For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for September 13, 2019

John better have a good explanation once Elly gets home.

That is a nice burn Mrs. Nurse.

SO it’s confirmed APRIL is on the way! Yay. And the nurse spoke the truth, Elly.

My mother was 42 when I was born!

I wasn’t reading this ‘toon the first time through, so I don’t understand why this pregnancy was considered a mistake. Who stops using birth control without actually being certain that the wife has gone through menopause?

So is there any backstory on what they were doing for birth control?

Is this one April?

And the nurse only tells the truth, even if it’s not the one the patient wants to hear!

When the kids are asleep, the parents will play.

That was probably how my mother felt at 37 with me. And they had such a nice childless life up til then. A fact she told me my whole childhood.

A friend of mine got pregnant at FIFTY-ONE… after her doctor had told her a blood test showed she was post-menopausal.

Sadly, she lost the baby… which would have been her fourth.

 

It certainly was a wake-up call for some of her friends, whose assumptions about age had made them more careless.

My youngest sibling was 13 years older than me. I grew up as an only child.

My parents were 61 when I graduated high school.

I know someone whose vasectomy didn’t ‘take’. You’re supposed to go back to make sure you’re shooting blanks.

Hummm and we see this on Friday the 13th

“Here she comes in her palanquinOn the back of an elephantOn a bed made of linen and sequins and silkAll astride on her father’s lineWith the king and his concubinesAnd her nurse with her pitchers of liquors and milkAnd we’ll all come praise the infantaAnd we’ll all come praise the infanta”(I may be a bit excited about the imminent arrival of April)

There are paths she could walk to correct their mistake, but for now “You play, you PAY!”

My husband & I were married in 1985. I became pregnant in the summer of 1986, but lost the baby. We decided to try again right away, so I never went on birth control. Our first daughter was born in November of 2002; our SECOND daughter, in February of 2005! I was 38 and 40 (my husband was 42 and 44). I have no regrets; or, as the girls say, “No regerts.”

she’s got rhythm she’s got good times who could ask for anything more

Why don’t I have kids? I’ve been very, very careful.

Not “mistake”; not “accident”; everything worked exactly as it should.

When my wife and I were leaving the Urologist’s office following my vasectomy, I said to her “If you show up pregnant you’re in big trouble.” To which she replied “The Dr. said that it’s 99% effective” and I said “The Doc said that to cover his butt not yours”! ;o}

I have an Aunt that has a brother younger than two of my Aunt’s own children!

My children are almost 12 years to the day apart. I was 45 when I had the second one. It’s like having two only children now that the oldest is off to college. I think it has something to do with my Vulcan blood.

If you were in the US, you could just kill the baby, even after it is born…….no problem. Elect a democrat!

My daughter gave birth to her kids while on birth control. Each one was with a different kind, Turns out she had a high egg count and it was overwhelming the pills and/or implants.

Lynn’s Comments:

When this story began to unfold, all of the thoughts one would have if confronted by this news began to buzz in my head. What would I do if this was happening to ME?

Thank goodness God invented vasectomies!

Baby Blues even bluer!

My son and his now ex-wife believed she could not get pregnant while nursing the previous child. The answer to that question is in the word “previous”.

My “little” brother was a “mistake.” I’m 11 years older than him.

I’ve read this comic for many many years – and was worried I would not enjoy it as much the second time through. I don’t remember this ever happening . . maybe Lynn decided to revive it and play artist/story teller some more? However – if it goes this way, without a sad incident happening to the pregnancy, I think it will be a wonderful addition to the strip.

39 – remember when

What a nice doctor.

My Mom had a late baby. Me. Thanks Mom.

Knocked up higher than a kite

Yep Elly it happens. Accept it and enjoy it. If you want to ensure you won’t have any more after this, either 1) plan to get your baby making equipment out when you have the child, or 2) Ask John to have his little surgery.

So Elly was 24 when she had Michael? Cause he’s 15.

John: “Sorry Elly. I meant to pull out, but the phone rang and it startled me.”

Sorry, Elly… but you walked right into that one.

Take heart dear, there is nothing better news than that of upcoming baby!

I was told I had to plan way ahead to have my tubes tied when I was going to have a C-section. They won’t do it if you decide at the last minute.

My three paternal half brothers were all in WWII. My youngest maternal half sister was 17 when I was born. My father was a WWI veteran

I’m a result of religion-induced guilt. Ten years after having three kids, my parents – who had started using birth control after # 3 – went to a marriage retreat sponsored by the church. My dad was “guilted” into stopping using that vile, evil thing called birth control, and nine months later, I came along. About three years later, along came child number five, at which point mom pulled rank over the church and said enough!

My mother was 38 going through early menopause when I showed up & my younger brother came 2 years later.