I've always had a huge amount of respect for women in labor. I knew that I had no idea how difficult their labors were, how much they were struggling, or how much it hurt.

I have never ever once thought "Oh come on, tough it out, it's not THAT bad" when a woman was in labor. I felt nothing but sympathy and the desire to do anything possible to help them get through.

But pregnant women? Oh yeah, I silently judged. I see a lot of women in their last week of pregnancy, and some of them would hobble clutching their legs as they complained of sciatica, burst into tears over the barista looking at them funny, grab my hands and beg me to give them the magic potion to make an overdue baby come out.

I'll admit, I was thinking "Oh come on, dramatic much?" when a woman told me she would rather have a c-section without drugs then be pregnant another week.

But now? Dude, the end of pregnancy is hard. It's difficult to be rational. Panic attacks over nothing are apparently normal. Pain is muscles you never knew you had is excruciating. It's a mental punch in the face every morning when you wake up and remember you are STILL pregnant.

So I will never judge another woman again. I'll give a death glare to anyone who makes an overdue woman's life even a tiny bit harder by a thoughtless comment. I'll try to explain the magnitude of what they are feeling to their husbands. I'll hug them and say "I know!!!".

Because I already knew labor was hard. But pregnancy is hard too. Ladies who have made it through? Much respect.