It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the hope before the storm, it was the tears fought back before the fall, it was after a three-day transfer, it was during a natural cycle, it was the whiteness of the pantiliner, it was the fear of seeing red, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going directly to parenthood, we were all going directly the other way - in short, the moments before the period was so far like every other moment before the period, that some of its noisiest authorities i