Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall welcomed their first child, a little girl named Mia, on January 17th. I haven’t been paying that much attention, so I kind of missed the fact that up until this point, we hadn’t seen any photos of the baby. The royal family does tend to have rules about how and when and where certain events are photographed, and while Zara isn’t even technically royal, I’m a little bit surprised that she didn’t give away the first baby photos for free. Here are Mia’s first photos, on the cover of Hello Magazine. Apparently, it’s a multi-page spread and I’m absolutely positive that Hello paid for these photos. Is that tacky? Or is it just smart? Considering Zara doesn’t have a title, I’m erring more on the side of “smart” I guess. Make that money, girl.
They kept the birth of their first child low key, not even posing for the traditional photographs outside the hospital. But Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall have now made the surprisingly public move of selling the first pictures of their baby daughter Mia to Hello! magazine.
The Queen’s fourth great-grandchild, who is 16th in line to the throne and was born on January 17, appears on the front cover of this week’s edition Dressed in a white striped baby gro, Mia, awake and content, is pictured lying in front of her proud parents, who both looked relaxed and happy.
The baby daughter of Zara Phillips made her first public appearance at the Barbury point-to-point races in Wiltshire, where two of her mother’s horses were competing, but could not be seen inside her buggy, making the Hello! shoot the first time the latest edition to the royal family has been seen by the public.
In 2008, Zara’s brother Peter Phillips was criticised after selling photos of his wedding to Canadian bride Autumn Kelly to Hello! and reportedly receiving £500,000 in return. At the time Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb described the move ‘a serious error of judgment’ that ‘smacks rather of greed’.
Last September, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent’s son Lord Frederick Windsor and his wife Sophie Winkleman also posed for Hello! with their baby daughter Maud. Earlier this month, Hello! published paparazzi photographs of Prince George in the arms of his mother the Duchess of Cambridge as they left a British Airways plane while on a Caribbean holiday. Some commentators expressed surprised that the Cambridges had apparently not tried to stop the publication of the paparazzi images.
A spokesman for Hello! magazine said: ‘We are delighted that Zara and Mike Tindall chose to share their beautiful baby pictures with Hello!’
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on whether the Queen had been consulted over the photographs, which appear across 13 pages of the glossy magazine. Olympic medal-winning sportswoman Zara and former England rugby star Tindall revealed that their daughter was ‘pretty relaxed and happy so far’.
The couple hired a maternity nurse for the first few days to help them get to grips with parenthood.
Mia, whose name was announced by her father via Twitter, was born in the NHS at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
‘We’d never even contemplated going privately,’ the couple told the magazine.
Mia’s second cousin Prince George – a future king – was born at the private Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London. Zara also disclosed that she had an epidural. She said she was hoping to resume her equestrian career and enter the Burghley Horse Trials in September but for now they were ‘taking each day as it comes’.
Tindall, who was described by his wife as a hands on father, said: ‘I still keeping looking at Mia and thinking “Oh! We made that!”‘
Oh, she had the epidural! I’m glad that she said that. I think that speaks volumes too – Zara is crazy athletic, she’s super-tough and even she was like, “F—k this, I need an epidural.” As I’ve said before, I have zero judgment for women who want painkillers during childbirth. If I ever gave birth, I would want to be unconscious. I’m not even joking.
If Peter Phillips and his wife received £500,000 for their baby photos, how much do you think Zara and Mike got? I would say… probably around that amount. Something in the £400,000 to £700,000 range.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Hello! Magazine.
yikes!!
no no no!! bad parents! now go back to your castle and think about what you have done!!!
Look, as soon as I felt a contraction I was begging for my pain killers. I have nothing ro prove to anyone. And I was medicated to the hilt afterwards. The fact that a squeezed a human being out of my body is bragging rights.
IKR my MIL tried to tell me i was a real woman for doing so, I was like WHATEVER lady. But to be fair she had 6 all without meds….. so yeah. (shudders)
Why on Earth would anyone judge women for using painkillers?!
I’ve seen a of woman being a bit judged for giving birth at home, but other than that no one ever judged anyone for their choices.
We Americans judge women for EVERY choice they make.
*sigh*
I get judging dumb choices but most of us do what we gotta do. And we try to do our best…
For many it has nothing to do with bragging rights, or proving anything. I weighed the pros and cons of an epidural or natural, and for me, natural had less risks, and i’m glad I did.
my least favorite thing I hear is “you don’t get a medal for doing it drug free”. I don’t want a freaking medal. It’s not like it’s the exact same birth experience, just without pain. if so, yeah, probably more would do it. But it affects the birth in other ways. So some women weigh the consequences, and decide to opt out.
Oh, and believe you me, afterwards I made sure to get plenty of narcotics. So clearly it wasn’t about braving pain.
People that don’t get epidurals are not necessarily trying to prove anything to anyone. Judgment goes both ways, I guess.
I toughed out 8 hours of back labor (once I figured out I was in labor, I was 40 wks, 3 days, but still had a few loose ends to tie up, so I was probably in labor all morning without noticing), mainly because I was afraid that my epidural would wear off mid-birth. I was never so f—ing glad to see someone coming with a needle in my life.
Side note:
Has anyone ever read a study to compare menstrual symptoms and labor symptoms? Not the intensity, obviously, but the way they manifest? My menstrual cramps are also back cramps and labor felt very similar to those cramps. I wonder if it’s the way our bodies are built, that they react the same way to trying to expel something from the uterus, be it lining or a 40 wk, 3 day baby with a head the size of a melon. Unless this is common knowledge and I’m just oblivious? I’m in sales, not medicine, for so many reasons.
I haven’t read any literature about it but I always was curious because childbirth was much easier than my menstrual cramps. Go figure.
PrettyTarheelFan – i haven’t read any studies, but anecdotally, many women i’ve met along the way have said this.
Back pain in labour as well as strong menstrual cramps can be caused by a retroflexed retroverted uterus, which is tipped back and kind of folded. The ideal position for a uterus is to be tipped forward. There are other causes for cramps of course, but that seems to be a big one.
@LAK, I guess I have avoided a lot of labor discussions over the years. Prior to having my son, I preferred to pretend the stork delivered babies. I even ditched birthing classes, mostly because they did some really boring crap about “you have no control” that made me want to vomit. Yeah, lady, I get that I am pot-committed at this point, and I can’t control this whole process, but I also don’t need you yapping about it in your “soothing” voice which makes me want to hit someone. Wow, I still have a lot of pent-up aggression over that one.
@Tessy-good to know. I had no idea why my cramps preferred my lower back, and never thought to research it. Good thing my uterus is closed for business.
@LS- I have horrible menstrual cramps, well, a horrible, 21 day cycle overall, but labor was like that without end. Usually my cramps are about 4-6 hours the first day…
Now that I’m thinking about it, though, I guess they are comparable at least. Usually I take some pretty strong painkillers to handle the cramps and I never face them completely drug free, so it may be that my view is distorted. I’m not willing to go drug-free next month to test the theory though. 🙂
As a completely off topic side note, I noticed below you forget Amazon is an option. Amazon, and Amazon Prime, have completely changed my life. If I can buy it on Amazon, and have it delivered in a few day, it’s pretty much a no-brainer. Don’t even get me started on the subscriptions. TL; DR: Amazon is addictive.
Audible!
For books? Doesn’t it drive you nuts, though? I am a tremendously fast reader, and the few times I’ve tried to listen to books I have almost gone bonkers. I don’t need natural pauses, just give me the info. I tend to devour books in one sitting or 24 hours, so perhaps Audibles just isn’t meeting the “immediate gratification” need that the Kindle app does.
Me too, PrettyTarHeelFan. I read faster than I can talk!
Too weird: I had never heard of back labour until this week (colleague at work s expecting and we were all chatting), now twice. To answer your question, I’m sure something has been, as I’ve often heard this analogy made (but yeah, different intensity–a difference in degree, not kind).
From what I’ve heard and read etc. I’m pretty sure a lot of these labour comparison talks, however, boil down to goose/gander fallacy. A lot of labours are MUCH more painful than others, so if a woman is having an average labour with no back labour or complications, foregoing an epi is doable. Other women biologically simply can’t. It’s not a matter of “will” or “pain tolerance.” I know women who’ve had horrendous labours, others who found it wasn’t as bad as they’d feared (though still no walk in the park!), so their option to go natural was more feasible.
Bottom line for me (in reference to overall thread here, not your comment in particular, which isn’t about that) is that I agree with all the commenters who say “stop judging.” Labours aren’t always comparable woman to woman, so it’s madness to prescribe the “best” way or to think that, having gone through labour, we know what it’s all ALL about.
PrettyTarHeelFan
Oh I love audible! I’m like you so I use the feature that lets you speed up the narration to 1.5x, 2x, 2.5x etc. i can listen to a book on 2.5x easily and my husband swears he can’t catch a single word lol. On the weekends, however, we listen to books we’ve chosen together and enjoy it with coffee and his world famous apple cake! Right now we’re finishing a Dennis Lahane novel and next we’re tackling The Dinner and The Plantagenets.
@Godwina – using or not using an epidural is not a biological necessity…..
I know I sound petty, but can he not get that rugby-induced nose fixed!? If I were going to be in the public eye so much…..just saying…..
At least he got his teeth fixed – they were unbelievably bad!
Haha. Let’s be petty together.
The official line is that he will have it fixed once he stops playing. I guess he is still playing rugby. But I agree – it would look better if he had it “done”.
it’s been broken 7 times now, and he’s said in interviews that he thinks it would a waste of money to fix it now “it’ll just get broken again”
He’s said in several interviews that it will happen once he retires and there’s no risk of it being rebroken.
Yeah, the nose is far from pretty but I’m more fussed about the way he openly cheated on Zara not that long ago!
No, you are not petty……I am going to be incredibly shallow and agree with you; his nose is beyond distracting!
I’m surprised Zara hasn’t asked him. He must snore like a stampeding elephant.
Not to mention, can he even breathe properly with that thing? I have never heard him speak, but I would think his voice would be affected. I mean, that thing is just smashed!
Gah…that guy’s nose. I’m sure it’s a rugby thing that I don’t understand…but it looks painful!
Also, I know that Princess Anne refused titles for her husband and children, and then Zara did upon her marriage as well, but man if I was little Mia, I’d be upset that my great-granny is a queen and I’m not even considered royal.
Oddly enough, I see why Anne turned down the titles for her children. Once you accept one, you are a glorified tourist attraction, till the day you die.
By not accepting titles for her children. They get to be private citizens. Which I see the value in that. Especially in England, where they live to harp about every tiny thing the Royal family does.
Even with Zara being a private citizen, here is the public out crying over her selling pictures of her baby girl. Which I would have done too. Why is it the public demands, everything is to be FREE. Or else we are going to call you ugly names. Even without a royal title, Zara and Mike have dealt with some ugly British press. Simply cause she has a mother and grandmother with titles.
I do not see the upside of being Royal. At all.
From the time that title is placed upon you, it is made clear that you are employee of the country. To be a life time tourist attraction. Who gets ridicule for sport. No thank you!
Oh, I completely understand that Anne wanted them to have as “normal” a life as possible, and I don’t disagree with it at all. But I know as a 5 year old, I would be heartbroken. I always wanted to be a “princess,” which, I know wouldn’t have been Zara’s or Mia’s titles.
I don’t understand why having painkillers or not having painkillers during your labor is anyone’s business but your own? You are having a baby, not competing in a contest of endurance.
Baby is cute. Dad’s nose though….wow
Although a fair number of women get upset when they find out that not everyone experiences a painful birth.
Because some people act superior by not using painkillers or numbing agents.
For something that can range from 0 pain at all to so painful you pass out it’s no woman’s place to judge or to tell how they had such an easy go of it.
Great if it was so easy for you, but it doesn’t make you better than someone who needs that help.
Giselle and Miranda are good examples of shaming others.
I consider myself ‘lucky’ that my second child wasn’t painful because I’m a total wuss when it comes to pain…
And a lot of these women have access to stuff we can’t afford which may help ‘explain’ their less medicated states.
A big pet peeve of mine is when women have help in the form of topical numbing agents and oxygen masks along with a great deal of calming sensory in the room. Then they claim they did it all ithout pain killers. To claim that just because you didn’t get an epidural means you had no painkillers irks me and i’ve given the side eye to those women later on when they brag.
That’s just my personal, 1st hand observations. I’m sure others get lots of time to prep for meditation and core strengthening if that’s what you meant by things they can afford LadySlippers.
And many many women, here especially, act like not having them means other women want a medal. Considering more people opt for them than not, the “shaming” people allude to can’t be that powerful.
@Florc: Partly. They have access to doulas, massage therapists, acupuncture, and a whole lotta other things we don’t even think about because we simply don’t know about them. A sensory room would be awesome though.
@Marigold: I just dislike shaming anyone for a choice that’s best for them (assuming this is a reasonable choice). This is an in general comment and not directed to anyone in particular. Not all of us make the same decisions because we all have different wants and needs and I wish we could learn to accept that. Cookie cutter decisions aren’t good ones usually.
FLORC, I have not given birth so I will abstain from voicing an opinion, but I’m not sure how oxygen would be considered pain medicine. Typically it’s not applied to a laboring mother unless it’s believed there’s fetal distress.
Mayamae
It can and is given if requested. Variables for such a case include the insurance involved, the doctor and the hospital.
Oxygen can calm and relieve stress and by that, relieve pain. I also have not given birth either, but have been working a maternity ward for 3 years now.
And I don’t mean to label Oxygen as pain medicine directly. Only that it does ease a person.
Marigold
For a little bit I remember lots of celebs talking about how they opted for no epidural because it was harmful to the baby and if you did get one you were harming your child by drugging them. Just awful.
miranda actually said next time she WILL take paid meds and people downplayed how badly it would hurt.
A know a woman who’s been shaded for giving birth at home ( well, not shaded, but people were extremely worried about her), but for painkillers? Why even?
“Hell paid” – haha, good typo! It does seem tacky, I would think Zara was above this!
And to whoever recommended the book To Marry an English Lord, I am reading it and it’s awesome! Cressida Bonas’ family has a significant portion written about them in it (the Curzons). Lots of photos too. Interesting stuff.
I was one. I’m glad you like it — it puts a lot of things into perspective about the British aristocracy.
LAK recommended Snobs by Jullian Fellows so I’m trying to hunt that one down.
http://www.amazon.com/Snobs-Novel-Julian-Fellowes/dp/1250020360/ref=la_B001HCZWP8_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393260993&sr=1-3
We have a 1/2 Price Bookstore that I frequent and I love getting practically new books at a steal. 🙂
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1250020360/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1393262404&sr=8-1&keywords=snobs+julian+fellowes&condition=used
Unless it’s important you get it at your store.
Ladyslippers, I thank you, too! I downloaded ‘To Marry and English Lord’ the night you recommended it, and it is fabulous! One of my favorite reads ever, and of course, I’m a Downton fan. Perfection!
Thanks bluhare. I always forget that amazon or even eBay are options. Lol
And ncmagnolia, as always, you are welcome.
Cool. Thanks.
They can sell photos or they can live off the taxpayers’ pounds and pence. Selling photos seems more honourable.
They are not actually allowed money via The Sovereign’s Grant (the old Civil List) so it’s not an option for them.
Agreed
I’ll be amazed if Zara doesn’t have at least one trust fund.
That being said, their baby, their choice.
She and her brother do this because they don’t have the same amount of coin that their cousins have.
Actually Zara has a greater personal wealth than William with her inheritance from the Queen Mum and her own earnings.
Mike is a celebrity and so is she so there is obviously interest. Lord Freddie Windsor and his wife, Sophie Winkleman, sold their pics back in august despite there being very little public interest in them.
Smart $$ move. Sell better pics than the paps will eventually get anyway.
It’s smart. If she was supported by the Crown, then it would be tacky to double up, but she isn’t. She & Mike are private citizens.
Can’t really tell who Mia takes after right now. She is a cutie.
I’m thinking Zara with that squint in the eyes. Such a cutie.
Maybe they can start a college fund or something.
I would take drugs so fast your head would spin if I were having a baby.
Dahling, don’t we take enough things to drown out the pain????? 😉
Seriously though, childbirth isn’t always painful. My first was because I was induced (the body can’t match the endorphins to the contractions). However, my second was NOT painful at all. The last few minutes were a tad painful but I’ve had menstrual cramps that were worse. I’m totally serious and not the only woman that doesn’t have painful childbirth stories (most keep quiet).
(Note: Non-painful contractions also means you can’t tell the difference between Braxton-Hicks and the real thing. Not good when you go into pre-term labour)
I had two very easy births, no pain killers. The second was 20 minutes and so easy it didn’t even mess my hair and makeup. You are right, without anonymity I would never admit it. Though both my girls had horrible reflux and projectile vomited their first 4 months, so no one gets everything…
My second wasn’t quite as fast as 20 minutes but I wasn’t gone long enough for them to clear out my room (labour was over an hour). But it was almost fast enough for a nurse, rather than a doctor, to deliver me. (Doc walked in snapping on her gloves — my daughter was born shortly thereafter)
Wow, I have never known anyone who said they had a fairly pain free childbirth experience. That’s great! Usually, you just hear horror stories. Why do you think people don’t talk about it? Are they afraid of the wrath of the other mothers? I’ll change my statement to “I would take drugs at the first sign that it was going to hurt more than stubbing my toe. ” I’m a wimp.
GoodNames, I’ve got a big mouth so I’m not as bashful as others but I’ve been approached by other women that have also experienced easy childbirth. Statistically, it’s not that unusual either. It’s just no one wants to hear that a decent minority of women don’t have that stereotypically horrible childbirth experience. Plus, a lot of natural birth advocates feel that many modern practices, such as birthing on your back, needlessly increases the pain. If you look across cultures, there is a universal birthing position that supposedly isn’t as painful (I can’t say one way or another but putting it ‘out there’).
My mother in law had 0 pain with all 3 children. My husband (child #2) took 2 hours from 1st contraction and 1 big push. As the story goes she went in because a big thuderstorm was to hit that night and came in to be safe, gave birth, later walked herself out of the hospital the next morning and never even took an aspirin.
LadySlippers
I’ve heard women claim it was easier standing, squatting, kneeling, etc. I’ll just take it case by case. Too many variables for me to believe there’s 1great way to give birth.
Yeah, I tend not to talk about it because many people have horror stories of third degree tears, etc.
Also, mine is very genetic. My grandma, aunts and mom were all the same, so its not like I can give any tips to help any one else.
But, I would never pass judgement on anyone else’s decision to have pain meds. Just remember to ask for them when you first arrive at the hospital, as there is a cut off time when you are not allowed an epidural after.
EDIT- I found afterpains worse than contractions… especially after my second. Ladyslippers, did you find that as well?
@Florc: Again, I can’t state with any certainty than one stance is better than another. However, from an anthropologic angle, having something close to anything universal is interesting. (Sorry I am a huge geek)
@sienna: YES!!!! It was so weird! I thought almost all of recovery painful. I don’t know if it was the contrast between so little pain during childbirth and then BAM! pain or what. And I also got some very violent thoughts during stage three. Let’s just say I totally understand why an animal snaps at others when you get too close either during labour or shortly thereafter…. lol
(And super cheery nurses don’t help.
Nurse: ‘Okay! Honey! Let’s rub your uterus to help it contract’ in a super sugary voice.
Me inside my head: ‘B@*%# I thought that’s why the kid is nursing?!??? Where’s a fricking baseball bat when you need one???? Grrrrrrrrrrrr’ in nothing even remotely close to a friendly voice.
Me what I actually said: ‘Okay. Wow that hurts. Ouch!’ in a tired, exasperated voice.
Isn’t there a scene in a Judy Blume book–can’t remember which one–in which a teen mom tells her female friends that her labour wasn’t the painful screamfest she’d expected because: movies, and it was like she was revealing The Secret? I remember being very relieved and grateful to Blume for giving me and thousands of other young female readers a glimmer of hope. 🙂
I was so terrified of giving birth that I asked my midwife if she’d consider twilight sleep like the old days when women “woke up” and the whole thing was over. She said no, so I had an epidural 14 hours in. With #2, I told the triage nurse to get the needles ready ASAP 🙂
My sister is still pissed on my mom for persuading her not to take epidural when she gave birth to her first child. Surprisingly, the second child was born too easily she didn’t need any pain reliever at all.
Considering I need a sedative just to deal with dentistry, no way am I NOT taking ALL the drug options. Heck, if they can fax that baby to me…….
On the Zara front, she’s a not royal, doesn’t live off tax payer money, she can do whatever the hell she wants. Ditto her brother.
And for Mike’s nose, he’s a rugby player. His nose has broken 8times at the last count. Better to wait until his playing career is over to fix it. At least it’s fixable, many rugby players end up with cauliflower ears. Nought can do about that!
LAK, I don’t respond well to pain meds and still my second birthing experience was a walk in the park compared to dentist visits. All I’m saying is you might just luck out — I did.
(Thank you god)
I googled cauliflower ears…OMFG I quit! I quit the internet today.
Serious lol.
Most ruggers do NOT end up with deformed noses or cauliflower ears. I played prop and wing forward for many years and never had a broken nose. Never even broke a bone. Forwards tape their ears down (my preference) or wear scrum helmets to avoid that. Even among top-flight internationals like Tindall, most ruggers retire looking perfectly normal.
BTW, my rugger-girl ex-wife gave birth to our second “accidentally” without an epidural (she dawdled about getting to the hospital). If you want to hear paint-blistering profanity, try holding the hand of a woman rugger whelping without benefit of painkillers. Her GYN was terrified she was going to rear up on the hospital bed and tear her head off.
I played wing. Chances of getting any scratches on you in that position are miniscule.
i agree that these days many players tape their ears and or wear helmets – what a bunch of softies…..LOL
wouldn’t fly [pun unintended] in my day.
i find it strange that Tindall has had so broken nose incidents because the better you are, the less injury prone you should be. then again, look at johnno. i don’t think i could look at his face until after his retirement.
I don’t understand why Zara doesn’t have a title. I’m not trying to be obtuse. She’s the queen’s granddaughter, I don’t understand why she wouldn’t have a title.
Actually this is an easy answer.
Only males transmit titles to offspring in the UK so female line children don’t get any titles from their mothers.
Plus, Anne and her then husband, turned down a title for him — meaning their children would not have titles. Plus both of Anne’s children ALSO turned down titles when they married their current spouses.
Hope that helps. 🙂
They grew up considered non-royal, but marriage can restore their title? If they don’t get married can they still apply for a title?
Another great question!
No, you cannot ‘apply’ for a title, they are now offered and given by HM just prior to Royal weddings. Margaret’s husband, Andrew, Edward, and William all were extended titles right before their weddings.
So for Anne, HM offered Mark Phillips an earldom to which he refused. No one knows exactly what titles were offered to Peter and Mike (remember traditionally males in the UK get the titles) but they were declined as well. So whatever Peter and Zara felt about being ‘title-less’ can’t be that bad as they are also doing it to their children.
Hell, Zara’s got bills and she likely isn’t on royalty welfare courtesy of the British taxpayer so get money!
I vote they are smart.
They should bank some of that away for a nose job for him.
I must say thought that I love the rugby players build. So damn masculine.
I thought Peter Philips and his wife received that half million pounds for their wedding, which involved royals relaxing and partying it up. The Queen didn’t like that one bit. Was it really for their child?
Yeah, I thought I read that too – that the royals were more upset about pictures of themselves at a private event being publicized than the fact that Peter and his wife sold the photos for money.
Lovely baby. 🙂
I did it natural one year ago with my first and I don’t brag about it. In fact, I tell people how painful it was to choose natural birth. I think if I had done Lamaze it would have been less painful. My son was born 6 hours after the start of my first contraction so he came pretty fast for a first baby.
My mom took lamaze classes for my older brother and she calls them the biggest waste of money that ever was. It doesn’t matter howyou breath, some things are just going to be painful.
Thanks for the advice. I can’t fathom someone doing it naturally and saying it didn’t hurt but I have heard this from some women. They must be bionic women!
@Sara: Not bionic at all!! I think it’s luck and genes. I’m normally a total wuss when it comes to pain so to have such an easy time of it shocked me.
@m: I had two preemies and never had the opportunity to take any birthing class but I’ve heard a lot of mixed things when it comes to them. Some really liked it but a lot thought it was a waste of time and money.
I think the classes are all about your personality. We lived in a very small town, and had exactly one choice on birthing classes, run by the local hospital. They did a guided meditation on the first night, and then started talking about surrendering your control over your body. I left and never went back. It was making me violent-gritted teeth, the whole thing. Not a healthy mental state, for sure.
I had a med /epidural free birth with my first son and nobody gave me a cookie. I left with a healthy baby, same as everyone else. So silly to judge either way. I was begging for an epidural as soon as I got to the hospital with my second baby.
I had an emergency C-section with my first and have run the gamut on pain meds: unconscious with my first, then epidural with my second, then spinal block, then a spinal block/epidural mix. I would have loved the opportunity to try natural.
All the shaming back and forth drives me crazy – as if being a parent isn’t already hard enough, we decide to make it harder by making it a competitive sport.
Good to know I’m not the only one that has painful, body-wrenching, nausea-inducing, curled-up-in-the-fetal position, screaming at the top of my lungs cramps (they really are that bad). I am totally okay if I take Advil Liquagels (they kick in within 15 minutes, they are a godsend compared to regular painkillers which take up to 45 minutes to have any effect). I can still feel the cramps and I may wince a bit during particularly painful spasms but I can function. Birth control seems to have helped a bit too (I know when I get my period so I can be prepared!) and I’ve learned how to manage them. But it is awful. I once had them really bad on a plane and I didn’t have any painkillers… I felt so bad for the people in my aisle but there was nothing to be done. I tried to moan quietly.
Some in Asian cultures have used ginger to ease cramps for centuries. My sister got me concentrated ginger to drop into my tea. The relief was so quick and so complete that I wanted to cry with happiness. There are also medical options such as Rx that let you have only 3 or 4 cycles a year. One of my girlfriends does that one and it changed her life.
Here’s a few good posts concerning the British Royal Finances from one of the Royal tumblr blogs. Basically the blog owner, The Royal Blogtini, maintains the BRF doesn’t really ‘live off’ the British tax payer like so many people think.
Note: I haven’t been able to confirm or deny everything as untangling the mess of finances around the BRF is tough but this does seem to make sense.
http://theroyalblogtini.tumblr.com/tagged/finances
Sorry, but that blog clearly has a very a superficial understanding of the subject and some wrong facts if I may add.
It’s too boring to reiterate again how the royals take taxpayer money, what is included in the calculation vs what is left out AND why they switched from civil list to Sovereign grant and what exactly it (and who) covers, but we’ve debated the issue on this blog several times, so if you have the time, just go into old posts and find the relevant information with proper links from many, many knowledgeable people on here.
A bit more here, obviously from the Republican side of the debate:
The no-nonsense guide to royal finances.
http://www.republic.org.uk/updates/?p=1129
The Value for Monarchy Myth
http://www.republic.org.uk/What%20we%20want/In%20depth/Royal%20finances/index.php