I was over-joyed when I first learned I was expecting my first
baby. It wasn’t until sometime in the second trimester, when I
finally started to show, that I really realized I was going to
be giving birth–somehow and sometime–and only months away. I was
scared. I knew that pushing our baby out was going to be the
hardest physical challenge of my life so far. I decided to do
what I do best when I start to worry: research.  One of the best
ways to learn about things like pregnancy, parenting and
childbirth is to talk to other moms. I started to pick the
brains of my friends who had children. I asked them to tell me
their stories, starting with how they first knew they were in
labor, how long it lasted, whether or not they got pain
medication and if they would change anything if they could go
back and do it again. Many friends that I talked to had very
strong opinions on things like natural childbirth with no pain
medication or c-sections. I even had one friend who told me she
was sure her sister could have “pus