I Have NO Shame.

It is amazing what giving birth does to your sense of modesty. In anticipation of my due date, I packed a bag full of clothing options for the birthing center: several night-gowns, a bathrobe, a bathing suit for the tub. I envisioned myself arriving at the birthing center, putting on my bathing suit (at least the top, if not the bottoms too: I could always slip them off at the last minute) before slipping into the warm water of the birthing tub and then perhaps changing into one of the nightgowns before settling into bed to give birth. Yeah...it all stayed nicely folded in my overnight bag.When we arrived at the birthing center at 2 am on December 9th I was already eight centimeters dilated and in the late stages of labor. I was so focused on trying to relax through the waves of contractions, which at this point were coming every couple of minutes, that the last thing I was thinking about was what to wear. All I wanted to do was get in the tub, and so I did, sans bathing suit. And when I moved to the bed I did NOT change into a night gown, heck, I could hardly get IN the bed. When I finally did the midwife kept telling me to try to move closer to the middle, because I was, in all my naked glory, teetering on the edge. I think she said something like, "I don't want the baby to fall off the bed." Maybe she didn't say that. I was too focused on what was happening inside my body to give a damn about what it looked like from the outside--or to remember accurately what people said.And so you stop caring. All of the sudden, one event: birth. That's all it takes. When I was little I could never understand how the older ladies in the pool locker-room could walk around naked like it was the most normal state of being. I'd stand there after my swim lessons, aghast at their lack of modesty. Now I understand. They were all moms. They had been there and done that. What did they care if a little ten year old girl saw them naked?Not that I'll be walking around locker-rooms naked anytime soon, but seriously, when it comes to bodily necessities like giving birth or peeing, I have no shame. Which is why I now have no problem dropping my running tights to pee on the beach. And for the record (well, more like for my Mom's benefit, because I know she reads this blog) I was very discreet. My backside was tucked in between two large rocks over by the eight-foot-high sea-wall, and the stroller was pulled in front of me. No one saw anything.But even though I have no problem popping a squat to pee on the beach, I doubt you'll ever see me in a two-piece bathing suit again (chalk that one up to birth too) unless some generous weightloss-fairy sprinkles her dust on me.

--Sarah