's got more courage than I ever would have. Fuck that woman.

Something about your comment struck me (in a good way) but I can't figure out what it is (no offense intended)! There are things about Mr.RDog that drive me up the wall but, after almost 15 years of marriage, they don't make me mad anymore. Not a lot does make me mad anymore, except the Kardashians & Julia Roberts,…