Holy shit, y'all.

Holy shit, y'all. If you ever need your skin, eyeballs, teeth, or lungs exfoliated then come take a walk in a New Mexico "breeze." 😂😂😂

I love it here and I love the windy days, but this walk with Cub and Shaun was a WHOLE EXPERIENCE. 😂😂😂

OMG. Shaun is the best Papa.

OMG. Shaun is the best Papa. I love him more than words can say.

He's comforting this scared, trembling puppy. Cub wants no one but Shaun.

Wow.

Wow. Our house is situated in such a way that we can see fireworks from all over the city. That is wild.

I haven't left home on an Independence Day evening in many years so I'm used to missing out on the shows. I'm not a big fan of fireworks because of how they affect animals and people with PTSD, but they are pretty. It's neat that now I don't even have to leave to see a bunch of them if I want to.

I see you, Watermelon Oolong.

Ok. Ok. I see you, Watermelon Oolong. This is NIIICE. A sugar cube and some ice just set it off.

This is the first Oolong I've liked. Definitely gonna keep exploring that.

Ugh - I love this stupid cat so much. 😂😂😂❤️❤️❤️

Ugh - I love this stupid cat so much. 😂😂😂❤️❤️❤️

He's (thankfully) not being a brat and demanding lap time at the moment, but yesterday I scratched Bastian on the head and Boyfriend turned around and YELLED at me! It didn't even sound like a "Meow" - I was definitely in trouble! 😂😂😂 I don't know who he thinks he is talking to like that! He better be glad he's cute! 😂

I'm tryna make sure I'm ready for the interview...

I'm tryna make sure I'm ready for the interview I have coming up, but Balthazar needs some snuggles, I guess.

"Let me just squeeeeze in. You won't even notice I'm here." 😂😂😂

Hard Agree

I think it's culturally time for us to re-frame how we think about the uterus.

It's not a nurturing organ—it doesn't need to be. A fetus is frighteningly good at getting the resources it needs to nurture itself. If they are implanted anywhere other than the womb (most often the fallopian tube, but also sometimes the bladder, intestine, pelvic muscles and connective tissue, and the liver) placental cells will rip through a body, slaughtering everything in their path as they seek out arteries to slake their hunger for nutrients.

Fetal cells will happily grow in any of these places, digesting and puncturing tissue, paralyzing and enlarging arteries, raising blood pressure to feed itself more, faster; but it will be unable to be ejected. It's no coincidence that genes involved in embryonic development have been implicated in how cancer spreads.

Rather than a soft cozy nest, a womb is a fortress designed to protect the person from the developing cells inside them.

Because of our huge and (metabolically speaking) expensive brains, human fetal development requires unrestricted access to a parent's blood supply, which makes pregnancy (and miscarriage) incredibly dangerous for the carrier. The uterus has evolved to control and restrict whether placental cells can get that access, and to eject it before it develops enough to kill the host. THE FUNCTION OF THE WOMB IS TO PROTECT THE PARENT'S LIFE. The very structure of the womb very firmly prioritizes the life of the parent over the life of the fetus.

Even with modern medical care, at least 800 people die EVERY DAY from pregnancy (and childbirth-related causes). Among developed countries, the United States has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world, and Texas has one of the highest rates within that. The rate is even higher when viewed among BIPOC only.

Pregnancy may be necessary for the continuation of the species, but it is not a joke. It is a life-threatening event, a parasitic attack on a human body; just one we have romanticized and been desensitized to.

The "miracle" of birth is that we have a protective organ designed to, if all goes well, let us survive it. It doesn't always go well. It is life or death. Someone who chooses to get pregnant, stay pregnant, and carry a fetus to delivery is legitimately choosing to risk their life to do it. Nobody else has the right to make anyone do that, and nobody should be punished or vilified for not wanting to do it. Forcing someone to carry a pregnancy, ANY pregnancy, is attempted murder.

—Anonymous via UniteWomen.org