If you've ever given birth, then chances are you spent way more time than you'd care to admit worrying about potentially embarrassing things that could happen in the delivery room. Will your partner pass out watching your C-section? Will you poop on the floor? But one mama on Instagram has recently come clean about the things she worried about before giving birth versus the things that actually happened — and her honesty is so refreshing that it's inspired dozens of other moms to join in, too.
The story was shared by Instagram mom Kristen Cook (@kristen.cook.kac)
In her reel, she divulges that she was "always afraid of pooping while giving birth on the table," which just so happens to be a very common labor and delivery fear.
Whether she actually did poop while pushing is never really confirmed, but what she did share is that two more embarrassing things wound up happening that she never could have anticipated. Things that she ultimately deemed worse than the prospect of pooping in front of a bunch of strangers.
The first happened in her third trimester when her water suddenly broke
Assuming that she was in labor, Cook grabbed her diaper bag and rushed to the hospital, only to learn that she was not, in fact, in labor.
"The nurse had to kindly tell me that I had just pissed myself," she says bluntly.
The second thing, however, might've been even worse ...
It happened after Cook gave birth to her son and had him laying on her chest for some skin-to-skin bonding.
Cook describes the moment as "magical," and says everyone in the room seemed to be crying with happiness. But that's when something unexpected interrupted the sweet moment.
"I let out a 20-second fart," Cook admits. "Like an uncontrollable [fart] — I couldn't have closed my butt if I wanted to."
"My legs were in the air, there's 14 adults in the room, all like my doctors, my husband making eye contact, and I just farted … forever," she continued. "So just in case you're running out of fears of giving birth, there's a couple."
The video was first shared on Jan. 24 and now has thousands of views
Since then, countless mamas have shared their own embarrassing childbirth tales and it has been nothing short of glorious.
"I had to have a C-section after many hours in labor and my son refusing to come out (he broke 3 vacuums)," one mom recalled. "As I was laying on the operating table with my arms out, I smell something and ask the nurse, 'What is that smell? It’s smells delicious.'"
"She stared me dead in the face and told me, 'Honey, that’s you. They have to cauterize as they cut,'" she added.
"My placenta was placed in a bucket (the proper medical waste container wasn’t available?)," another mom shared. "One of the nurses then accidentally kicked the bucket. My mom said it looked like a scene from Alien as the placenta skittered across the floor and everyone screamed."
"Don't worry," another mom chimed in. "I had a C-section and while coming to from the anesthesia my son was placed on my chest for skin-to-skin contact. I looked at him with confusion, asked the nurse and my ex 'what the f-ck is that thing?' and proceeded to vomit on my son's head."
Other moms had similar experiences to Cook
"I can one-up you!" one person assured. "While my doctor was face-first down there stitching me up, I let out a literal 30-40 queef that had been apparently brewing for the past nine months … in her face. The trainee doctor laughed so hard he had to leave the room."
Another mom said that after her emergency C-section, the doctor "gave a big push to get everything out." That's when she apparently let out "the most EPIC fart ever" right there in the OR.
"So I started laughing and said, 'OMG — was that you?' to the doctor," she went on. "He assured me it was me, but I’ve never farted without feeling it, so I was convinced my doctor just ripped a huge one."
Clearly, Cook created a safe space for other women to open up
In the process, though, more than a few pregnant mamas couldn't help but weigh in.
"Thanks, I needed a few more fears as I approach delivery day!" one mom-to-be joked. "My boyfriend has yet to hear me fart after over a year of being together, so I really hope that won’t be the day it happens."
That said, a few were actually comforted by the hilarious round-up of stories.
"The comments with personal experiences on this story are gold," added someone else. "Makes me slightly less terrified of my own upcoming labor."
The "embarrassing" labor stories also got some major props from other non-moms who couldn't believe what they were reading, and even some dads who applauded them for everything they'd been through.
"Coming from a man: thank you to all the moms in the world," one Instagram user wrote. "You took a huge responsibility and were determined. I love mine. I know why she loves me. I love her too. Thank you moms. None of us would be here without your determination."
(Ahem, we think what he really meant to say was, "Without your determination … and your farts.")
