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

[Jina]

I never knew breastfeeding would be hard at the beginning and no one told me about cracked and sore nipples ouch. My nipples looked so bad I thought they were infected but wastold it's totally normal

Swollen feet and legs after a c-section! Mine looked like hippo feet and no shoes would fit . I had to wear slippers during winter.

I knew about bowel movement while pushing. I did not pass one but farted. Very embarassing but the nurse was like she was so used to this

I did not know that induced labour would hurt that much. I HAD to ask for an epidural but unfortunately had to wait. I was sqeezing DH's hands so much.

[Woofy]

Hahahahaha! I cannot help but laugh at the tooting during pushing part!!!!

I was pushing for 2 hours, and all I could remember from those 2 hours was the mortification of my tooting in front of my hubby and the 2 labour nurses!

It wasn't funny back then... but now on hindsight... it's hilarious... When do we ladies ever get to toot so freely, without being "judged" harshly?

[itsjustmebub]

why did i come in here?!

[Zonny]

Swollen feet and legs after a c-section! Mine looked like hippo feet and no shoes would fit . I had to wear slippers during winter.

That didn't happen to me at all, I'm happy to report!

Among the things that I never knew was that labour could make you nauseous. One of my first acts when I got to the hospital in labour was to barf on myself. You know that I was just excited to get into one of those johnny shirts.

Z

[francine1985]

most people dont know that when squeezing your support persons hand you should only be holding the index and middle fingers. (my mom is a nurse and told dh to only give me those 2 fingers lol) i guess no matter how hard you squeeze it wont hurt their fingers. i guess in some cases peoples hands were squeezed hard enough to break.

[Woofy]

why did i come in here?!

[reese&rorysmom]

Do you have Lanolin for your nipples? That worked really well for me

[Jina]

Do you have Lanolin for your nipples? That worked really well for me

Yeah that's what I used for the first few weeks.

Everytime DS was hungry I was like 'oh no...it's gonna hurt!' and he's such a hard sucker! All the nurses noticed how hard he sucks when they put their finger in his mouth.

[itsjustmebub]

i didn't get swollen after either c-section ... but i did get SEVEEEEERE motion sickness from the epidural thingy and also got itchy all over. So basically I would move my arm to scratch and just that motion would make me throw up. This lasted 24 hours. Good times!

[poppleton]

Yeah that's what I used for the first few weeks.

Everytime DS was hungry I was like 'oh no...it's gonna hurt!' and he's such a hard sucker! All the nurses noticed how hard he sucks when they put their finger in his mouth.

May I suggest going easy on the Lanolin? As my lactation consultant pointed out, it can actually soften your nipples too much and cause the tissue to break down when the baby is nursing....eeek!!

[Jina]

i didn't get swollen after either c-section ... but i did get SEVEEEEERE motion sickness from the epidural thingy and also got itchy all over. So basically I would move my arm to scratch and just that motion would make me throw up. This lasted 24 hours. Good times!

Ha, yeah the itching...my back around where they inserted the epi mostly.

The swelling came from the IV fluids.

Did not expect to have so many things attached to me: pitocin injection, epi, catheter, IV fluids...

[Zonny]

i didn't get swollen after either c-section ... but i did get SEVEEEEERE motion sickness from the epidural thingy and also got itchy all over. So basically I would move my arm to scratch and just that motion would make me throw up. This lasted 24 hours. Good times!

Oh yeah, the epi made me feel sicker, and made me feel cold, I was shaking all over. I was queasy throughout my pregnancy anyhow, and always had a bottle of water with me. But once they decided to do a C section, they took my water away! So while DS was being born, I was lying back with a cloth on my face, trying not to throw up. When they told DH to come and get him, he was concerned that I was going to die or something! I said I'll live, go get our son!

Z

[anisa]

an excellent book to read is the "The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy: Or everything your doctor won't tell you"
very candid and funny book about pregnancy, labour/delivery and so on
i bought it along with "what to expect..." and i can say the 2 books together had me ultra prepared.

mind you i had no friends around here at the time, and no sisters to talk to and my mother is an uptight prude who i can't stand talking to, ever! haha

i have to say tho, i didn't just toot, err... i warned them tho!!
my second child's delivery was a trip, went from broken waters to a crying baby in about 15 minutes. THAT i wasn't prepared for! hubby and i laughed about it afterwards, i still think about it and laugh

[itsjustmebub]

oh yeah i did throw up during the c-section too ... oh that and the ENTIRE 9 MONTHS AT LEAST 10-30 times A DAY!!!!!!!!! lol

[papillon]

I'm so scared to get pregnant because of all the horror stories I hear. I'm thinking about just adopting. Good thing I have a few years to think about it... I heard they sometimes have to..... cut down there to make the opening bigger. *shivers* it hurts to even think about it