I gave birth on my friend’s sofa – she won’t talk to me again

Lilly* was enjoying a girls’ night out at a friend’s house when her baby decided to be born — not in an Uber, but through her vagina.

Lilly gave birth unexpectedly on her friend Ella’s couch and learned the first rule of parenting; children are often selfish with their time.

EMTs were called to oversee the delivery and everything went off without a hitch.

But to Lilly’s surprise, Ella hasn’t accepted her precious newborn since. Shouldn’t she feel honored that her home is the site of such a magical moment?

Like the stables in Bethlehem?

“I threw everyone out of the house”

Since then, Lilly has wondered if the removal of all guests during her birth – including Ella, whose home it is – could be a source of friction. (Plot twist: it’s not.)

“Ella has been cold towards us ever since. She’s the only one who hasn’t come,” the new mother tells an online counseling group.

But then Lilly admits it was weeks before she reached out with a thank you and apology. That might be why Ella simply responded with… a bill for a new couch.

“She sent me a bill for the sofa,” the mother continues.

“Which I don’t mind paying at all…but still felt kind of harsh?

“Ella looks really hurt? I don’t know how to fix this. I feel guilty.”

“You can’t control your work, but it’s up to you”

After reading 1,400 comments telling her she was wrong, Lilly said she would “walk away” from the post but also take responsibility.

“This situation has been crazy for us, but also for Ela. And I hadn’t thought it through, which really bothers me.

“I’ll try to reach out again, give her everything back (proper!) and try to sort this out somehow.”

But that wasn’t before she was slammed for being “ungrateful” and “ungrateful,” repeatedly.

An example is this comment:

“Now that you’ve been born you know how messy it is. It’s like a scary crime scene. No one wants to sit on a couch where someone gives birth.

“A sofa is an expensive and important piece of furniture. The fact that your partner didn’t step in and ask to immediately pay for a replacement and offer to get cleaners for the room is surprising. And if you have time to post this on reddit and you still haven’t offered a replacement and payment to Ella, that’s really bad and thoughtless behavior.

“Sending the couch bill in response is abbreviated, but your apology should have included an offer to pay.”

Another commenter put it this way to reinforce the impact on Ella:

“Not only is Ella out of the cost of a new couch, but the old one had to be removed and destroyed, probably at additional cost due to hazardous waste, and the room was essentially unusable until it was gone.

“If I were Ella and hadn’t heard from the poster until she sent a thank you message but nothing about the money a few weeks later, I’d be pretty pissed too!”

*Not her real name.