Where is my trophy?

I'm still waiting.

Is it done yet? I'm really looking forward to showing it to all my friends.

What is my trophy for, you ask? Why, breastfeeding, of course. I just missed out on that natural birth trophy when my daughter got stuck in the birth canal and I had to have an emergency c-section. Man, I really wanted that one too.

What do you mean, what trophies?

Okay, I guess I am being a little sarcastic. You see, this is my personal pet peeve. The pride and arrogance that takes over when women talk about childbirth. Even my aunt, who had an 11 pound baby "naturally" with no drugs, says that all the nurses came in to see her after giving birth because they wanted to, "See what a real woman looks like."

I still haven't seen her trophy.

Why do we do this? Why do we spend so much time and effort making other women feel bad?

Should it make me feel better about myself that I breastfed my kids for 2 years, and other people I know used formula? No, I really don't think it should matter. What really matters is what is best for me and my child. My child. Not yours. That's none of my business.

Yet still, we women do this. The first questions people ask after you have a baby are , "How did you have it?" and, "Are you nursing?"

I will just state this for the record, too. Having a baby is one of the most natural things you can do, no matter how it happens. Vaginal birth, c-section, adoption. . .you get the idea. It's not my place to tell you that how you got your child isn't "natural."

I have never seen the trophies for these women who tell you how they had a "natural" birth and breastfed until their child was 35. They just don't have any.

I think it's great that some people can have a vaginal, med-free birth. I wish I could have. That was not the case for me, however, but it does not dimish my daughter's birth. Every person is different. We all know that. I know lots of women who had c-sections and went on to have successful v-bacs. That's not for me. I'm okay with that.
I also know women who feel cheated that they had to have a c-section. They feel that they missed out on something. Yes, you did. . .an episiotomy.

I have given birth two times in the last 7 years, and will again after the first of the year. Perhaps I should call the engraver now. . . .