Women are pretty bad about scaring each other with tall tales and horror stories, when it seems we should be a little more supportive.

From 1988 to 1994, I was either pregnant or toting an infant virtually all of that time, and I think I’ve heard every possible rendition of the terrors of labor and childbirth, not making it to the hospital in time, etc. From my experience, it’s not nearly as traumatic as the storytellers painted it (although I do have a friend who delivered her third child in the bathtub, quite by accident. Mom and baby were both fine.).

Although everyone’s experience is unique, for me, childbirth was not even close to the worst thing on the pain scale. It wasn’t as bad as a migraine, and I’ve survived a number of those.

This morning, I went in for my first mammogram, and the technician seemed very anxious to dispel the myths and stories to put me at ease. No need really; I wasn’t worried. In retrospect, it’s nothing to fear — it’s less of an issue than getting your teeth cleaned.

The only bad part is that the machine is cold — but that’s not a big deal.

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BTW, I’ve earned two gold stars this week for another healthy endeavor… Daco knows, RealtorChick knows, but I’m keeping it quiet for a bit longer for the sake of good luck. It just seems unfair that just about the time I finally get around to healthy self-improvement, I caught that awful cold that’s going around.