Entertainment, Books - Army Times

From baby to blog to memoir for Heather Armstrong

Heather B. Armstrong has been blogging since 2001 about depression, childbirth and parenting on her Web site, dooce.com, which averages 1.5 million visitors a month. Now she has written a memoir, “It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita” (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, $24), that, like her blog, is sometimes funny and irreverent, sometimes serious, and always honest. Armstrong, 33, lives in Salt Lake City with her husband, Jon, and their daughter, Leta.

QUESTION: You talk openly on your blog and in your book about everything — your bodily functions, giving birth and the medication you take for depression. Do you ever think you’re sharing too much information?

ANSWER: I do invite people into my life, but there’s a definite line I won’t cross. I do share my relationship with my husband, but if he and I get into real fights or have any trouble, those things are completely off-limits. And I won’t talk about our sex life.

Q: Do you think your openness is part of your appeal?

A: Absolutely. People come to me because I will say what they’re afraid to say. It’s really raw and unfiltered, a little rough around the edges. Sometimes it seems like I’m going off like a fire hose.

Q: You’re expecting your second baby in June. What do you know about pregnancy now that you didn’t know before?

A: I found I really, really hate being pregnant. I find no joy in it whatsoever. Yes, feeling the baby kick inside is a magical experience, but I’ve got hemorrhoids and already gained 30 pounds. For me it’s an absolutely miserable and disenfranchising experience.

Q: If you hate it so much, why are you having another baby?

A: We have a delightful 5-year-old at home who can read and can crack a joke, so it by far is absolutely worth it. It’s enriched my life in a way that nothing else could have.

Q: Are you ever accused of acting like you’re the only woman to ever give birth?

A: I get that in my inbox every day. It helps me to write about it, and I know that it helps my readers. In our small little corner of the world we’re helping each other. I just don’t see how that’s a bad thing.

Q: Are you helping people?

A: I feel like one of my callings in life is to stand up and be the whipping post for medicated parenthood. I’m making it safe for other people to talk about it or be willing to get help for their depression.

Q: Why do you write with humor about your struggles with depression?

A: Humor saved me. It was getting to the end of the day and going “OK, what can I laugh about so I can get up and do it again tomorrow?” When I sat down to put this book together, I wanted it to be the funniest story about depression you’ve ever read.

Q: Dooce.com means what?

A: I once had a job in Los Angeles and, at work, during instant messages, I would call my co-workers Dude and always misspell it as Duce. It became a nickname and, in another spelling, the name of my blog.