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

[Jina]

During Pregnancy
Breastfeeding
With enough willpower, your boobs WILL cooperate even though your body was not ready. I pumped for 3 straight days after giving birth, waking up every 3 hours to do it, so that I can provide milk for my premie babies. With all the bleeding and cracks. And the first drops were just literally that - drops!!!

I remember how shocked I was when I pumped and saw the small amount that came out. I had to supplement because DS lost too much weight.

[Patty Smyth]

OMG I love this thread. I remember my neighbor after I had my first one she said I didn't want to tell you that induction made labor worse, I said yeah thanks for that. LOL

O.k. so cracked and bleeding nipples - check
Bowel movements from hell! - check
5 tries at the epidural because someone couldn't get it right - check
blown i.v. - check
catheter came out and they didn't believe me and you still pee but the stupid thing is blocking it and the pain is unbelievable - check
parts of your body turning dark brown - check
beautiful pregnancy hair, massive hair loss post baby - check
incompetant uterus, thanks a lot - check
pre-eclampsia, lovely - check
bordeline diabetic - check
6 months of all day morning sickeness - check
aversion to certain foods and smells - check (I used to throw all the meat out of the fridge thinking it was bad, drove DH nuts)
shortness of breath - check
stupid nurse covered up my incision where I was supposed to have a drain for infection and I ended up with massive infection and my doctor had to cut me open in the room with no drugs - check
idiot intern took out my staples and left me on the bed saying I'll be right back and was gone for 2 hours and I couldn't move and couln't reach the buzzer


There was a lot more but don't go by my experiance because not everyone is high risk and many of these complication were a result of that.

Honestly though I had to think really hard to remember some of these things. Just goes to show you we forget about the bad stuff and only remember the good.

[veggiegirl]

I forgot about the itchiness and the shivering after the epidural... could not stop shivering

Didn't know

it would get so hard to pee in a cup those last 2 months as my tummy got larger...

my pelvic muscles would lose so much tone - got up a couple hours after delivering and everything in my bladder literally fell on the floor

hemorrhoids could happen a few weeks after birth and be so brutal

how funny some nursing bras make you look

how pale you'd be for weeks after giving birth, but especially the first couple of days after

how much fluid you could retain or be pumped full of after ivs during labour

how much fluid you could sweat out at night

how thankful you were for honking huge thick overnight maxi pads

despite the months of getting used to a new body and the adventures of labour and the months spent getting your body back to pre-pregnancy feeling (as much as possible)
you forget many of the pains and inconveniences you went through
and
you would do it all over again in a heartbeat... for the miracle that resulted

[momofkali]

How about the fact that you SHOULD NOT take a mirror and see what it looks like down there fore a LONG time afterwards!

[Sally888]

How about the fact that you SHOULD NOT take a mirror and see what it looks like down there fore a LONG time afterwards!

Ya thats the only really scary thing. I have 2 beautiful boys with absolutely no pain meds and I wouldn't go back and change that But I would change the pain of drying out of milk.

My nipples and lady parts never changed shades thank goodness.

[Woofy]

How about the fact that you SHOULD NOT take a mirror and see what it looks like down there fore a LONG time afterwards!

You actually did that????



Let's just say that when I first showered after giving birth and was trying to wash down there... I had the SCARE of my life! The hole felt so huge, that I almost threw up, and I did not throw up at all during my pregnancy...

Anyhow, if being cut down there is the same as episiotomy... then, yup... yours truly here was cut up to give way to a 9 lb 9 oz baby...

The pain and recovery was not as bad as I imagined. I was able to get down from my hospital bed 5 hours later to get water. I was darn thirsty!

[Midnightly]

ohh and who can forget your after labour best friend.. the squirt bottle!!

[lady_arianna]

ohh and who can forget your after labour best friend.. the squirt bottle!!

and the mesh undies

[nadiabreckon]

and the mesh undies

Loved the mesh undies! Lol...nobody seems to know what I'm talking about besides people who live in BC (I gave birth in Nanaimo)...They don't know what they're missing!

[Natalka]

One of my sisters, who is a nurse, warned me about the possibility of having a BM - and said if it happened, to totally not be concerned about it, that it happens very often.
Thank goodness it didn't happen - I was in labour 10 hours, then had to have an emergency c-section under general - fetal heartrate was dangerously low, turns out the cord was wrapped twice around his neck - and he was FINE!

What I didn't know --
- don't wear nail polish! Of course there was no way of knowing ahead of time I would have surgery, but I totally hated that precious moments had to be wasted in prepping me to have a nurse remove my nail polish (they need to be able to see your nails to see your oxygen level)
- how much having a catheter inserted really hurts (and removed - much more than 'a little pinch'!)
- that contractions when you are induced are SO much worse than natural contractions. They just slam into you out of the blue, instead of following the natural ebb and flow (not that those don't hurt, but they build).
- hm, the swearing during labour? Here it is, years later, and my husband still won't tell me what I said... he said I wouldn't want to know. I remember talking, and squeezing his hand...

I had read tons, have three older sisters with kids, plus friends - so I was fairly prepared. Was horrified how little some others knew on the ward (had to show a woman in the next room how to put a diaper on!).
Wasn't prepared for how overwhelmingly wonderful it really all was to finally see and hold that beautiful baby!!! That was worth going through absolutely anything!

[Natalka]

Loved the mesh undies! Lol...nobody seems to know what I'm talking about besides people who live in BC (I gave birth in Nanaimo)...They don't know what they're missing!

They are in Sask., too. I just wore my own granny panties.

[itsjustmebub]

ohh and who can forget your after labour best friend.. the squirt bottle!!

BAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! omg i forgot about that.

That's it. I officially nominate this as the greatest thread EVER. lol

[itsjustmebub]

But I would change the pain of drying out of milk.

omg dude i decided to formula feed exclusively #2 ... and didn't realize that my milk would still come in ... lets just say i grew 3 maybe 4 cup sizes in 2 days ... and i thought i was going to die. I called my mom hysterical and I was SO hysterical I couldn't even put words together and she thought littleman had died or something from my incoherent sobbing.

GAH!!!!!!! NOTTTTT FUNNNNNNN

[Zonny]

Loved the mesh undies! Lol...nobody seems to know what I'm talking about besides people who live in BC (I gave birth in Nanaimo)...They don't know what they're missing!

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!

(had to show a woman in the next room how to put a diaper on!).

The nurse had to show us how to do that too. I'd never changed a diaper before until I had my own child!

Z

[Natalka]

Zonny, I guess I just 'assumed' women had been around babies, because I always was! I had older sisters with kids, I started babysitting when I was 10; my mom had her last baby when I was 10 as well...

Oh, and about pumping - using the machine in the nursery at the hospital was one thing - going home and trying many different kinds just didn't work as well - I was almost willing to purchase an industrial model!