The Things I Don't (Want to) Know

Did you know that for days/weeks following the delivery, a woman will feel pain in her uterus due to the natural process of resizing (read: downsizing) its shape back to normal?  These pains can be the same or more intense than labor itself.  Wha?!  Last week, I was the unfortunate recipient of this information during an unfortunate conversation.  At the soonest available moment following this chat, in a state of complete disbelief, I did a little online research and the horror story was confirmed.

This fact falls into a big, deep category of things that I don't know about pregnancy.  It can also be characterized as a fact that I don't (didn't) want to know.  When it comes to all the weird, gross and horrific things that accompany pregnancy, I'd rather stay in the dark, keep my head in the sand and cross that bridge when I come to it.

I've spent the more recent half of my life fantasizing about the sheer joy of having a child.  I'm vaguely aware that maintaining a state of sheer joy from conception through birth is unrealistic - there will be moments of pain (perhaps agony), anger, disgust and fear - but I'd rather remain ignorantly blissful until I am in fact pregnant and the truth is unavoidable.  On the other hand, worrying about the gruesome folklore is completely avoidable.  When the truth is eventually forced upon me, I want my licensed and certified and practiced doctor to explain it.