Wow, holy shit, thank you so much for writing this! I’ve been struggling for the three weeks since my daughter has been born to figure out how to write about labor and birth in a way that does even a little bit of justice to the experience, and this “recipe” essay of sorts totally elucidates the mundanity and the shock of it. The bigness of all of it, but also how most everyone around me--even those wonderful people helping me--shunted that bigness to the side in the midst of its happening. But maybe also i needed that shunting to happen so i could do it!? I don’t quite know ... So many other thoughts and feelings I can’t quite articulate just yet, other than to say thank you, again! Beautiful. Important.
Yes, I felt the same way about the bigness of it all, like something like anger in the moment, but now something more accepting. I would love to hear more of your thoughts once you find a way to put them together! For all the books and articles and everything on childbirth, I still feel like I haven't read much that gets into these vagueries and complex feelings.
Wow Kate. Thank you for writing this out!!! I hope writing was not as interminable as doing it. I recently listened to a profile of L.A. Paul whose written about experiential philosophy, focused on how the experience of have a child changes *everything* (along with countless other experiences, thanks very much for us without children):) The book is called Transformative Experience. It's based on an essay and all are listed here
So interesting! I started reading "What You Can't Expect When You're Expecting" and the non-rational decision making she talks about resonates completely with me (I don't think any of my big life decisions have been "rational" and I'm suspicious of other people who think they are).
I love that you are telling the flat truth and building the story into pancakes!
There’s so many shoulds about birth. When my second son was born I felt like a failure because I couldn’t quell the pain — we had taken hypnobirthing classes. Logically I knew I was not but the memos kept creeping into my feelings. Thank you for bringing us into your experience Katy!
Wow, holy shit, thank you so much for writing this! I’ve been struggling for the three weeks since my daughter has been born to figure out how to write about labor and birth in a way that does even a little bit of justice to the experience, and this “recipe” essay of sorts totally elucidates the mundanity and the shock of it. The bigness of all of it, but also how most everyone around me--even those wonderful people helping me--shunted that bigness to the side in the midst of its happening. But maybe also i needed that shunting to happen so i could do it!? I don’t quite know ... So many other thoughts and feelings I can’t quite articulate just yet, other than to say thank you, again! Beautiful. Important.
Yes, I felt the same way about the bigness of it all, like something like anger in the moment, but now something more accepting. I would love to hear more of your thoughts once you find a way to put them together! For all the books and articles and everything on childbirth, I still feel like I haven't read much that gets into these vagueries and complex feelings.
It’s been 21 years since my last labor and this brought all of it back. Especially the last few paragraphs. My god.
F*cking BRILLIANT and gorgeous ❤️
Wow!
Wow Kate. Thank you for writing this out!!! I hope writing was not as interminable as doing it. I recently listened to a profile of L.A. Paul whose written about experiential philosophy, focused on how the experience of have a child changes *everything* (along with countless other experiences, thanks very much for us without children):) The book is called Transformative Experience. It's based on an essay and all are listed here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._A._Paul#Selected_works
So interesting! I started reading "What You Can't Expect When You're Expecting" and the non-rational decision making she talks about resonates completely with me (I don't think any of my big life decisions have been "rational" and I'm suspicious of other people who think they are).
I love that you are telling the flat truth and building the story into pancakes!
There’s so many shoulds about birth. When my second son was born I felt like a failure because I couldn’t quell the pain — we had taken hypnobirthing classes. Logically I knew I was not but the memos kept creeping into my feelings. Thank you for bringing us into your experience Katy!