Think you are tough? This gal took the Bar Exam while in labor

[AngryAmish]

"Recent law school graduates are known to labor over the high-stakes bar exam.

But for Elana Nightingale Dawson, a spring Northwestern Law School grad, the labor took on new meaning last week on the second day of the two-day Illinois bar exam.

A very pregnant Nightingale Dawson, 29, had finished the morning portion of the multiple-choice test Wednesday and had started on the three-hour afternoon part when she went into labor. She had contractions about every 20 to 30 minutes, then about every 15 minutes, she said, and at one point a proctor asked if she was OK."

read it wimps and despair

[elleng]

1. OMG!

and I only had had a root canal!

BRAVO to her!

[EFerrari]

2. Good "girl".

:)

[MountainLaurel]

3. Dayum

Having several friends who took the bar last week, and a husband who is due to take it in February, I'm passing along.

[Gothmog]

4. My ex-wife had someone have a seizure during the bar exam

When my ex-wife took the bar exam, someone had a grand mal seizure during the bar exam. Several students tried to help until they were told that they would not get additional time for the exam.

[mopinko]

5. took my calculus final in labor.

first babies are slow to appear usually.

good for her, tho. guys have no idea what it is to be female. no offense intended. but it is something to have a different body every time you turn around.
i am really happy to be a crone.

[AngryAmish]

6. And you have never been kicked in the balls.

[mopinko]

10. meh

i've had broken bones. i've had concussions.
i'll put one good contraction up against your kick in the balls. except that contractions come every 5-10 minutes for hours and hours. i have 5 kids. all natural, no pain drugs whatsoever. i had a couple of 24 hour labors.

[EOTE]

13. Except you have no idea what it feels like to be kicked in the balls.

Just as I have no idea what a contraction feels like. So I don't really feel either is qualified to decide which is worse. I used to think that being kicked in the balls is the worst pain one can feel in life. That was until my leg bent about 45 degrees in the wrong direction and tore every last bit of cartilage in my knee. That's my current "10" on the pain scale.

[mopinko]

16. i had 2 herniated cervical discs. that is my real 10.

but that was relentless, and went on for 3 months.

i agree, i do not know what it feels like to be kicked in the balls. but i have had a boob crushed. does that count?

[EOTE]

19. I really wouldn't know.

The surgeon who worked on my knee said he had worked on a number of college football players and had never seen a knee so massacred. I'm amazed that all these years later that my only issue is a lack of flexibility in that leg. This is the same leg whose shin I smashed when I was about 12, causing the marrow to leak out. For someone my age and who does very little in terms of sports, I've had a ridiculous amount of injuries. I guess I'm just a klutz.

[LWolf]

21. I don't have balls, but

I've had 2 kids and done the knee thing.

The knee thing was horrific. I got dizzy, nauseus, and actually passed out for a few seconds. It took a year to walk normally, and I've never been able to plant the foot on the end of that leg confidently. As a result, I have arthritis in the OTHER knee; apparently, it hasn't appreciated compensating for the last 25 years.

The knee was painful.

Labor was worse.

[EOTE]

22. I'm kind of doubting you tore all of the cartilage in one knee.

Because dizzy and nauseous are not words I'd use to describe what I was feeling then. When the EMTs got there and saw my leg in the position it was clearly not meant to be in, they immediately started pumping me up with morphine. I was there when my SO gave birth to our daughter naturally and I've been present at another natural birth. I can imagine how horrific it would be to endure that pain for many hours, but I can't imagine that the pain of labor matches the intensity of the pain of losing all of your knee cartilage at once. If it did, women would simply stop having children.

[LWolf]

23. It wasn't described to me in that way.

I never actually saw an MD. I went to my HMO; they assigned me to an "assistant" who asked me to demonstrate the damage by trying to do a deep knee bend. Really. I said, "You're kidding." He said, no, I had to try. I did, and hit the floor...passed out.

They took an xray, told me my knee wasn't broken, that it looked like a "really bad sprain," and gave me a number to call to sign up for physical therapy.

I spent a week at home, with help to the bathroom and back, got myself some crutches, and went back to work. After about 8 weeks, I was using a cane; I used it for a year.

I don't know how much cartilage was torn. My HMO wasn't interested in looking at it.

I don't think my real point here is to try to rate pain levels; I believe the men and boys in my life who tell me it hurts to get hit in the balls. I believe you when you tell me that your knee was excruciatingly painful. I think you believe me when I say mine was, too, whether they landed on a similar spot on a pain scale or not.

The one difference I'm not sure happens in other highly painful situations is the panic level some of us reach during the most intense part of labor...that stage with the strongest contractions, before we have dilated enough to push. The urge to push is incredible in itself, and fighting it makes us tense up; the contractions are crushing, and we think, "It will be over soon. Over soon....." but then when we get a few seconds of relief we know another is on the way, and we fear not being able to get through it. It's a feeling of helplessness, of not having any control over what is happening.

I think guys can relate to labor pains; anyone who has ever had a severe leg or foot cramp, one of those that seizes up your leg or foot, and requires you to put your full weight on it to regain control of the limb...they are like that, covering all the abdominal muscles and reaching around to the lower back, except that you can't put weight on them; you have to lie there and wait for them to subside on their own. And they go on for hours, again and again and again, getting stronger and closer together.

And there is a continuum for any category of pain. Some people are more sensitive to pain than others, and not every labor is the same. I remember a friend, after our first babies were born, saying casually, "I don't know why everybody makes such a big thing about it. It wasn't THAT bad." I refrained from pointing out that her baby weighed less than 6 lbs, and mine weighed 8.5. When her 2nd baby was born, who weighed in at 8.75, she ate her words.

Women keep having children, regardless of the pain. There's a funny thing that happens when it's over. There's this flood of euphoria; partly because you finally get to meet the small person you've been host to, and partly because it's over and you survived. While you remember that it hurt, the memory of pain takes a backseat to the joy and the relief...until the next time.

I don't think that euphoria is present after an injury, unless it's morphine induced, anyway. There's no payoff for getting hurt.

[11 Bravo]

25. I have. I've also held my wife's hand as she delivered two beautiful baby boys without an epidural.

If I had to choose, I'd say kick away.

[Warpy]

8. I'm in that club, too

I don't mind that males no longer find me the least bit appealing, being able to thumb my nose at the fertility aisle in the supermarket is more than adequate compensation for that.

One of my coworkers called in sick from labor and delivery. She'd been planning to work through early labor, but it was her third and things were just progressing too rapidly.

And you're right, men have no clue.

[Frustratedlady]

7. Never underestimate the strength and stamina of women...

They say we are able to multi-task better than males, but that is pushing the envelope.

I'll bet she'll get a lot of offers after that article hits the airways.

I hope she passed.

[hifiguy]

9. Oy vey.

I took the bar 23 years ago last week. Managed to do the first day on 45 minutes sleep, second day on three hours. Yes, I was nervous to the point of being petrified.

After finishing the bar I went home and got drunk for three days. Only time in my life I ever lost my glasses for a day. And yes I passed on my first try. :)

This gal has some big-time discipline and intestinal fortitude, to say the least. I tip my hat to her.

[AngryAmish]

12. Night before bar exam I witnessed a purse snatching.

I couldn't catch the guy. Finished talking to police at 10 pm, tried to get to sleep. Fell asleep at 12:30. Detectives woke me up at 1 am, more questions, finally got back to sleep about 5 am for a 7 am wake up.

Finished next day and got shitfaced. But I do that a lot.

[rfranklin]

11. That's nothing, Sarah Palin traveled for days after her water broke...

At least, that's what she claims.

[Raven]

14. The Bar Exam is worse than labor. Believe me, I've done both.

Being in labor probably took her mind off the pain of the exam. :-)

[dtexdem]

15. Despair nothing! I'll celebrate; this woman is going to be a lawyer.

And one who I'll exempt from all further lawyer jokes.

[NeedleCast]

17. As my Drill Sgt Would Have Said...

There's a difference between being tough and being stupid.

[Buns_of_Fire]

18. Now THAT'S dedication! (I hope she passed.) nt

[Blue_Tires]

20. Well, she is a lawyer so her story is probably similar to Rosemary Woodhouse's

I think that's how lawyers reproduce

[librechik]

24. well--there is a lot of downtime, especially at first

shouldn't be too big a problem, really--every 15- 20 minutes you have to stop to contract for 30 seconds. And I've done it a couple times. First baby I was in labor for 2 days. I bet I could have also taken the SAT while waiting around for the climax. Just alert the proctor that you're going to be breathing heavily and periodically, not to worry...