#Dystocia

[the-cookie-of-doom]

Pregnant Kim anon here again, please know that after I sent that I decided to “warm up” by outlining an entire fic and didn’t get any novel writing done lol. I would love a snippet full of ANGST because I think Kim deserves it right now for what he’s done to my brain

asdfjhagsdjfh VALID! ALL OF THAT IS VALID!

Here is your angst, my darling. I realized I actually don't have a ton of the pregnancy itself written yet, so here's a little bit (lol. it's over 1k, I got carried away) that happens soon after the birth. Kim has horrible post-partum depression thanks to everything that happens in this fic. TW for graphic description of depression and implied suicidal ideation

Chay entered the bedroom to find Kim beneath the covers still, at nearly three in the afternoon. Curled up on his side, tears steadily leaking from the corner of his eye every time he blinked, making a wet spot on the pillow beneath his cheek. He wasn’t even really crying. His eyes were just wet, and that wetness was dripping, and Kim had long since given up on trying to stop it. 

Chay didn’t ask, are you okay? Because he already knew what the answer would be. Instead he climbed onto the bed and spooned up behind Kim, and asked him, “What are you thinking about?”

“It’s not real.”

“What isn’t?”

“This. The depression. All of it. It feels real. It feels awful. But it isn’t. It’s just hormones and chemicals. It’s not me.” Kim didn’t sniffle, or sob, or sigh. His voice didn’t change from the even, monotonous quality it always had when he was trying not to feel. He just breathed. Closed his eyes against a fresh wave of tears, not that it did anything to halt their fall. “I thought once it was over, everything would be okay. I would be free. But it’s never going to stop, is it? There’s no normal for me to go back to. Just this.”

“P’Kim—” Chay’s voice cracked. He swallowed back what sounded like the beginnings of a sob and buried his face in the back of Kim’s neck. Weeks of exposure to Kim’s moods hasn’t made them any easy to handle, not least of all because he knew there’s nothing for him to do. He couldn’t take away this pain. “Please don’t talk like that. It is going to be okay. This isn’t forever. The doctor said it would take at least a month for your medicine to start working—it has to build up in your system, remember? Then everything will be okay.”

Kim didn’t say that the antidepressants only made him feel worse. Blunted him. Blurred any scrap of goodness he could cling too, until it was part of the same empty haze as everything else. He didn’t say that there was no drug strong enough to mask the bone-deep repulsion he felt every time he cradled his daughter to his breast to nurse. Nothing that could make him forget her conception when the pain of her birth was a constant reminder. He didn’t say anything at all. 

Chay squeezed his arm around Kim’s middle, between his aching, swollen breasts, and his aching, swollen incision. Squeezed tight enough that it should have hurt if Kim were capable of feeling anything at all. 

“You’re scaring me, P’Kim,” Chay whispered, holding Kim so tight he could hardly breathe. That was alright. He didn’t need to breathe. 

“I love you, Chay. Thank you for staying with me. I… I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner. Or that I did, I shouldn’t have—right before—” Before he nearly died. He shouldn’t have said it then. In what he thought were his last moments, he needed Chay to know. But it was selfish to let those be his last words to the boy. 

“Thank you for telling me. I’m glad you did. And I love you, too, P’Kim, so much. You are so, so loved, and someday soon, all of this is going to be better, okay? You just have to hold on until then.” Chay’s voice turned near-manic as it fully dawned on him just what he was bargaining for. “Promise me, Kim. Promise me you won’t leave again.”

“I promise.” A mechanical admission in that dull voice, but no less true. Kim found Chay’s hand where it was pressed over his beating heart and laced their fingers together. 

Kim knew Chay would no doubt tell their brothers about his alarming mood, and they would no doubt take him back to the doctor. He knew about the lists Chay had printed out and hidden away in his desk, spread across three pages and outlining the symptoms of baby blues, postpartum depression, and psychosis, with little checked boxes to track him. He’d filled out nearly half the page for depression before ever leaving the hospital. 

Kim wondered how many ticks he got on the last page before they took him away for good. Before they took his daughter away. Maybe they should; she would no doubt be better off without him. He hadn’t even wanted to keep her. Had nearly bled out moments after meeting her. Maybe it was a sign he wasn’t meant to have her at all. 

“Make sure Kiah’s taken care of,” Kim said softly, his face half-buried in the pillows. “I can’t—I’m not good for her. If I can’t take care of her, you’ll find someone who will, won’t you?” Kim went through too much to bring her into this world, he wouldn’t let her suffer for his own unwillingness to give her up, if that’s what it took to offer a better life. 

Behind him, Chay swallowed thickly. 

“Of course, P’Kim. I’ll make sure she’s always safe and loved.” 

The weight that’s been hung around Kim’s shoulders since he made the decision to bring Kiah home finally lifted, a relief he didn’t know he needed. He sighed and sank back into Chay’s warm embrace, the tension finally melting out of his body, and squeezed the hand still lying over his heart. 

“You’re safe and loved, too,” Chay said. “You have me, and Porsche, and your brothers, and P’Pol, and P’Arm, and P’Big. We’re all going to make sure both of you are safe and loved and taken care of. I won’t leave you alone again, P’Kim. Not ever.”

Kim didn’t doubt it. He never had. All this time, Chay’s love—the love of his family—has been an unwavering presence, cutting through the misery that’s cloaked him these last nine months. Kim didn’t know how to express that to Chay. That there was nothing to worry about. Kim wouldn’t hurt himself, with or without their constant supervision. He didn’t want to. He was only acknowledging the unrelenting misery he felt every waking moment, and accepting that it would likely follow him for the rest of his life. He didn’t prefer it, but he knew it was inevitable that these feelings would continue to be his constant companions. 

However he may feel, Kim knew he owed it to his daughter to be the best father he could be for her. And if his best wasn’t good enough, he would find someone that could give her what she deserved. Even still, Kim appreciated the reassurance. Appreciated Chay, for the way the younger boy has stayed at his side for so long, seen him through so much horror and heartbreak, and would show that appreciation however he could. Even if the most he could do was hold his hand and promise not to leave.

[lg-0522]

Through the Veil of Agony

CW: dystocia, death, public birth

Setting: Alice had always been opposed to the country's family planning policy. As a young woman who cherished freedom, she couldn't accept the government's restrictions on childbirth. Therefore, she actively participated in protests against this policy and spoke out against its inhumanity.

This caused a great stir in her school. As one of the dissenting voices, she faced warnings and criticism from her teachers. Since joining the protest activities, Alice became one of the least favored students among the school faculty.

The school administration grew increasingly displeased with her outspoken protests. In an attempt to thwart her activities, the school secretly implanted an IUD contraceptive device in her, aiming to physically block her reproductive capabilities. Unexpectedly, she became pregnant.

Since becoming pregnant, the teachers' attitudes became even more extreme. They not only prohibited her from participating in any collective activities but also deliberately singled her out to answer the most difficult questions, mocking her as "nothing more than a human baby-making machine."

Other classmates followed the teachers' lead and distanced themselves from her. Her former friends stopped talking to her and even started bullying her. Sometimes, when the teachers weren't looking, classmates would "accidentally" spill liquids behind her as a retaliation for her "ungratefulness."

From then on, Alice became the center of rumors and criticism throughout the school. Teachers would often point at her in class, warning other students not to participate in political activities indiscriminately. Her classmates avoided her, and everyone looked at her with disdainful eyes, making her a pitiable outcast.

In this hostile school environment, Alice gradually became isolated. Every day, she endured various discussions and condemnations, along with the physical pain and torment of pregnancy, with no one caring about her suffering or offering help. This prolonged solitude made her increasingly negative, exacerbating her already sensitive nature.

And today, the difficult childbirth in the classroom became a continuation of her nightmare...

On a cold winter day, there was a gloomy atmosphere permeating the corridors of the school. Alice walked slowly, her stiff body and tired gait indicating that she was already two weeks past her due date, yet showing no signs of going into labor.

As classmates hurriedly passed by her, they whispered under their breaths and stared at her with mocking glances. Camila and Elsa giggled behind her back, while Connor and Lena intentionally quickened their pace, quickly distancing themselves from her. The school corridor seemed to have turned into an indifferent and heartless stage, with Alice becoming the lonely character being ridiculed.

She tried to endure the discomfort and pain in her body, but the overwhelming feeling of isolation pushed her spirits to the brink of collapse. Her former friends now treated her with indifference, even actively avoiding her gaze. Even Professor Anderson joined the ranks of those mocking her, pointing at her and ridiculing her choices and actions.

"Look at Alice, the girl who's now only fit to be a human baby-making machine!" Anderson's voice echoed through the hallway, causing a wave of laughter and gossip.

Alice tried to maintain a strong facade, but inside, she was filled with despair and loneliness. She needed support and understanding, someone to stand up and defend her, but it seemed like in this world, only indifference and mockery awaited her.

She continued with heavy steps, walking towards the classroom. This classroom used to be a haven of joy and knowledge for her, but now it had become her predicament. She felt her body growing more and more weary, but she knew that even here, she wouldn't receive any assistance or care.

The door to the classroom opened, and she walked in, taking a seat at the back row. Her classmates looked at her with eyes filled with mockery and indifference. They knew she lacked the strength to defend her beliefs, and there was no power or support to help her fight against this adversity.

Alice's spirit gradually sank into the depths of despair, feeling suffocated by her loneliness. It seemed as though this world didn't care about her pain and struggles. In this dystopian reality, she became a helpless and abandoned existence.

In Professor Anderson's classroom, the situation worsened. Alice sat in the back row, feeling oppressed and powerless. The mockery from Professor Anderson and her classmates became sharper and more callous.

Professor Anderson laughed coldly, his words dripping with contempt. "Alice, do you think your protest has any meaning? You're just an ordinary and boring girl, and no one cares about your actions. Look at yourself now, unable to even handle a child. It's truly pathetic."

Leo, Alice’s ex-boyfriend, sneered, his words filled with mockery and anger. "That's right, Alice, you're a joke. What makes you think you're special? Now you've made a mess of your own life, and no one will feel sorry for you."

Helen joined in with the taunting. "Alice, you're truly pitiful and foolish. What do you think you can change? Right now, you're just a pregnant failure, and nobody will have an iota of sympathy for you."

Camila, Elsa, Connor, and Lena, who were once Alice's friends, now joined in with cold sarcasm. "Look at this self-proclaimed extraordinary Alice, she thought she was so special, but now she's in dire straits." "She's such a pitiful fool, clueless about how bad her situation is." "Alice, your protest only makes you more isolated and insignificant. Look at you now, a pregnant woman, and no one will stand up for you."

Professor Anderson looked smugly at Alice, having completely defeated her and rendering her unable to continue her resistance. He turned away and continued with the class, while the classmates continued to mock Alice. In this classroom, Alice became the butt of everyone's jokes, and no one was willing to help her. She felt helpless and despairing.

Suddenly, a wave of contractions hit her. Alice struggled to control her breathing as the contractions grew more frequent and intense. She felt overwhelmed and powerless because she wasn't prepared to face childbirth yet.

The classmates in the classroom continued their discussions and mockery, leaving Alice feeling isolated and ignored. Nobody cared about the pain she was going through.

Her breathing became rapid and irregular, and she tried to find a quiet corner to cope with the pain, but there was nowhere to go. She felt helpless and unable to control the situation. She could only surrender to the pain enveloping her body.

The contractions became even more frequent and intense, and Alice couldn't maintain her composure any longer. Her body felt as if it was being torn apart, and each contraction left her incredibly weak. Despair and fear consumed her soul, and she didn't know what to do.

Alice clenched her teeth with all her might, desperately trying to restrain herself from groaning, afraid of causing discomfort to her classmates. Her nails dug deep into her palms, leaving behind profound bloodstains. However, the classmates around her continued to joke and discuss the class content, completely oblivious to her distress. Alice felt an indescribable sense of despair and loneliness. She tightly gripped the edge of the desk, attempting to shift her focus to alleviate the pain, but the pain continued to coil around her body, denying her even a moment of respite.

With each intense contraction, Alice's body writhed in agony as if being twisted by a tremendous force. She felt her bones and muscles on the verge of being torn apart, with every inch of her skin filled with indescribable pressure. The pain radiated from her lower abdomen to her entire body, and she could barely bear it.

Her breathing became rapid and irregular, and each contraction left her gasping for air. She exerted all her strength, desperately suppressing the sharp groans, afraid of causing discomfort to her classmates. But the pain had surpassed her threshold of endurance, and she could no longer remain silent.

With each contraction, she fiercely clasped her own hands, trying to divert the attention from the pain. Her palms were already drenched in her own blood from her tight grip, but this pain seemed insignificant compared to the agony of the difficult labor she was experiencing.

She felt the baby's head gradually pushing forward, but each contraction forced it back into the depths of the birth canal. Her body trembled uncontrollably as she exerted her last bit of strength to push downward, hoping to successfully deliver the baby. However, no matter how hard she tried, the narrowness of the birth canal prevented the head from fully emerging.

The pain approached her limits, and Alice felt herself on the verge of collapsing. Tears streamed down her face as she helplessly looked at her classmates, but they remained indifferent, continuing with their classroom activities. She felt abandoned, with no one able to comprehend her current pain and despair.

This was a grueling labor, and Alice's body and mind were both under tremendous pressure. Her body trembled violently, and her face turned pale, displaying extreme exhaustion and pain.

Finally, with the birth of the first baby, Alice felt a brief moment of relief. She heard the pitiful cries of the newborn, but she couldn't pause to catch her breath because the head of the second baby remained trapped at the entrance of the birth canal, unable to be born smoothly.

Alice's body was exhausted, and she felt her energy draining away, but she knew she couldn't give up. Her eyes were filled with determination and perseverance as she used every ounce of her strength to push and try to deliver the second baby successfully.

However, the second fetus got stuck at the entrance of the birth canal, continuously rotating without being able to move forward or backward. Alice felt a wave of despair choke her, knowing that this was an extremely dangerous and difficult situation. Her body was already extremely tired, but she couldn't give up because she knew it was a matter of life and death for herself and her children.

Pain and despair intertwined as Alice felt she could hardly bear it any longer. Her face turned pale, her body drenched in sweat, and her breathing became rapid and irregular. She tried to find a shred of strength, pushing with all her might, hoping to overcome this predicament.

Time passed by minute after minute, but the second fetus remained stuck at the entrance of the birth canal. Alice felt trapped, tears streaming down her face, unable to endure the physical and mental torment any longer.

Despairingly, Alice stared at the baby's head, which was the only part visible outside, feeling her life force slipping away. Each contraction brought extreme pain, her whole body trembling, and her strength gradually fading.

The baby's head was tightly wedged in the birth canal, unable to move forward or backward. Its forehead swelled with pressure. Alice could feel her body exerting itself in extreme pain, but the fetus seemed trapped, unable to be delivered smoothly.

She struggled, trying to deliver the baby successfully, but the baby's head remained stuck in the birth canal. She felt her strength dwindling, each push agonizingly painful. Each contraction brought immense suffering, and Alice's body convulsed. She pushed with all her might, hoping to overcome this predicament, but the baby remained stuck. She felt her strength draining away, her body unable to withstand such extreme pressure.

The baby's skin started turning purple, indicating signs of oxygen deprivation. Alice's heart raced with anxiety as she realized time was running out, and both her and the baby's lives were in serious danger. She couldn't bear the pain, but she couldn't give up either.

Tears continued to flow, her face contorted, but she knew she had to keep trying. She focused all her willpower on pushing, her body trembling.

Time passed by, each second feeling like a century. Alice felt her life force growing weaker, her breath becoming faint and unstable. She knew the baby's life was also hanging by a thread. The surrounding pressure and pain made Alice feel everything spinning, as if being engulfed in endless darkness.

Under the extreme pain, Alice summoned her last ounce of strength and pushed with all her might. Finally, the second baby was delivered, accompanied by two faint cries. However, a faint bluish tint appeared on the newborn's wrinkled face.

Alice finally relaxed her tense abdominal muscles. The intense pain and significant blood loss made her body unable to endure any longer. She felt her consciousness gradually fading, her strength depleted.

The mocking voices of classmates and professors echoed in her ears. She felt the heartless indifference and arrogance. They didn't care about her suffering, even looking at her with mocking eyes. This deepened the wounds in Alice's soul, and she couldn't understand how people could be so indifferent to others' pain.

With the passing of her last breath, Alice departed from this cruel world. Her soul sought tranquility and peace in the vast universe.

[curlzworks]

[educritter]

How to Make Cows Calve in the Morning and Improve Calf Survival

I can probably rightly assume not many of you are cattle, sheep, or coat producers. For those of you that are, and are currently in the spring flood of babies... Give this a read :)

Photo by Natalia Slastnikova on Unsplash I absolutely love management practices that make life easier for farmers, especially when they actively improve animal welfare while reducing vet bills. Honestly, who doesn’t love the sound of that? I recently remembered that there are ways to make calving much easier, and that calving season for most folks in the US is between February and May. So, with…

[clatoera]

i was about to start scrolling down your blog and the giant babies post jump scared me lmao

Miss Med Girlie is that actually a thing that happens where babies are like too big because the dad is giant? that sounds so uncomfortable wow

Get bestie yeah this is real. I don’t want to say “too big” but genetics do in fact play a role!! And the birth weight of the parents do factor in. Genetics is a player and so are some other factors that affect baby size in utero but yes babe genetics is in fact part of the equation! I see a lot of little mamas with these big guys and yeah! Bigger babies! so ask how big your future BD was at birth so you can factor in your odds

And that being said you absolutely can grow a baby that is bigger than your pelvic outlet allowance! Cephalopelvic disproportion! It can be hard to get these babies out :) and if they’re positioned in an unideal way on the way out! Oh boy! Lots and lots of work goes into it :) it’s not EVER easy to push a baby out but sometimes its even more difficult! Perineal lacerations are a thing! So! Yeah! Jump scare!

[floraleevee]

The other day at work there was a rat so fucking round from pregnancy that i started crying I was laughing so hard

[craigslisthorses]

What’s working in breeding like? I already work with horses but I’m considering applying for a program that’s a year long traineeship at a stud that’s combined with formal education parts so you come out with experience and formal knowledge (other side of the world so specifics won’t mean much to you)

I've worked in repro for 11 years and it's long hard work. Here, most of the breeding is through AI so the studs are collected and as we check mares throughout the day they are inseminated with the pre-collected and extended dose. Most of our studs can breed 20-30 mares a day on one collection, some have high volume that doesn't live as long and can sometimes only breed 7.

The babies is easy if you have the right resources. We use foal alert monitors that you sew into the vulva (I can take pictures of some for yall some time) but when the foals legs come out it detaches a magnet that rings and alarm that then calls us. Most of the time the babies are halfway or all the way out by the time we arrive but dystocias (stuck babies) do happen and often babies are born dead. We've been lucky to only have one out of 100 born dead this spring and a handful of dystocias. It's a rewarding field but it takes a lot of time and a lot of commitment.

[the-cookie-of-doom]

Is the baby fic part of something I missed or is this a whole new thing? :0

Weeeeelll It's not technically new, but I have been very vague about it 😅 I'll reblog my other posts about it later if I can find them, but yeah, if you look closely, there are some hints about it! anything featuring trans Kim is part of this AU!

[ilovescreamingbirths]

Roleplay With Me <3

I'm open to trying out a pregnancy/birth RP. It'll be my first one 'cause I've never done anything like it before.

Okay with

Difficult births (i.e. breech, shoulder dystocia, getting stuck, big baby etc.)

Twin births, or triplets at most

Public births

Long labors

Forced pregnancy and births

Neutral towards

Birth denial

Pregnancy/birth involving fantasy races (depends on the universe, I'm autistically into ASOIAF and the Elder Scrolls, and getting something wrong really takes it out for me)

Not my thing

Birthing eggs or anything that isn't human, when I, the character am

Furries

Mpreg

Note: These are RP limits only. I don't have that many writing limits. If you have a writing request I'd love to hear it :D

Feel free to ask me anything ^^

[fantasticcalzoneflowerdragon]

VBAC with Shoulder Dystocia and Resuscitation

[unfortunately-obsessed]

Based on this post: TJ took a whole day to be born. It was an at birth home and very messy. Martha had dystocia and Thomas was scared shitless of her having eclampsia

So when Martha went into labor with Bruce, one month earlier than expected, Thomas shoved her into a car. Alfred was driving of course

And that is how the most popular photo for the next whole year contains: the insides of a Bentley covered in blood, Martha smiling triumphantly like she isn't in a bloodied Versace, Alfred with that "congratulations, sir, ma'am" smirk like he wasn't breaking every law traffic on the book, and Thomas holding Bruce like a fish, both Bruce and Thomas doing the same face like 😳, stupefied

[scientia-rex]

Hey saw your post about weight loss and I'm a big fan and it makes total sense. Just curious how being overweight affects pregnancy. I feel like because I'm overweight I'm going to have a high risk pregnancy. Not pregnant at all right now but it's been on my mind lately

Oh boy. Weight in pregnancy is a WHOLE other topic, and not in my wheelhouse--I haven't delivered a baby in over two years now. (They love to show up at 3am and I love sleeping.) The short answer is that if you gain more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy, baby is also likely to be bigger, and that's a problem because your pelvis is not capable of expanding, so you run a higher risk of shoulder dystocia, which is where the baby actually jams in the pelvis on the way out, which is typically fatal to the baby within 5 minutes if we can't get them out because they can't breathe and their umbilical blood supply is cut off so the oxygen is not available. There is also a higher risk for gestational diabetes, aka high blood sugars in pregnancy, which also raises the risk of a larger baby. HOWEVER, a lot of this raises questions current research doesn't really answer--are fatter people at more risk in pregnancy because they're fat, or are they fat because they're high-risk? And a lot of people who deliver babies, whether they're OBs or family medicine or midwives or, God help us, lay midwives, will go full-on raging fatphobia, which makes it difficult to parse out genuinely helpful advice from terrible bullshit. Obstetrics in general is the least evidence-based medical field, because no one wants to be the asshole who ran a study that somehow hurt babies, so instead we just fumble around blindly in the dark a lot of the time going "well this SHOULD work" and hoping. Also, racism! Huge thing in obstetrics. Black women have 4 times the risk of dying in pregnancy/childbirth as white women, and of course racism and fatphobia dovetail, where fat Black women get treated particularly badly by the medical establishment.

Long story short, the best way to prepare for possible pregnancy is to take the best possible care of YOU--that means exercise and eating lots of veggies, not because that will make you thin, but because it improves your blood vessel and heart health, your bone health, your stash of nutrients that baby will raid during development, your muscle strength, and so on. And take the time BEFORE you want to get pregnant to find a doctor who delivers babies (whether that's an OB/GYN or a family doctor) who treats you like a human being.

And, controversially, I do think it's best to have a doctor for most pregnancies. Not because midwives can't provide excellent care, but because obstetrics is all about the situations where something goes wrong, and we are very bad at predicting who will have something go wrong. The worst delivery I was ever in looked fine on paper. First-time mom, dilated fine, pushing went great, no problems on the fetal heart monitor, baby descended just fine. Then baby crowned, got shoulder dystocia, my attending had to take over for me and do the maneuvers to free the baby, baby comes out and has to go straight to resuscitation, and I look back over at mom to realize more blood is coming out of her vagina than should immediately after delivery, by A LOT, and we almost had to call a massive tranfusion protocol for her. She hemorrhaged 2 liters of blood in minutes. Then she developed post-partum preeclampsia, which can be fatal if you don't have medical management right there. We had to put her on a magnesium drip to prevent seizures. That was the worst delivery I ever did, and I'm counting the 17-year-old primipara (first-time mom) I worked with while a med student, who delivered in the back-ass of nowhere, spoke Spanish only with an attending doctor who spoke English only in a hospital that didn't bother with interpreters until active labor, and needed forceps, a technique fewer and fewer doctors even practice. No epidural. Forceps without an epidural is, no joke, something that scares me to the point where I simply would not do an unblocked birth.

One of the major causes of maternal death is hemorrhage. If you have an IV in someone's arm pouring in fluid, you can survive with as little as about 1/7th of your original blood. Red blood cells can do a LOT of heavy lifting. And that buys you time for someone to get up to Labor & Delivery from the first floor with the on-hand packed red blood cells that then go into the IV and save your life. Blood transfusions are life-saving, and they are life-saving every single day in the US.

And hemorrhage risk goes up with subsequent babies. Someone giving birth for the first time is at higher risk for a lot of things, but someone giving birth for the 5th time who figures they're OK with a home birth because their other births went fine can bleed out in minutes.

I don't like or trust the medical establishment, and I think OB care has a LONG way to go in the US, because we create PTSD in about 11% of people who give birth. Maternal PTSD is far more prevalent in the US than combat PTSD. I would still have a medical doctor be my obstetrical care provider, because I don't want to die like that.

[overly-dramatic-artist]

Week Three: AU week!!!!

Part One: The Happily-married with-children AU

In this AU, Angela and Bruno come to their conclusive feelings far, far sooner than in ‘canon’ upon discovering that she is pregnant. She is 25 at the time, traveling up around in Cartagena, when she realizes something is not right. She comes back home much sooner than anticipated after missing two of her cycles, and when she is able to get Bruno alone, she breaks the news of her suspicions.

At this point in time, the two of them have been ‘sneaking around’ for about six years now, and their families are somewhat aware of the things they get up to, and similar to how many families handle improper issues, they’ve tried to ignore it so it wouldn’t cause problems. But now there is a ‘problem.’ Bruno and Angela’s feelings for each other are…love, not that they really recognize it as such, but they are extremely domestic and compassionate with each other, and Angela pretty much lives with the Madrigals when she isn’t off gallivanting across the continent. The news of Angela’s pregnancy takes Bruno by surprise, and he is overcome with a whirlwind of feelings, including panic and fear and excitement, but above all, deep deep love. If he had absolutely no self control when she had very timidly told him, he would have swept her up into his arms and told her how much he loved her. But he is settled by the fear of ‘oh no, her father is going to kill me.’ Angela wants to be entirely sure of her situation before they tell anyone else, so he vows secrecy, and the two don’t end up telling his mother or her family until another month has passed.

Alma is…trying to keep her composure when the two of them tell her. She’s a little upset, mostly because ‘these damn kids keep dancing around their feelings while messing around, now look at what they’ve done,’ and she has the responsibility of being a positive and righteous example for the rest of the town, and how can she do that with these two running around having babies out of wedlock?? But at the same time, she is overjoyed that her son will ‘finally’ have a child, and Isabela and Dolores have already been born to his sisters. Alma has considered Angela a daughter for many many years now, and she knows how her son looks at Angela. It’s love and it has been for so long now, and she wants nothing more for them to just get their heads out of their fears and hang ups and just get married already goddamnit!

The two of them briefly bring up the idea of marriage, but Bruno does not push it as he doesn’t want ‘propriety’ and the fact that she is having his kid to determine what she chooses to do with her life. In fact, for much of her pregnancy, Bruno does not try to impose his own feelings on her. He makes it clear from the beginning that he will be by her side no matter what, unless she wishes for him to leave her be. Any decision she makes, he will stand by her choice and support her. Alma initially tries to push them to get married as quickly as possible, but Bruno all but begs his mother to not force his Angel into something she doesn’t want, as he is still not quite sure what her feelings are towards him.

On June 26, 1929, Enele Pedro Delmar Madrigal Morales is born. Angela’s pregnancy with her son was difficult to say the very least, and the extreme prolonged labor almost did her in. After many many hours and a shoulder dystocia, he finally came into the world, a healthy happy baby boy with a head full of wispy dark curls. The name Enele comes from Angela’s great uncle, who had taken Guillermo (her father) in when he was young and had passed away before the refuge of the Encanto was formed, and Guillermo had revealed to her that if she had been born a boy, that’s what he and Anamaria had decided to name her in that situation. Pedro is used as the second name for the boy, and Angela had almost insisted that it be his first name, but Bruno, again, did not want to have too much influence on if Angela indeed want to go through with marrying him. About a year and a half later, Angela and Bruno are properly married. Though Bruno was entirely certain and confident in his feelings towards Angela, she was very lost in her emotions through her pregnancy and was scared to impose herself on Bruno, and following the birth of Enele, she too finally felt certain that she loved Bruno with everything in her heart. Enele’s gift is the control of water. He is the most extroverted and outgoing of his siblings, and is a very protective older brother over his sisters. He loves to feel helpful, and primarily uses his gift to alleviate some of the emotional pressure Pepa is under in regards to irrigation and potential destruction caused by heavy weather.

On February 1, 1932, Esmeralda Leilani Alma Madrigal Morales is born about a month premature, very very small with bright green eye just like her father’s. She was a far easier pregnancy and birth for Angela, and the woman had joked a few times about doing cartwheels and cliff diving when she was 6 months in, much to Bruno’s panic and anxiety. On her fifth birthday, she is gifted with tactile empathy and manipulation of emotions. She uses her gift primarily to ease and mediate tense situations between the family and the people in town. Struggling with nightmares and anxiety? She can calm down your overactive thoughts. Are you angry with someone and don’t know how to peacefully articulate how you feel? She can relieve some of the tension. And with her tactile abilities, she is able to feel the emotions tied to people and objects when she touches them. This gift comes at a bit of a cost to her own emotionally stability, and for that reason, Angela and Bruno are large advocates of their daughter to protect her wellbeing. For this, Esme also tends to wear long sleeved clothing and occasionally gloves to protect herself from unwanted contact.

And their last baby, Evangelina Remedios Anamaria Madrigal Morales, is born on July 30, 1934. She is blessed with a pair of wings on her gift ceremony. Her gift is within a similar vein to Antonio’s, in that it is a bit more indulgent than out of being ‘useful.’ While she does occasionally use her gift to travel quickly and relay messages and delivers to people across town, her wings are more so for her own enjoyment, flying up into the clouds and fluttering up through the tall canopy tree tops of the jungle. She is not quite as introverted and withdrawn as her sister, nor as outgoing and wild as her brother, but a happy medium between the extremes of her siblings.

The reason this AU is called the ‘happily-married-with-children’ AU is because it is happy. In this universe, Bruno does not leave his family or go into hiding. His issues regarding the pressure from his mother and his less than incredible reputation in town is buffered by the fact that he is surrounded by the love of his beautiful wife and three children. This is not to say that anyone’s self esteem issues can be fixed with having a romantic partner and kids, but I truly do not believe that Bruno would be a man who would abandon his partner and children if he had that. So, yes, this does ‘retcon’ the canon, and I am still working out some of the details, but in the end, this is a happy universe for these characters that have gone through so much hell already. In the words of @sharknadoslutt who encouraged this AU…“AU where Bruno knocks Angela up and he never goes into hiding. Happy AU where they admit feelings early on and have a family theater thing going on”

@encanto-extended-edition

[hellfire435678]

If there's any complications during birth that I actually love, it's shoulder dystocia. When the mom thinks it's over, but it still isn't. 👌🏼🔥

[bonefall]

I will say that as much as i adore mom!briarlight, it would be all but impossible for her to give birth to kittens on her own without without human intervention. I did a lot of research about paralyzed cats and pregnancy recently, and was only able to find examples where the cats underwent a c-section to deliver the kittens. Without being able to use her hind legs, it seems like it would be very difficult for her to give birth

I went and checked myself and I need more data, I found a decent but brief paper on it which uses one cat as a case study, but it doesn't specify at which vertebrae the spinal chord was severed which is SUPER important to compare with the human data I have

The paper: Özdemir Salci ES, Güner B, İpek V: Dystocia caused by spinal paraplegia in a cat with superfetation. Kafkas Univ Vet Fak Derg, 26 (6): 839-840, 2020. DOI: 10.9775/kvfd.2020.24689 (WARNING: CONTAINS PHOTOGRAPHS OF EXTRACTED FETUSES AND ORGANS. MEDICAL PAPER.)

If you can get me your sources I can give us both better data-- but the paper itself says that the reason the 4-year-old cat had issues giving birth was related to the nervous system itself plus loss of control over abdominal muscles, not necessarily leg positioning, which sounds a lot like an injury higher up in the spinal chord which makes me curious

(Injuries around T-10, the second-to-last of your thoracic vertebrae, is generally where humans lose sensation of childbirth. Aside from needing to be monitored for blood pressure issues it is possible for a person of nearly any spinal chord injury to give birth naturally)

(Also an article on pregnancy and delivery with a spinal chord injury for humans. Obvious TW for birth here. Also unfortunately the language is not very inclusive)

Though that said, I wonder how much of this would change even with just the one paper I have + sapient cats. Medicine for them is entirely cat-based and they make do with what they have, as opposed to humans where obviously the safest and easiest option is a cesarean.

Additionally, and I guess most importantly, it wouldn't be the first time I completely ignored cat anatomy because it was incompatible with human disability representation needs.

For example I exclusively reference Human Diabetes, NOT Feline Diabetes. This is because feline diabetes does progress from Type 1 to Type 2, and both types are treated with insulin injections. I was personally asked by a disability advocacy blog to not portray it Cat-Accurately, because Diabetic type progression does not happen in humans AND is a common misconception.

Plus several folks in my audience have basically asked me to make a version of metformin (oral supplement) to better represent their Type 2, which wouldn't happen if I was only referencing feline diabetes. (I caved guys it's going to be derived from Goat's Rue <3)

In the end we are humans, and I do extra fun fixes to Clan Culture based on cat accuracy (like making the kitties obligate carnivores and crepuscular!), but I am ultimately writing this for me and all the other queer disabled goofballs in the audience.

(and give advice based on that, in this situation, since they came and asked me personally y'know?)

[the-cookie-of-doom]

WIP Ask Game

Let's make THIS into a game, bc it looked fun.

The WIP I'm actually "working on": Pas de Deux WIP I keep open in the background so I don't feel guilty: Out of the Shadows Imaginary project: Stress Relief Passion project: Dystocia WIP from 3 months ago: 00008 Side WIP: Technicality

Tagging: @snickerdoodlles @bisexualbard-writes @shubaka @emberfaye @fawndlyvenus @kimkhimhant @jeffsatyr