Momminesia

When I was pregnant and while I was in the hospital having Chipmunk, I asked women (read: mothers) a lot of questions about their experiences during pregnancy and childbirth. My first question would be...

"Do you have kids?"

Then I ask if pregnancy was awful for them and how painful their delivery was. I rarely asked a question in "the positive". I always expected them to say that they had horrible pregnancies and that labor was the most painful experience of their lives.

But to my surprise, they would always get thoughtful looks in their eyes and make the followin statements:

Oh... Pregnancy and delivery weren't that bad!
Sure it's painful, but it's not that bad!
I really don't remember, but it wasn't as bad as people say.
I had three babies... All natural! So, it couldn't have been that bad.

Please note that "bad" is a word used in all the answers...

That's because "bad" was the word I used to describe my symptoms and my expectations for my upcoming delivery.

I realized that these women had developed some sort of mommi-nesia. It's a type of amnesia that affects women sometime during the post-partum period.

I was affected by it around the fifth day after delivery... Because those four days following the surgery were BAD!!!

I have run into a couple of pregnant friends who just seem to be totally over their pregnancies, and I realize that they probably sound the way I did during that last month.

When I speak with them (and anyone else for that matter) about pregnancy and labor, I sound just like those women I spoke to before having my baby.

My responses to their questions are positive and upbeat:

"I feel great! It really wasn't that bad and it definitely wasn't as bad as I expected!"

"My pregnancy? Oh! It was really good and easy!"

"I'd do it all again in a heartbeat if I could afford to have another right now!"


Because the truth is... In the grand scheme of things, pregnancy and labor weren't so bad... I mean, I've had cramps that were worse!