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    It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita
    It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita
    It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita
    Ebook294 pages4 hours

    It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita

    By Heather B. Armstrong

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    An irreverent and captivating memoir about the unexpected joys and glaring indignities of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood—from the beloved creator of the popular mommy blog, Dooce.com.

    Heather Armstrong gave up a lot of things when she and her husband decided to have a baby: beer, small boobs, free time—and antidepressants. The eighteen months that followed were filled with anxiety, constipation, nacho cheese Doritos, and an unconditional love that threatened to make her heart explode. Still, as baby Leta grew and her husband returned to work, Heather faced lonely days, sleepless nights, and endless screaming that sometimes made her wish she'd never become a mother. Just as she was poised to throw another gallon of milk at her husband's head, she committed herself for a short stay in a mental hospital—the best decision she ever made for her family.

    Here, with biting wit and unrelenting honesty, Heather shares her battle with postpartum depression and all the other minor details of pregnancy and motherhood that no one cares to mention. Like how boring it can be to care for someone whose primary means of communication is through her bowels. And how long it can possibly take to reconvene the procedure that got you into this whole parenthood mess in the first place. And how you sometimes think you can't possibly go five more minutes without breathing in that utterly irresistible and totally redeemable fresh baby smell.

    It Sucked and Then I Cried is a brave cautionary tale about crossing over that invisible line to the other side (the parenting side), where everything changes and it only gets worse. But most of all, it's a celebration of a love so big it can break your heart into a million pieces.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGallery Books
    Release dateMar 24, 2009
    ISBN9781416959144
    It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita
    Author

    Heather B. Armstrong

    Heather B. Armstrong was widely acknowledged to be the most popular “mommy blogger” in the world. Her website, Dooce, was twice listed as one of the 25 best blogs in the world by Time magazine and Forbes listed it as a top 100 website for women. In the many years that Heather helped to shape the online writing community, she worked to create targeted content not only for fellow parents but also for numerous global brands—including Ford, Nintendo, and Clorox—and wrote several books including the New York Times bestseller It Sucked and Then I Cried, Dear Daughter, and The Valedictorian of Being Dead. She passed away in 2023 at the age of 47.

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    Reviews for It Sucked and Then I Cried

    3.5/5

    131 ratings17 reviews

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    • 5/5
      awesome content . funny realistic and relatable. highly recommend to any expecting moms
    • 4/5
      Loved the honesty about the good and bad of parenting along with the hell that depression causes
    • 5/5
      Funny, meaningful, excellent. It's a great book for expectant mothers, but also for people that don't want kids. It's smart, interesting and we get such a strong feel for the narrator. It's great
    • 3/5
      Very funny book. I laughed out loud in many parts, then calmed down, re-read the sentence, and laughed again. It was entertaining and enjoyable. I must admit, as a single woman, this book was better than birth control: Armstrong talks openly about her pregnancy and giving birth, including bodily functions, episiotomies, and the pain of rock-hard breasts and cracked nipples. However, I thought the book would focus more on Armstrong's post-partum depression, how she suffered through it, and the treatment she received. That was not quite a chapter at the end. The majority of the book was cheerful and loving, and her depression was touched on in such a light manner it seemed like merely a day she lived through without candy. So while it was a good book, it wasn't what I was expecting, nor why I was reading it. I'm passing it along to my friends with kids.
    • 5/5
      Screamingly funny, heartbreakingly honest... Heather Armstrong has a remarkable way with words and a willingness to let it all hang out in the interest of both entertaining and letting us know that we are not alone. Everyone who has ever been in love, been pregnant, become a parent, suffered from depression will recognizeherself in Heather. I have seldom laughed so hard or empathized with suffering so much. A thoroughly engrossing and entertaining book.
    • 3/5
      Funny at times but a bit disjointed.
    • 4/5
      This is Heather B. Armstrong's memoir of getting pregnant, going through pregnancy, giving birth, living with a baby, and having post-partum depression. I was expecting more of a focus on post-partum depression, but the book was good for what it was about. Armstrong is a strong writer who doesn't hold back, and that candor is invaluable when writing about topics like pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. I think this is a valuable book to have in our culture. Not to mention, it's quite funny.Readers of dooce.com should probably be aware that I'd already read some of these things on the website, but there was enough added and enough different to make it worth reading again.
    • 3/5
      Written with Dooce's trademark sardonicism, honesty, and CAPITAL LETTERS FOR HUMOUR, this book shouldn't disappoint anyone who is a fan of the blog. However, it read a little differently than I'd expected. The book is billed as a description of how she suffered through postpartum depression and got the help she needed to be healthy again and reconnect with her family. Armstrong is honest about needing help, and about the physical pain of labor, childbirth, and post-partum body; she states clearly that she couldn't feel happy or connect with her child well, felt defeated and overwhelmed, and makes oblique references to acting out in her depression. But in spite of all this - maybe because of the tone, or the lack of details, it's hard to really feel that come through in the book, which ends up being mostly a hilarious tale of what it's like to raise a baby, and occasionally a moment of honesty and defiance of the idea that she should be quiet about her struggles. It's an enjoyable book, but not one that really conveys to you how the author felt or what it might be like to live with that kind of depression.
    • 2/5
      I had been reading Dooce's blog for awhile and usually found it pretty entertaining, so I thought I'd for sure like this book. Turns out though, not so much. It just seemed so whiny to me that I actually found it unpleasant to read. Can't say I would recommend this one.
    • 5/5
      I've been a fan of Armstrong's DOOCE blog for years. While I remember her announcing that this book had been published (and a second one has, too), it was in one ear and out of mind . . . until I found the volume on the New Books shelf of my local library.This book reminded me of why I find myself checking DOOCE daily (usually multiple times each day). Armstrong is consistently both entertaining and insightful. She gives me my needed fix of what it's like to be a person who copes with life even when she thinks she can't. And while I'm not a woman, a mother, married, or a recovering Mormon, I identify with her.
    • 5/5
      To me, this was the baby memoir to end all baby memoirs. Nothing that I've read before, or since, compares to this. Especially Jenny McCarthy's baby book, which I read about 20 pages of before realizing she's not nearly as funny as she thinks she is, and then I couldn't put up with her anymore. The title of this one is misleading, because it doesn't focus as much on her postpartum depression as it does on the journey as a whole, but the journey is a freaking riot. She's so snarky, and it's not often that a book makes me laugh out loud and then I'm dying to tell my husband what the heck I'm laughing at. I ate this book up and was totally bummed when it was over.
    • 3/5
      There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed, but there were also places where I'd quickly lose interest. I'm usually someone who gets *very* sucked into books, but I found myself putting this book down every few pages. At first I thought that maybe the book would just hold together better for people who had been regular readers of her blog -- I'd never heard of it before this book -- but from the reviews here, it looks like that's not the case.That said, here are the parts of the book I really, really liked:* Pretty much all the parts where she is interacting with her husband. These bits just seemed so much more vivid and real and interesting. Truthfully, I could see myself recommending this book to other people just based on those bits alone. I think most people in a relationship where one person battles depression could get a huge kick out of this.* I know this is cheezy of me, but I love how the embossing on the cover makes it feel like real cross-stitch. :p
    • 5/5
      Have you ever read a book that you were sad to see it end? That is the only way I can describe Heather Armstrong's latest book titled It Sucked and Then I Cried.Heather Armstrong, one of the world's most famous bloggers with her site Dooce.com, doesn't hesitate to tell it like it is...about parenting and being a person who suffers chronic depression.And when postpartum depression becomes the icing to the chronic depression cake, things can get totally whacked out and very hilarious to outsiders looking in.One of my most favorite parts was in the beginning as Heather openly admits to suffering from chronic depression and seeks out help in the form of medication and therapy. However, once she and her husband Jon decide to have a baby, she stops taking the medication. From there, Jon is destined for the roller coast ride of his life with the three faces of Eve.Heather tells of how Jon had spent the day moving "7,800 pounds of boxes from a moving truck into [their] new house," yet she had learned she was ovulating and was determined to do "the procedure." Before he even has a chance to catch his breath, she aggressively seeks to accomplish her mission. Jon, however, just doesn't have the strength to indulge her; telling her "It would take an act of God." Yet, unmedicated Heather hears only, "You are ovulating, and I don't love you." Why? Because, i n her words, she is insane.It is this kind of quick, crazy-fueled humor that keeps the reader laughing throughout the entire book.I was a bit hesitant to read it after seeing the reviews at Amazon, but I'm so glad that I went with my instinct.Many reviewers felt that Heather's tales of parenting were a bit too dramatic and exaggerated. I, on the other hand, disagree. One must have suffered from chronic depression and/or postpartum depression to fully understand that things are that exaggerated and dramatic when in such a mental state. You're not making it up. You're not embellishing it. In your destined-for-the-loony-bin mind, it really happened just like that.I think Heather is a great spokesperson for depression - chronic or postpartum. Her writing style will give sufferers a feeling of understanding while at the same time letting them know that they need to seek help; not just for themselves but for their families.Is it regurgitated blog material? Somewhat. As a fan of Dooce.com, I was already somewhat familiar with the stories, yet somehow I related much more when reading it compiled in a book.Not a sufferer of depression in any form? If you've got a wicked sense of humor, you'll still enjoy it. But be forewarned, Heather is rude, crude and socially unacceptable in the things she says and does. If you're easily offended by foul language or crude remarks, then I do not recommend it for you.
    • 2/5
      Alexander, with her huge following of fans from her blog dooce.com, had an opportunity to tell an important story -- a mother's struggle with postpartum depression and the loneliness of being home alone with a young baby -- and she blew it. That story briefly appears for maybe a chapter, and the rest is full of Alexander YELLING IN ALL CAPS and repeating herself all the time. Skip it.
    • 4/5
      I LOVE Heather Armstrong and have been reading her blog, dooce.com, for years, so I truly enjoyed this book. The thing I like about Heather's writing style is that she is completely honest about heartbreaking subjects, but makes them entertaining and funny.
    • 4/5
      For anyone who is a regular reader of Dooce.com the style of this book will come as no surprise. Heather is just as funny in her memoir as she is every day on her website. The thing that hooks you about Heather's story though is not her humour it is her honesty about her thoughts and feelings. This book is no exception, it had me crying, laughing out loud, joyous and hopeful. Heather tells the store of her pregnancy and the birth of her first child and the feelings and emotions that came with it. Some might find Heather's style crass or even annoying but she writes so candidly I think that every new or expectant mother should give this a read.
    • 4/5
      Funny take on being pregnant and having a baby. She pretty much captures the incredibly wide range of emotions (and more, as she suffers from severe depression). That makes the book sound...depressing, and it isn't at all. She is hilarious (and evidently a well-known blogger), and her perspective is great. Funny and true.

    Book preview

    It Sucked and Then I Cried - Heather B. Armstrong

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