Just for clarification sake, having the port placed is surgery. In an OR, under general anesthesia.

I think under the ACA insurance can no longer refuse to cover pre-existing conditions.

I had read Eric's post about this with interest and with surprise at his reaction. My own reaction to the same phenomenon in my own life/facebook was very different.

I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to read a story about a woman giving birth in public that actually refers to the WOMAN as the subject, not the object (and doesn't say dumb things like that the man who helped out "gave the gift of life" or imply that were it not for him, surely everyone there would have…

Phyllis is correct. There's no pooping going on until either right before birth or after birth. The early poppies called meconium. If when your water breaks it's got a greenish tint then they know you've got meconium and they might be a little extra careful (don't want baby to inhale it when born). Sometimes the kid…

I birthed my second kid in a tub and I don't even know if any poop came out. Shortly before he was born my water broke and the whole tub suddenly looked crazy town, then I pushed a baby out, then a placenta, then we got out and moved to the bedroom to dry off. No big deal. It's not necessarily like giant turds…

As a former L&D nurse and a mom in her third pregnancy, i 100% endorse this message. In my first labor I actually let my friend (who is also a nurse) wipe my ass for me - while I was on the toilet. Not even on "the table" and I just did not care.

Look at the position of the woman in the cartoon above. Under that censorship circle, poop would be oozing out closer to the bed, but the bed would have pads on it and nurses just wiping it downward and into a Baggie. An inch(or whatever) up (an inch from the bed and closer to the ceiling) would be a big baby head…

YES THIS.

People are such idiots. Argh. What a stupid doctor.

You did the screening test, and if it came back fine, it is telling you how unlikely it is that the fetus has the various disorders (not sure which brand-name test you did but my results said for each problem stuff like "<1:10000" meaning there is a less than one in ten thousand chance of having that problem). Many…

It seems like a lot of people are assuming women can just do this test without guidance. When I took it recently, first I was told about it by my midwife. I said I wanted it so she ordered it and I made the appointment. I googled it and read what I could. Before the blood test was even done, they sat me down with a…

But it's not that at all. The test must be ordered by your doc or midwife, and you undergo counseling BEFORE doing the blood test (and presumably more afterward if anything untoward shows up)

Based on the understanding I already had from the genetic counselors, I have no comprehension why anyone in this situation would have even contemplated aborting before doing an amino. It is made very clear that this is a SCREENING and the diagnostic test is the amino. You do the screening hoping to get reassurance…

This post is so well timed for me. I am 7 months pregnant with #3 and (forever) grieving #2, who died last year. Today my father in law said something that I didn't want to hear and I sort of blew up at him a little bit. He then tried to turn the whole thing into being about that I yelled at him. At one point I was…

Yes. That sudden a labor followed that quickly by that rapid a birth is indeed surprising. That sums it up pretty well.

Of course babies come early. It is unclear if this baby did or not (This post doesn't say how many weeks pregnant she was, so I'm not sure if this baby was early or if this woman was flying while full term.) That's not really my point at all - the question is whether babies are born within half an hour to 45 minutes…

There are quick labors, but I don't think waters breaking is comparable. My first labor started with my water breaking too. The baby wasn't born until 23 hours later. This story's a whole 'nother ball of wax.

This story is completely insane. Yes, there are usually signs. Generally for hours and hours and hours.

The timeline in this story is so completely implausible. I'm not saying it's NOT true. I'm just saying it sounds almost impossible for it to be true. So, either she is one of those women who like doesn't even know she's in labor until the kid is popping out, or she knowingly got on that plane while in labor,…