"Oh, you HAD a c-section."

Women, and particularly mothers, this post is for and to you.

I love telling people that I had twins for another family. I love saying that I was a surrogate. I loved the whole process from embryos transferred to the birth of the babies. 

Yes, there were a couple of things that at the time were not fun. Contractions every 2 minutes while in the car at 3 a.m. was not my favorite part. The epidural not having time to work and giving birth to Brady naturally was not in my "birth plan" (ha! Like I even had a birth plan!) Enduring my doctor pushing on my stomach for 45 minutes and still ending up with a c-section for Cohen was definitely not something I had even considered.

All of that said, the ultimate end goal of all pregnancies is a healthy baby, right? 

I think people, and other women who have given birth particularly, tend to forget that goal: healthy baby. For some reason, women get hung up on the whole c-section thing. I don't know why some people think they are more or less of a woman because of how they gave birth. 

This week, as people at my workplace have been learning more about Brady and Cohen, I have heard that obnoxious phrase "oh, you had a c-section." It's always said with that tone. You know, the one that implies you are less of a woman or not strong enough or I don't know what else all because you had a c-section. 

The way I look at it is that the ultimate goal of any child birth is that of a healthy baby, healthy mom/surrogate. Period. Is a c-section the easiest way for a baby to enter the world? No, it's usually easier to have a vaginal delivery. I think there are very few women who actually would chose major abdominal surgery over a natural birth experience. But it happens. 

I'm thankful that we have the option of c-section for when things don't go as expected or planned. I am so thankful for my doctor who had the knowledge to know when it was time do the surgery. Cohen's existence is proof of her skill as a physician.

So, as people patronizingly say to me "oh, you had a c-section," I just calmly smile and respond with "yes, thankfully I had a c-section with Cohen. What a blessing to be able to deliver another healthy baby!" After all, because of that surgery, there are two healthy miracles!