Baby Mama Drama takes to the Web

For all those women who know the term "morning" sickness is absolute rubbish. For all those women who picked out the perfect baby name, only to have family and friends exclaim protests. For all those women whose pregnancy "glow" comes from huffing and puffing their way up a flight of stairs. This is for you.

Sitting around the lunch table, I hesitated to bring it up.

Not because we were around the lunch table. I mean, we'd already discussed vomiting. Having to pee every 20 minutes. And every other disgusting function our pregnant bodies are capable of -- and that's quite a list.

So why not this? What is IT you're thinking? Fear over the pain of labor? Qualms about being a good mom? Huh-uh. Remember how in elementary school B.F. meant best friend? Well, in the world of burgeoning bellies, B.F. is that particular issue on which everyone has an opinion. And most of those opinions -- frankly all of those I've encountered -- are 100 percent supportive of B.F. So why, I wondered for weeks, did the idea make me (and probably me alone, I thought at the time) grimace?

But as soon as I said the words -- breast-feeding -- at my monthly luncheon with my two preggers pals, I saw glimpses of that exact grimace on their faces, too. And boy (or girl!), was I relieved.

I've got a stack of pregnancy books at home, all of which indicate that as prospective moms, we should be ecstatic about the joys of breast-feeding. And then there's the medical findings that show 10,000 percent that breast-feeding is the best thing you can do for your baby.

Pressure, crushing down on me.

Sure, we all agreed that it's best for the baby and that we would give it a shot -- can't argue with 10,000 percent statistics, after all -- but knowing I wasn't the only one a little doubtful about the joy I would actually get out of breast-feeding made me feel so much better.

That's about the time it hit me that other women might have the same doubts. Or new perspectives on the topic that would benefit all of us. The luncheon discussion moved on to other pregnancy related topics, but the idea of connecting with other pregnant women in Southeast Missouri -- similar to our little monthly lunches but on a bigger scale -- stuck with me. Thus, the Baby Mama Drama blog was born (without an epidural, I might add ... though that's yet another point of discussion we've taken on).

So three Southeast Missourian staffers -- myself included -- teamed up to lead the blog, with an all-inclusive, nonexpiring invitation to other pregnant women (and moms in general) to join in.

There's really no limit to the chit-chat. Birthing methods. Maternity clothes. Circumcision. Day care. Whatever is on your mind, is probably on our minds (or will be soon), so bring it up in this online community, surrounded by women in the same boat.

Share your own experiences or just follow along with ours. Either way, I promise an interesting ride.

Want to participate?

Log on to shethemagazine.com/blogs/babymamadrama