11 Comments
Sep 21, 2022Liked by Bess Kalb

I hate the over use of the word triggering but this absolutely was.

I had a catastrophic hemorrhage during my C-section. I lost so much blood I lost kidney function and needed a transplant. I can’t imagine forcing anyone to give birth, period. Add the maternal mortality crisis into it. It’s beyond horrific. Pro-life my ass.

Fuck anyone trying to pass laws on women’s bodies.

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I'm so sorry this happened to you and I very much share in your rage at these lawmakers.

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Sep 21, 2022Liked by Bess Kalb

This made me cry. What a horrific situation. I'm so glad you and your son survived.

I had 4 pregnancy losses between my two live births, decades ago, when that sort of thing was simply tragic. Now, I'd probably also be an accused serial killer because of losses outside my control.

Lawmakers should stay the fuck out of medicine.

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Amen amen amen.

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Sep 21, 2022Liked by Bess Kalb

A brutal reckoning told with wit, yet barely dulls the horror. I wept for you. Even while your brain tried to negotiate the loss of a lesser organ in exchange for your baby storage facility...though that did make me snort through the sobs.

You continue to make this one of my favourite subscriptions. You are currently neck-and-neck with Squidge Rugby - Squidge makes 20 minute videos explaining what happened in rugby matches, with wit and whimsy. Competition is tough at the top and you are killing!

And you are very much in line with a brilliant Aussie comedian, Alice Fraser, who described pregnancy/childbirth as "you’re signing up for a medium-sized car crash. Some people walk away sore, but essentially okay. Other people end up carrying injury for life." Fact.

Stay gold.

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Sep 21, 2022Liked by Bess Kalb

Thank you for writing this, and thank you for enduring the emotional avalanche it surely took to write it.

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Thankfully the real emotional avalanche was in therapy!

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What an amazing story. Glad that you and your baby are doing well.

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He's 7 months old but reading at a 12th grade level.

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Placental Abruption, reporting. I experienced pain on a logarithmic scale I never had access to before or since, but we both survived because we were in the hospital. I get very nervous when people tell me they’re planning to have a baby at home for reasons you well understand because you were on the right table at the right time… hugs!

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