Thank you for writing this. My first child was stillborn at full term. Following her death, my ex and I tried to have another baby for 3 extremely painful years which included 1 miscarriage. I wish I had words to explain how hard it was to not only lose our baby, but to then deal with the awfulness that is…

My wife and I were on the same ship as you, then this little nugget of joy came around this past June.

I don’t think there is one overarching central hub; just a network of regional hubs.

Mine didn’t have too big a head but I got the vacuum extract too because the cord was wrapped around and she’d been in distress three times. Luckily, it meant only pushing for a few minutes but I got the second degree tear too. And then my placenta wouldn’t come out and he had to rip it out of me in several pieces.…

Oh my gods, that must have been terrifying. I’m so sorry that you and your baby had to go through that, but so glad that everything worked out well! You’re a champion!

Same! Epidural naps were the best two naps of my life. Had them with both girls and had great experiences.

Same here. I am fully aware of how obnoxious this is going to come across, but...I only had to push for 15 minutes or so before my daughter was out. The nurses said it was probably due to the fact that I was able to sleep for a while after receiving my epidural, so my body wasn’t completely exhausted.

Assisted by a vacuum? As someone without a child, I don’t know if I want to Google this.

This is a great article. But I wish you had shared your “good scientific evidence” that epidurals increase the risk for c-section. The current state of scientific knowledge says that there is no increased risk (there are other risks to an epidural, but increased risk of caesarean is not one of them). Perpetuating this…

Thanks, I’ll have to look it up and see if I can do that.

Would you rather have 60% for those X weeks, or 100% for a shorter period? I mean, assuming the total amount of money is the same and you’re going to take 12 weeks off either way.

Well, I’m not an employer yet. But labor issues are important to me, and also I would just feel like an asshole employing people and exploiting them. We have to be the change we want to see in the world.

That seems like a smart plan on CA’s part. I wish more states did that.

I don’t know, but thank you for being a good employer. Our biggest fear as parents is time off. Like...I slept two hours last night after two days of four hours. I would trade a lot for extra personal days.

I work for a small business, only 10 employees. I signed up for short-term disability for when I do get pregnant. I can’t remember the exact numbers, but it will kick in 2 weeks after I give birth and pay 60% of my paycheck for x weeks. My job allows 12 weeks of maternity leave (unpaid) but I can at least use the…

I don’t know what I would have done without California’s paid leave. The job I had when I got pregnant was a 1 year fellowship and Babylaka was born 10 days after that job ended. I couldn’t have timed things better if I tried. Thankfully he wasn’t born any earlier, or I would have been at that job for less than 1 year…

That’s awesome and yet still not enough time off

Jewelry insurance is not overly expensive, but it does depend on the value of the appraisal. I say its worth it as many insurance companies even cover for chipped stones, burglary/theft etc. I would get several quotes from reputable insurance companies and ask what is covered, and more importantly, what is NOT.

When this came up with my boyfriend (now husband) I said: You wouldn’t buy a Ferrari and not expect to put time and money into maintaining it. If you’d prefer a more affordable Honda Civic or a Volvo, please, be my guest.

Probably not very feminist of me, but he got it and hasn’t complained about the money I spend on…

I actually don’t mind those, it takes a lot of effort and guesswork out of the gift-giving. Ah, you’re getting married? What can I afford? One fork? Excellent, happy wedding, here is your dinglehopper.