Motherhood TV shows for your viewing pleasure – or not

The Gosselin Family - TLC

For the 11½ months I was pregnant, I couldn’t get enough of those birthing shows on TV. I watched all sorts – from the heartwarming birthing stories to the women who delivered in bathtubs to the problematic premature births. I suppose I was getting my mind geared up for the big day. It turned out to be helpful. While my pregnancy was somewhat uneventful, my delivery was anything but. After 30 hours of labor my doctor advised a C-section. I sobbed like a schoolgirl until Dr. Cox (yes, I chose my OB because of his name) agreed to give the vaginal delivery one more try. Surrounded by a scurry of nurses and armed with forceps, my doctor yanked my son from my body. To this day I’m convinced my 8-pound boy was born with a head the size of a Volkswagen.

The minute I brought Truman home I was over those shows. One would think, logically, that I moved on Mother TV, but I never had much of an interest. Even now, after Truman goes to bed, if I have a choice between Jon & Kate Plus 8 or The L Word, I’m totally watching The L Word. The Yoplait yogurt girl is my favorite character. But I pretty much like all those girls. Oh, and this season there are some serious motherhood issues. First, Flash Dance Girl and her partner are trying to adopt their second baby. And the transgender guy/girl accidentally became pregnant. That storyline creeps Rick out and it probably would give me the willies if I didn’t feel so sorry for the character. His/her boyfriend left him/her this week, just a week after pledging his love for him/her and saying he’d be there for the baby. Jerk.

I’ve totally lost my point (big shocker there). I wanted to highlight some of the mass of motherhood shows on TV now because some of them totally crack me up! But I got to the TLC channel and I pretty much gave up. That channel is the stand-out winner of freaky motherhood shows. Here’s a sampling from this week alone:

• Jon & Kate Plus 8 – I actually like what I’ve seen of this show. I think Kate and I would hit it off, though I’d have to ask her, “What were you thinking ?”
• 17 Kids and Counting – This is a peep into the lives of those crazy Duggars who can’t stop reproducing.
• Toddlers & Tiaras – I actually watched this the other night. Those mothers are seriously warped.
• Bringing Home Baby, A Baby Story – I’ve lumped these shows together because I’m not sure there’s much difference. These stories are always sweet.
• Kids by the Dozen – This is a story about a couple who has 12 kids, the oldest of whom is going off to college. You get the theme here – have a bunch of kids, land your own TV show…
• A Very Duggar Wedding – Oh please! Enough with families that have no concept of contraception!
• My Shocking Story – This isn’t exactly a motherhood story but its just freaky enough that I’m going to include the description, per the show listings: “A team of medical experts at a specialist clinic put Rudy Santos, a 55 yrs old man born with a parasitic twin who has 4 arms and 3 legs through a host of examinations to find out exactly whether surgery is possible for Rudy at this late age.” Um…what?

This will get you started on a motherhood TV marathon. Have any others to share?