It Ain't Like in the Movies!

I was watching a TV show the other day and the woman was giving birth.  After having two children of my own, I can safely say labor is nothing like what they portray on TV!

On this particular show, the woman was sweaty and her hair was soaking wet--as if she had just gotten out of the shower.  And she had her three closest friends in the room with her (just happened to be two women and a man--her husband was deployed).  They were just standing around her, telling her she was doing great and keep pushing.  She sat up a little, screamed for a second and the doctor pulled out this beautiful (somewhat large) baby that looked slightly damp.

Yeah.  If only.  Let me tell you, yes, labor is hard work.  You will probably sweat.  A lot.  But you most definitely will not look like you just won a wet T-shirt contest.  If your hair is dripping with sweat, it will not look nice.  It will be tangled with knots that will take you days to undo.  And your friends in the room with you?  You'll probably kick them out because the sound of their voices is too annoying.  They think they're encouraging you, but really they're just making you angrier and angrier.  And ask Brad, when I was watching this episode, I kept yelling at the girl, "Drop your chin!  You can't push like that!"  It's a lot more work than they make it seem.  And when that baby comes out, he is all slimey and yucky.  Seriously.  Only a mom would want to hold something like that.

But oh man.  When you do hold that little ball of slime and mucus it's just amazing.  You fall in love instantly.  You suddenly realize that the world is so much bigger than you ever thought before.  And your heart is more full than it has ever been.  It's like the whole world stops because of this little baby that you are holding.  And you don't even remember how bad labor was.

Until you see it portrayed completely wrong on TV.