If a man had to endure labor...

[True Dough]

He'd come through that experience like a champion, right? Tenacious. Stoic. In complete control.

Right???

Maybe not.

[LOL Lib]

1. If men had to endure menstrual cramps,

there would be drive up vending machines filled with OxyContin on every block. Plus there would be mandatory paid sick leave for monthly cycles. Pussies!

[DK504]

7. Oh someone....

Those of us that have pusswahs can bleed for 5 days and live and we can push a watermelon out of our cervix and walk the next day.

Men can't do any of those things, and think they are tough. I only call women pussies....we are damn tough!

[LOL Lib]

8. ...

[LeftInTX]

9. Opioids would only make it worse - cuz of the constipation

I don't know what it is about menstruation that makes you clean out your lower GI tract beyond belief, but if you don't the cramps just get worse and worse. The process of evacuating this horrible combination of waste from my uterus and GI tract was enough to make me miss school and work.

[LOL Lib]

14. The pill has been a life saver for me.

You described it perfectly. I would always GET an upset stomach before the cramps would ease. Naproxen would help with the pain, but it also made me retain more fluid. I know the pill has side effects, but I am more than happy to take my chances.

[LeftInTX]

15. The pill was also a life saver for me!!!!!!!!

But since menopause, my pill is hormone replacement therapy!!!

I don't think I would have been able to graduate from college or hold down a job if it wasn't for the pill. I often missed two days a month during high school. I would also get horrible PMS a week before. Awful fatigue along with inability to concentrate. When I started the pill my senior year of high school, my grades went up.

[jpak]

10. I had a girlfriend that had horrible MS cramps

I would hold an electric hot pad to her tummy and cuddle her.

And not expect anything in return.

[LOL Lib]

12. Awww! That is so sweet.

Especially the not expecting anything...sex is the last thing on our minds when it feels like your ovaries and uterus are tied in knots.

[pansypoo53219]

11. nope. never say pussy, say ball sack.

[LOL Lib]

13. LOL!

Is there anything uglier than a wrinkled ball sack?

[Docreed2003]

2. Not even going to lie....you ladies are way tougher than we are!

[lapucelle]

3. My mother used to say

that if men had to go through labor, families would only have one child.

To be fair though, this guy didn't have the motivation of the knowledge that a brand, new human being was going to be the prize at the end of the travails.

[lastlib]

17. I don't know--I had to dump a trump yesterday, and it FELT like labor.....

it took an HOUR for the hole to open up enough to let that turd out, and I was pushin, moanin' and groanin', bustin' veins in my forehead.....I do have a new appreciation for what you moms go through in labor...... . .

[PatrickforO]

4. That's really funny!

Women are much stronger than men in quite a few ways.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. Many men are genuine wimps when it comes to pain.

Not to mention, that women get right to taking care of the baby right after childbirth. And if there are older children in the house, they resume taking care of them, also. I find it hard to imagine a man who would do that. They'd expect a month of complete bed-rest before doing anything.

[LeftInTX]

16. I dunno...my husband and I both had the same knee surgery, he rebounded much more quickly

Childbirth is beyond the pale of imagination.
It has to be experienced to be believed.

The good news it is only for a few hours and your body recovers fairly quickly afterwards.

I did all natural with my youngest two.
We learned some mantras to deal with contractions: "I can stand anything for a minute".
"One contraction at a time".

I compare labor to Linda Blair's character in The Exorcist.
You feel like you are going through a metamorphosis that is literally turning you inside out. (To some extent, that is what is going on)

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. A month after my second child was born

(and both births were C-sections, so not a lot of labor but major surgery) my husband had a vasectomy. You'd have thought he was the one who'd had major abdominal surgery, not me.

[LeftInTX]

19. LOL - I thought you were a guy!! (The name Poindexter)

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

20. I try to remember to remind people

as often as possible that despite my name I'm a female person. If I could change it to something that better hinted at my gender without having to start from the beginning in terms of my post count, I would. Oh, well. It's not so bad to keep people guessing.