Kate, I'm glad your pregnancy with Seabiscuit is going so well. I'm starting to notice changes in the way I walk as well.

And I'm sorry yours has been so difficult, sj! I have a lot of sympathy for what you're going through. Even an easy pregnancy has plenty of discomforts and indignities, let alone what you've had to deal with. I think you're handling a tough situation really well.

Thanks, Kate. I'm very grateful that ltc is showing all signs of being healthy so far. So, I often feel guilty for not enjoying pregnancy.

I know what you mean, but seriously, I don't know many people who enjoy being pregnant. The end result is absolutely worth it, but the process is mostly not a lot of fun.

I know what you mean, but seriously, I don't know many people who enjoy being pregnant.

I do. Many who had such perfect, easy pregnancies. It was the best time of their lives, blah, blah, blah. Or at least that is what they like to post on facebook or tell people after the fact. I have a distant relative at the moment who is constantly posting pictures of all this fabulous food she's eating with the hashtag pregnancy problems. Meanwhile, I keep reminding anyone who is still listening of the list of foods I would like brought to me in the hospital after ltc arrives.

Bill Cosby had a routine in which he was the first to jump into what turned out to be excruciatingly cold water. As he gets out of the water, his wife says, "How's the water?" and he thinks, "Why ... should ... I ... tell ... her?" I suspect that's the situation with many of the "best time of their lives" pregnancies. Also, maybe there's some kind of memory alteration that takes place so that the species will survive.

I saw something once (I think it was in an article about women who decide to become surrogate mothers) that said that about 5% of women really enjoy pregnancy -- like, they happen to have the right combination of bodies and hormones that they just feel much happier when they're pregnant than when they're not. Most of the rest just tolerate it, knowing that the baby at the end is worth it, and then another small percentage just have a terrible time while pregnant.

Didn't flea do really well at being pregnant? I suspect I would not.

So very, very glad I left the experience to those much braver than I.

It was the best time of their lives, blah, blah, blah. Or at least that is what they like to post on facebook or tell people after the fact.

Yeah, I suspect there's more than a bit of selective memory happening in those cases. To put it charitably.

I will say, one thing I've become [more] aware of after becoming a parent and getting to know other parents is the extent to which many people feel the need to present the happy-face, sanitized, perfectly lit version of their lives to all and sundry. I find myself much more drawn to those who are willing to admit to the difficult times or even the dark times. Of course I love seeing baby pictures on FB and am genuinely happy when things are going well for the people I know and love; but I think too often people don't want to admit to the struggles, at least not where everyone they know can see it.

This is all to say, you are totally allowed to hide the posts from the woman who keeps eating all the stuff you can't have! When it comes to FB, I try to remind myself that I'm not obligated to follow or keep up with anyone, and that it's entirely OK to keep the people/posts that nourish me, and let go of the ones that don't. See also, the posts from a woman I sang a cappella with in college about how horrible people are who choose to do [whatever particular parenting choice I have made myself]. Unfollow!