First of all - congratulations if you've made it to your last trimester. I tried to not think about labor before it was time to (say like 3 weeks before due date?) and avoided all those scary stories. I read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth to help me understand the process of childbirth and I can only recommend it to those who wish to read a few stories of other women who had great labor & delivery experiences. It definitely helps when a woman tells you that she had an amazing birthing experience vs. one who tells you it was scary, hurt like hell and so on...
Anyways, here are a few things I learned the hard way during my first experience with childbirth:
- Pelvic exams feel uncomfortable and may even hurt. Even if your doctor is "gentle."
- It's important to them that you don't eat or drink during labor, especially should you need a c-section. They'll give you ice chips if you're thirsty. Another reason is that your digestive tract slows down enormously or even stops, so your body can focus on the labor part. You don't want to be stuck with all that food...
- You may feel nauseous. As in "I need to throw up any second now" kind of nausea. You know the kind of nausea and sickness you feel when you drank wayyy too much? Multiply that by A LOT.
- You will feel very cold. I was freezing cold and shivering non-stop. I certainly didn't expect this and NO ONE told me (until later when they were like "Oh yeah... I forgot about that...")! Spiked hormones, exhaustion and fatigue will do this to you.
- Unless you plan on getting the epidural from the start, it takes up to 45 minutes upon request before you receive it and a little while before it starts to work. Yeah, the pain I endured thinking I could go without..
- You won't be walking anywhere if you get an epidural. Your legs will be so numb you won't even feel them until hours after birth! I have respect for the women who walk during labor - those contractions are tough and I certainly did not want to move (I just wanted to cry). So if anyone tells you they got the epidural and walked around the hospital, they're either lying or their epidural did not work.
- You may poop while giving birth. Thank god I didn't, but I honestly never worried about this topic. People are very concerned but the labor and delivery nurse told me that to them, this is like the most normal thing in the world. Those guys are badass. Thank you Nurse, for saying that to me.
- Pushing is a workout, even for the fit ones. Breathe - Push - Break. Next Set. Workout indeed. However, it will feel like you've been at it for less time than you really were. I pushed for an hour, but can only remember 10mins.
- After giving birth, you will push again because the placenta needs to come out. And then your OB will stitch you back up. I was so distracted with staring at my son Avery that I kind of didn't even realize what was going on on that end. So those who want to consume their placenta should not be distracted.
- There will be a lot of blood.
The best part of all is that right after birth, they will hand you your baby for some skin on skin and a nursing session. It's so rewarding that all the above just disappears off your mind!
Good luck to every momma-to-be who is just weeks or days shy of their delivery! You will look back and be proud of how well you managed this situation!
xTanya
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