I always feel the same way when I finish a new Lucy Knisley book. It’s so weird to have followed her since the very beginning of her career (through a stroke of luck, I’ve followed her blog from the beginning, before she published a book, because a friend also followed her), to essentially watch her life progress without having spoken a single word to her. (This is especially true since I started following her on Instagram after her son was born. She’s been posting lots of comics about her finicky senior cat, Linney, lately, just as a public service announcement.)
Because I followed her on Instagram, I was aware that she’d had a difficult pregnancy and birth, but until reading this, I wasn’t aware quite how difficult.
I’ve always been fascinated with sexuality and the reproductive system, much more so than my peers seemed to be. I remember reading medical texts for fun in the library and online as much as I could while my fellow fifth graders were playing kickball outside, or whatever. Honestly, if I wasn’t so terrified of actually killing someone, I would have probably tried to become an OBGYN or midwife.
Amusingly, Lucy Knisley seems to share my fascination, and like me, she regrets the lack of general education about pregnancy and women’s health. I knew I was going to like this book before I even read it, but when I got to this panel, I was just like, yep:
“I’ve always wanted to know–how did it go?” Me too!
That’s what this book is about, how it went for Lucy, and she talks openly about every aspect, including her difficulties in her pregnancy with Pal (this is a pseudonym she uses for him, short for Little Palindrome, because he was born on a palindromic day) and her miscarriages. There is actually a lot of talk about openness itself, and how even though miscarriage and other reproductive issues are so, so common, no one talks about them, and so nearly every pregnant person who experiences them feels isolated and alone. She tackles the experience of being in a medical system that dismisses patient concerns (Knisley had pre-eclampsia that escalated into eclampsia during labor, and though she noted all the symptoms to her doctor and was worried about them over the course of her pregnancy, he brushed her fears aside as irrelevant, and then she almost died). It was pretty visceral at times, but it was also funny and happy. Her fears and insecurities get just as much play as her excitement and joy over the impending birth of their son.
That would have been enough for me enjoy the book, but it’s also peppered with pregnancy facts throughout history, and some of them are fascinating, and some of them are terrifying. Modern medicine is not perfect, but it’s a lot better than what they used to have, even 100 years ago!
I know she will probably do a book about marriage or motherhood (or both) next, but I would like to nominate a book entirely about Linney the cat, instead, please (or in addition).
[4.5 stars]