The truth about childbirth isn't what they tell you in those pastel-colored books. It's not just about breathing exercises and magical moments. It's about being stripped down to your most vulnerable self, your body and heart split wide open.

You're exhausted, in pain, and relying on the people around you to support you through it. So imagine my horror when, in the middle of my contractions, my mother-in-law kicked my mom out of the delivery room.

And her reason was this:

"She's not the one paying for this birth, so she doesn't belong here."

I wanted to scream and fight. But I was too weak and exhausted. And my mother-in-law, Regina? She was smirking... until she turned around. Because the moment she did, she gasped and went pale.

Let me back up...

I have a great relationship with my mom, Daisy. She's been my rock my entire life, and there was no question that I wanted her in the delivery room with me.

This woman had held my hand through every major life event — my first heartbreak, college graduation, and wedding to the love of my life, Ethan.

Now, as I prepared to become a mother myself, I needed her steady presence more than ever.

My husband, Ethan, was completely on board. In fact, he was the one who first suggested it. "Your mom should definitely be there, Cindy," he said, his hand resting gently on my growing belly. "She knows exactly what you'll need."

During the early hours of labor, my mom was the one who held my hand through contractions and kept me calm with her soft voice saying, "That's it, breathe through it, honey," while Ethan dealt with the mountain of paperwork at the admission desk.

But my mother-in-law? Well, she had different ideas.

She always had a thing about money. She and my father-in-law, Robert, are comfortable, but Regina has a bad habit of acting like money equals authority. It was as if her platinum credit card somehow granted her VIP access to other people's decisions.

Ethan and I have our own money. We don't rely on his parents financially, but Regina has a way of inserting herself into things, especially when she knows she can't control us with her checkbook.

So when she found out my mom would be in the room when I delivered, she was unhappy.