labor

We compare birth stories like war stories. Twelve hours of labor, 32 hours of labor, three hours of pushing, we fall into the trap of trying to one-up each other. So yes, I can see why, to a parent-to-be who is enthusiastically anticipating pain relief, the refusal of an epidural might seem like a bit of a hero complex. And maybe for some people it is! But it’s none of your goddamn business.

[CN: PTSD, pregnancy, birth] Something snapped inside me and I was transported backwards in time.

[CN: PTSD, pregnancy, birth] Something snapped inside me and I was transported backwards in time.

I immediately felt like I'd known Bryn. We hung out, we ate. I laughed until I peed my pants.... Interviewing Bryn for Ravishly's PWL was the next logical progression. I mean, I love Byrn, and we all love a good birth story and The Birth Hour delivers on the (twice) weekly.

I was lucky I didn’t have a c-section. I was lucky he was born, healthy and huge at 10+ pounds, with two hefty pushes. I was lucky. I sobbed anyway.

“It will be long,” they told me. “It will likely be days after your due date,” they advised. “Everything will begin slowly with breaks between contractions,” they said. They lied.

Not too many people would talk about childbirth and say, “Longer labor? More pushing?

Even with a million sexist constraints, a handful of women changed everything.