Nobody knows with certainty how endometriosis works. Nobody knows what causes it, either. Patiently, politely, I had participated in months of reckless, hopeful subservience: of lying down while doctors tested and palpated and examined and queried, but never wholly explained their method -- or my disease.

Nicole's first birth story can be found here. You should also read Meaghan O'Connell's, it's a triumph of the genre. The last few weeks of pregnancy are pretty bad. Even when you've already had a baby, it's hard to remember that they're easier to look after while they're still inside your body, because you have to pee constantly and your back hurts and your feet hurts and you can't shave anything you…