You can practically smell them, though that might be the rescue remedy drops and raspberry leaf tincture.
This cracked me up. Delicious satire throughout.

There are people (maybe especially in the U.S.) who are rabid about natural birth, and I went the moderate route: see how it goes, make no assumptions either way.

I've had women describe it as "like diarrhea pain, no worse," and for them I definitely wouldn't recommend pain meds. Totally unnecessary. The woman weeping during prelabor who had been sent home by the hospital because it was much too soon? Definitely meds for her.

I really thought the kicker was not going to be psychic pain, but the first attempt at breastfeeding. Both of my kids got a good blister on me before I'd even left the hospital. :O