Things you didn't know about pregnancy, birth and after

[awongtse]

What I learned with DS#2:

Even though he was head down for months, there was apparently enough room for him to turn around the day before I gave birth. He ended up being a footling breech vaginal birth (no epidural or pain medication)!! Very "generous" episiotomy, though. Ouch. The squirt bottle and ice packs were very welcome friends.

[EuropeanPenguin]

Love this thread,

things I learned with baby number 1:

- even if you think you are a super woman and will have a complete natural birth ( no drugs, no nothing) ... nature may have other plans for you.

- that when your water breaks it may only trickle and not come out all at once ( had to call the hospital and explained that i was not sure if it was my water that broke or i just peed myself LOL) Finally lost the left over in the hospital parking lot.

-that you may not have contractions before loosing your water

- that a multi-jet shower with the hottest water i could get was going to be my best friend during labor.

- not to write a birth plan, because the nurse will make you follow it... had to scream at her to get an epidural ( 7 hours in to labor)


- that a epidural can be bliss when given properly and at the right time.

-that when a student nurse asks you if she can stay and watch... say no... she ended helping me push but never shut up while doing it... i guess me throwing the oxygen mask at her over and over again was not a big of enough sign for her to keep quite.

- that the orderlies that works at the hospital are not required to know how to read and deal with patient in full labor. ( the guy driving my gurney to the operation room left me in the middle of the hall way to chat with a friend and that asked me 3 times for my last name while i was having such contractions that i felt i was going to deliver right there when my name was on the hospital bracelet on my arm !!! Hubby was not with me at the time because he was getting suit up for the op room)

- that an emergency c-section is not that bad after all... as long as you and baby are healthy that is what counts.

- that the extra epidural medication for the c-section would make me forget the first day of my baby's life ( can't remember after his birth until 24 hours later... apparently i got into a fight with a nurse and told a friend the same story 4 times exactly the same way)

- that breastfeeding is not as easy as 1-2-3 even if your boobs had started leaking 1 month before birth...baby was lazy and did not want to work for it... since i was in a baby-ready hospital (which is the reason i picked it) no formula was going to be given to the babes it was all up to me... so while i was manually expressing my milk in a little cup... my husband was feeding the baby with another , making him lap it like a cat
so he would get the motion properly.

- that nurses that come and visit you at home know a thing or 2... she is the one who talk to us about the nipple shield... after 5 days in the hospital, we had been released but i was still pumping my milk ( with an electric machine this time) and hubby still cup-feeding. She mentioned that a nipple shield might help because it acts a little like a bottle nipple making it easier for baby to feed. As soon as she left we went and got one and DS breastfed for the next 15 months with out a problem.

- that the baby blues would affect me this much... I was not crying or depress... in my mind my only job was to feed the baby and sleep.... hubby could do the rest.

- and yes that you could squirt milk up to 3 feet in front of you if you pressed on your boob the right way.

Things i learned with baby #2:

- that having your cervix scraped to make them mature faster could be synonymous with you loosing your water... the Dr took out her hand and i asked... is it normal that I'm that wet? The look on her face said it all... thank god the hospital was across the street and that for once DH was with me.( I had a premonition about this and I had asked him to come with me to take care of DS while i was in the examination room and we had backed our hospital bag and DS overnight bag to go to my parents)

- that not all anesthesiologist are the same... with DS the epi worked wonders for the get go. With baby 2 ... i had to have 3 boosters and it still did not take... felt every single thing...

- that if you have heartburn during your pregnancy you will have it during labor... apple juice was really giving me bad heartburn during pregnancy... but it was the only thing available besides water and orange juice ( worst than aj) during labor and I needed the sugar... so i ended up having major heartburn, shivers (due to the epidural and shock) between contractions so i never had a rest.

- that a baby can start screaming inside of you when it is being delivered

- that you can tare up instead of down when the head passes.

- that your body recovers sooo much faster after a regular birth even if i was up and running after my c-section quite fast.

- that breastfeeding could be that easy.

- that little girls are as much fun as little boys

[itsjustmebub]

- that an emergency c-section is not that bad after all... as long as you and baby are healthy that is what counts.

- that the extra epidural medication for the c-section would make me forget the first day of my baby's life ( can't remember after his birth until 24 hours later... apparently i got into a fight with a nurse and told a friend the same story 4 times exactly the same way)

same to point #1

point #2 ... apparently I did this to my DH too ... I just kept repeating myself over and over and he was like okay dear, okay dear and so on
ahaha

[momofkali]

We had those in NS too! But I was in the hospital for four days, they only gave me two pairs. When I asked for more, they told me to rinse them in the sink. I guess the budget for disposable undies is pretty tight!

Totally. Those sexy things must cost a fortune!!!!

[momofkali]

2. That I would have to stop buying "slender" size tampons and invest in the "super" size ones.

OMG totally!

I never knew that having kids could give me varicose veins of the vijay canal.

I went to a gyne thinking I had some horrible cyst or something.

[momofkali]

What???? I have 2 boys and haven't done any stretching!!!!

Me either. I figure when they get old enough they can do it themselves.

I started at 3 years old and when in teh shower get them to pull back teh skin and wash it themselves

[momofkali]

Phew ok now I am done.

So many awesome points!

Ok
#1 That in transition you can NOT control yourself. I started screaming in teh triage and they asked me to be quiet cuz I was scaring people. I told then to jsut hurry up and get me to my room!

(Side note: my indian friend said her father told her white women don't scream during labour lol)

#2 That putting cabbage in your bra really DOES work. Although you smell funny.

[monkeyincowtown]

What's the "squirt bottle" everyone keeps referring to?

This is also used to help cleanse down there after you do your business. You see when you have stitches and swelling you can't very well wipe with toilet paper, so instead you spray down with warm water and then pat dry. The water helps you from getting an infection since you can't wipe.

[Zonny]

#2 That putting cabbage in your bra really DOES work. Although you smell funny.

Funny - the nurses in my hospital had cabbage leaves available, joked that the kitchen staff always accused them of making cole slaw for their breaks.

Z

[AmberLab]

Hemorrhoids. How has only one person mentioned them? Nasty.

Your water might not break on it's own at all, true. Or you could have the major gusher scene that you only see in movies. That was me at 2am. I'm thankful I ran fast enough to the bathroom, to get away from the carpet, when I felt that suspicious "pop."

[Zonny]

Hemorrhoids. How has only one person mentioned them? Nasty.

Your water might not break on it's own at all, true. Or you could have the major gusher scene that you only see in movies. That was me at 2am. I'm thankful I ran fast enough to the bathroom, to get away from the carpet, when I felt that suspicious "pop."

Too funny! I was eight days overdue and slept with a towel under me in bed for two weeks before that. Only after my water actually broke (in my hospital bed) did I realize that a simple towel would not have saved my mattress!

It was a very strange sensation. I was there talking to my nurse, who was explaining she was going to break and another nurse would be mine for a bit, when I felt that 'give' and suddenly it was like I was peeing myself, not a thing I could do about it really except change position to stem the flow. I went and took a shower once that happened, but as soon as I got out I was all wet with it again, didn't help much.

That was one great thing about my hospital, all the rooms had a bathroom with a tub. Having a bath was great in the early hours before I had the epi! I know you'll be there too Amberlab! The IWK is a fabulous spot!

Z

[AmberLab]

Too funny! I was eight days overdue and slept with a towel under me in bed for two weeks before that. Only after my water actually broke (in my hospital bed) did I realize that a simple towel would not have saved my mattress!

It was a very strange sensation. I was there talking to my nurse, who was explaining she was going to break and another nurse would be mine for a bit, when I felt that 'give' and suddenly it was like I was peeing myself, not a thing I could do about it really except change position to stem the flow. I went and took a shower once that happened, but as soon as I got out I was all wet with it again, didn't help much.

That was one great thing about my hospital, all the rooms had a bathroom with a tub. Having a bath was great in the early hours before I had the epi! I know you'll be there too Amberlab! The IWK is a fabulous spot!

Z

Looking back, it was funny - DH was on the phone relaying to the nurse that yes I was sure it wasn't pee because I couldn't stop the flow and there was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much of it. I wasn't sure how I was going to get dressed and out the door. I had put garbage bags over the seats in the car weeks earlier. That was helpful. But you're right, the bed mattress or any other furniture would have been a write-off.

Yes, loved having my own bathroom! I showered as soon as it was all over. Did you have a private room? I did and "ordered" it again this time. If you have an option ladies, get the private room! Check your health insurance, the cost of it may be covered. DH's work covers most of it, I think it came down to $20 per day OOP.

[itsjustmebub]

They broke my water for me at the hospital with #1 (before we knew i'd need an emergency c-section) and i was like holy crap will the stream ever end?!?!?!?! lol ... it just felt like WAY more water than was humanly possible to have inside my belly sheesh

[Litesandsirens911]

that no matter if you are the nicest, most polite person in the world, sometimes the "demon within" comes out and you lose control of your words...something like "tourettes syndrome"..it can't be controlled...thank Goodness the DH, nurses and doctors have heard it all before..lol

[itsjustmebub]

that no matter how many times you have been to the doctors and how ready you've been to deliver normally the words "i feel feet" can forever change your plans