I feel you - I’m 26 weeks and now seems like a good time to be thinking about labor and delivery. The thing I remember is that my body is literally built for this, that women have been doing this for millennia. My mom friends have all said that the worst part is the contractions and not being allowed to push during…

I think that is a genuine if unspoken fear. There are some countries, such as Japan, where the birth rate is plunging because many women have stepped back and said, wait, what’s in this for me again? and just decided to nope out. So rather then do anything practical like improve medical care, daycare, insurance, etc.…

Thank goodness! Usually when I say that around here someone decides to yell at me and tell me how stupid and awful I am and that I my baby and I were on the brink of death the whole time. ::eyeroll::

you rant all you like. I'm one of those wack jobs who had a home birth with a midwife so I totally get it. (I'm also a c-section baby whose birth took place so that my mom's doctor could get it done before he went on vacation - my mom didn't want some stranger doing it so she scheduled it for the day before he left!)

Thanks! I was quite proud of myself. :) but yeah, I don’t understand the whole issue some doctors seem to have surrounding labor and delivery. In my case, I had been in the birthing room for maybe half an hour because that day was so busy that they thought I was going to literally give birth in triage because there…

My mother was 41 when I was born. And I’m pretty much perfect. ;)

I am certain that the declining birthrates are due to many complex factors. Pretty sure a lack of “hey, how about reproduction and pregnancy?" marketing is not one of those factors.

A family member just had surprise baby #3 at 43 - it can happen! She had a good pregnancy and bounced back well.

There’s no law that says you can’t get pregnant after 30. I got pregnant at 38 and it was a normal pregnancy, no need for fertility drugs. That being said, you never know how you’ll react to something like pregnancy. I’m overweight and was terrified of what my body would do while pregnant. Turns out my body image was…

My dad has told me several times that my mom’s pregnancy with me was the worst year of his life. My mom was on antidepressants, and her doctor told her to just stop taking them if/when she got a positive pregnancy test, instead of a more reasonable weaning off them and then stopping the birth control pills. I was also…

No, I didn’t realize that would come out sounding so braggy. (No epidural.) I meant that the cultural narrative is “goddess pregnancy, hellish birth” but mine was the opposite. I was really happy giving birth, no screaming. It was the bright spot, even though I hemorrhaged after—but the two weeks before and after were…

It sucks that you were made to feel bad about those very understandable feelings. I hope you forgave yourself!

I don’t know, it took me years and years. I think mostly because when you tell people your period sucks, they are like “wah wah”. I switched gynos four times and spend years trying to figure out what was wrong. I have a daughter and basically my attitude is that i WILL RAIN FIRE AND BEAT ASSES to make sure this is…

ScaryMommy has been a lifeline for me - one of the few venues it seems where women talk honestly about how much pregnancy can really suck. We need to make it okay for women to not like being pregnant, and to get all the info out there about alllll the weird, gross stuff that can and does happen, and all the weird…

I hate being pregnant. First I had hyperemesis and was in and out of the hospital for months, and then once I could eat again, the nausea remained and with it came heartburn and constipation and all kinds of things they never tell you until you’re actually pregnant and then they’re like “oh yeah, that happens.”

I’m about to enter my 3rd trimester, so I haven’t even entered the difficult part yet and I. Hate. Being. Pregnant. I hate it. I’ve developed pelvic girdle pain that makes it hard to walk. I have developed gestational diabetes which means I have to poke myself 6 times a day with various kinds of needles. I have…

I feel swindled by the Pregnant Goddess image I was sold by a few smug moms.

can someone please explain to me why PCOS seems so darned difficult to diagnose? in my early teens i had month-long periods that required post-natal pads (the ones with the belt), interspersed with three month gaps, excruciating pain, and passed clots that could easily be likened to spoonfuls of grape jelly, and i was…

very glad you are not murdered right now friend

Ok, ok!