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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/Glum-Sky-6560 on 2026-01-15 02:58:48+00:00.
I (28f) gave birth to my son 3 months ago. I did not have the easiest pregnancy and labor/postpartum recovery.
For full context, I was induced at 39.5 weeks pregnant. After about 23 hours of labor I asked for an epidural. It took the anesthesiologist 1h15 and 20 tries to try to get the epidural in. After all the attempts failed, we decided to give up, as it was just too painful. About 10 minutes after, I went into shock and my son was born via emergency C-section.
I ended up spending a total of 6 days in the hospital from the day I was induced. My son was born healthy, but the epidural failure cause some temporary nerve damage in my back that ended up lasting 3 weeks. The pain from both the C-section and my back (plus a newborn baby) caused me to barely sleep the entire time we were at the hospital.
So here's the part where I fucked up. As we were getting on the elevator after being discharged, a visibly pregnant woman and her partner walked into the elevator with us. They smiled at us, at our baby and then she asked with a big smile on her face: "Did everything go well? Labor and recovery?" For the life of me, I still don't know why I responded with the most deadpan expressionless face: "No." It took me a solid few seconds and the look of absolute horror on both the pregnant woman and her partner's faces for me to try to do some damage control. I added: "but thats the beauty of labor! It never goes as you expect!" Wrong answer. They both quickly turned away and my husband just turned to me with a look of utter bewilderment. This interaction still haunts me 3 months later and I cringe so hard at both my response and my attempt at a recovery. If you ever read this, I'm so so sorry.
TL;DR A pregnant lady asked me if my labor went well and I was too honest.
Edit: i really appreciate every comment and seeing all the replies has helped me realize that we really do need to talk more about birth trauma and recovery and its ok to not be ok. Sending love to all the parents out there who know the pain of a traumatic birth (or just the pain of having a baby) ๐ซ๐