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Babies: 3 - 6 Months
NeverKnew
member
What surprised you about L&D?
NeverKnew
member
I've got three sisters-in-law and a friend who are getting close to giving birth, and it's made me somewhat reflective on my L&D experience. I tried as best I could to be prepared by reading and listening to everyone's stories, but when it was my turn, I was surprised at the following:
- I needed the room dark while I was laboring. That helped me relax a ton.
- I labored on the bed the entire time, I'd planned on moving around the room.
- I got through contractions by shushing ("Shhhhhh") myself. Nobody taught me that, but it just made me feel better.
- Contractions didn't hurt that bad. They were like my menstrual cramps, but I actually got a break in between.
- Postpartum pain was worse than labor for me. It hit me like a ton of bricks as soon as my epi wore off. Two percocet didn't hardly take the edge off.
What surprised you?
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Re: What surprised you about L&D?
1. I didn't think the hardest part of labor would be the pushing. (pushed for 3.5 hours and eventually had to have suction because LO's head was stuck on my pelvic bone)
2. Nobody told me about what happens AFTER you have the baby (the nurse beating the crap out of your uterus and stomach to get all of the fluid out. That HURTS!
That the shots they gave me down there in order to numb the area to sew me up would hurt more than delivery or tearing did. (I had no drugs)
I used to laugh when i'd see videos of women moaning through contractions. I ended up a moaner.
I had heard that pushing felt like relief. I thought it just hurt like holy hell.
1. how long it took the first time--2.5 days with pushing for 3 hours
2. how fast it went the second
--i was having contractions at an appointment and had no clue---labor was 6 hours total and i pushed for 45 min!
3. that i needed music both times.
4. how much i would talk to the dr., nurse, my husband through it all
5. how great having a supportive dr., nurse, husband is!!
6. that i would deliver our son in a doggy style position--facing away from the dr--but dang if that didn't work!
7. that i would deliver med free the second time--i had drugs they just wore off before i was ready to push
8. how great it is for the nurse to take baby away for a few hours so i could sleep!!!
1. That the epidural was WONDERFUL! I felt NO pain the entire time! and I could move my legs on my own!
2. What happens afterwards
3. That my baby would have to go to the NICU and I wouldn't get to hold her until she was 3 days old! That was the most surprising/sad part.
Overall, I didn't think L&D was hard at all, thanks to the epidural. Before I got it, I was in a lot of pain, so who knows what I'd be saying if I didn't! haha!
1. I didn't know that water breaking was not a one time thing. When water was still gushing at every contraction, it freaked me out a bit b/c I wasn't expecting it.
2. I was not expected to get interrupted and woken up so much inthe hospital. I had finally fallen asleep and a nurse woke me up to sign my discharge paperwork the night before I was due to leave. DH has asked them to take DS int he nursery for a little bit because I hadn't slept and they woke me up 20 minutes later. I was quite grumpy at them after that.
3. The tear healing hurt more than childbirth itself. I made it through 18 hours of labor without crying but peeing brought me to tears for a week after DS was born.
1. I had no idea I would be such a wimp and beg for an epi within an hour of starting contractions.
2. Having been around for a few births and seeing people right after I had no idea the pain I would be in once the baby was out. I had a lortab and 800mg ibuprofen before I could relax. I also didn't expect tp be puking more than when I was pregnant.
**ducking**
That it would be so quick! I was all prepared to have the average 14 hour first-time labor...but I am lucky I got to the hospital at all (even though we lived only one mile away). My labor hit hard and fast from the minute I woke up that morning (water broke when I woke up). We got to the hospital at 9:30 and she was born at 12:30. I never even had time to use all the "tools" like my ipod, magazines, etc.
1. How easy it was (I was super spoiled w/ both kids- pushed 3 times w/ DD and about 5 for DS).
2. How much the birthing ball actually does help- used it w/ DS and contx really didn't bother me. Got to 6 cm before getting epi.
2. The PP cramping- owie! I had to go w/ pain killers both times.
1. That I was able to sleep in between contractions and DH stayed awake the whole night (went to bed at 9pm, water broke at 2am - went to hospital, delivered at 9am).
2. That the fluids keep coming out with each contraction and when LO came out, gush!
3. That getting out of bed the first time I would have a stream of blood running down my legs (DH was out getting us food).
4. That it didn't matter to me how slimy LO was when he came out. When they laid him on me, all I could do was touch him and cry. (and that DH was able to catch pictures of him on my belly right after delivery)
1) I thought I could handle contractions until I ended up having back labor. I would describe it as a mix of the worst period cramps I've ever had (and they have been bad) and being hit in the back with a sledge hammer.
2) I never thought I could push for 2 hours but I did (until I pooped out)
3) I'm modest and ended up having my parent's, younger brother and MIL in the room with me. I never wanted that many people in the room but they were so excited, I was on drugs and well...they just ended up sticking around.
4) Apparently it's well-known with the nurses that the second night in the hospital is the worst night, the baby is now wide awake. We found that out big time when DD was inconsolable at 3:30am and I was in a daze and in tears. Thank God for the nurse who took DD with her to hang out at the nurse's station allowing my husband and I to get a few hours of sleep.
5) I was surprised that I ended up needing her to be vacuumed out, even though she wasn't a large baby, only 7lbs 4 oz, but she was stuck behind my pubic bone.
6) Apparently I threatened to kick the Dr. in the face. Long story but he was an on-call Dr. who I had never met and he was a dickhole. I don't remember saying that but the witnesses say I did....drugs?
7) I was surprised at how much having a baby actually felt more like I was trying to poop out a soccer ball. There was so much pressure on the tailbone. I was afraid I was crapping on the table and was shocked to know that I wasn't. Let me tell you, it's hard to clench your butt while pushing...lol.
8) I was warned about the initial gush of fluids when you first stand up in my birthing class. I was prepared and grabbed the pee pad and waddled to the restroom (my giggling husband following me with the camera)...nothing too bad! HOWEVER...two hours later I'm sitting on the bed, talking with my in-laws, and I feel a little leakage going on. So I get up and I've notice I've left a little stain on the bed. So I walk to the bathroom and WHOOSH, blood and lochia gush out of me, I couldn't make it to the toilet. It looked like a crime scene, I yelled for my husband to get the nurse as I'm straddling the garbage can. What a mess!
9) I was shocked at how much pp pain I would go through. The next day I felt like I was run over by a truck, my back, shoulders, arms and abdomen were wrecked from all the pushing. Darvecet then eventually vicodin and 600mg of Ibuprofin 24/7 for two weeks, couldn't sit without a donut pillow and managing a blown out vag. with stitches blew BIG time.
(1) That FI freaking slept while I labored with out any progression for 8 hours despite drugs to help speed things up. Then he watched movies and SHUSHED me during contractions. Next time I may seriously consider kicking him out of the room if he tries this again.
(2) That I honestly don't remember seeing my daughter right after the c-section. I think they knocked me completely out because my epi failed during labor. I actually only remember about the first 4 hours of labor and that's it until well into the next morning (induced at 8 am, c-section at 5:45 pm and no memories until well about noon the next day. Then Fi sent LO to the nursery the first night when he knew I wanted her with me or with him if I was out of it.
(3) Demerol doesn't do sh*t. It numbed my arm up to my elbow and that was it.
(4) All the huge clots scared me during recovery even though I knew they were going to be there. I don't have any problems with my blood but I just don't clot or heal very well or quickly so seeing the big clots and all the blood scared the heck out of me.
1.That it would progress so quickly- 4.5 hrs from 1st contraction at home to DS being born..Not complaining, just expected it to be longer since this was my first
2. Not having time for DH to grab camera from car or call family to let them know we were in labor..I had big plans for DH to take lots of pics of me laboring and pushing, but nope..didn't happen.
3. The soreness after delivery...I didn't even want to get out of the bed to use the bathroom
1: how looooong labor could take. 81 hours for me with no progression.
2:lack of sleep for 4+ days was way worse than the contractions
3: a c-section
4: how the nurses wake you up every 2 hours 24 hours a day to check you. Really, lack of sleep was the worst of it all for me.
5: how much I really didn't care about my original, carefully detailed birth plan.
1. That I would be "chained" to the bed for 24 hours instead of my plan of walking, laboring in the tub, the yoga ball, etc.
2. That the epi would wear off when I was in an incredible amount of pain and I would have to have a second one.
3. That I wouldn't even get to see my baby for a good 15 minutes and that my husband would hold him first despite having a vaginal birth. I'm still pretty burned over that one!
4. That the numbing shot would not actually work on my bits and pieces and I would feel every. single. stitch. of my tear repair. WAY worse than the actual labor.
5. That as soon as they did finally put my boy in my arms I would magically stop feeling her working on that tear. He was the ultimate meds!
6. That recovery would be a breeze. I was up walking like it was nothing an hour later and walking the mall four days after giving birth.
1. How quickly labor went. I went from 7cm to pushing in about 5 minutes. Total labor time was 6 hours.
2. I labored in bed practically the whole time. I tried walking around and sitting on the ball, and the toilet, and the pain was excruciating. The only place I could manage the contractions was in bed.
3. I only pushed for 2 or 3 contractions. Considering the average for a 1st timer is 1 hour, I was really surprised.
4. How long I was in labor. I know I said I surprised it only lasted 6 hours, but it really didn't seem like 6 hours at the time. Contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes the entire time I was in the hospital and it didn't seem like I had THAT many.
1. That I liked having music and the room dark- and I did NOT like what I saw in the mirror-
2. that I would be such a whimp- made it to 3cm and then begged and pleaded for an epi-
3. that pushing would be so quick- I only pushed for 20 min- didn't feel a thing- thanks to that wonderful epi
4. that I would be so super afraid to poo after birth- I was scared my insides might fall out- LOL!
5. That breastfeeding would hurt so bad- I thought it hurt even worse than the contractions- but I was sooo happy that I decided to stick with it- because it was a wonderful bonding experience with DS
1. Having to be induced.
2. How long I was able to go on pit without an epi (about 18 hours).
3. Having a cesction. I never thought it would happen to me.
1. The other things that happened to my body during labor. I got uncontrollable shakes, had a fever, vomited.
2. The epi wore off right before delivery and I had to beg for another one. I would have rather waited longer before getting one (I had already had a few), as they slowed my contractions and the labor took longer.
3. How difficult the pushing is when you don't even know where to push. I could only tell where when the nurse had her hands down there. We ended up having to do the vacuum delivery with a threat of C/S looming. When the doctor listed the possible complications, I thought my mom was going faint, but luckily I was prepared from my classes!
4. TMI lesson: After they took the catheter out, I had zero control over urination. I would get up to go to the toilet, and as I was getting ready to sit down, I only knew I was peeing because I felt it on my legs. It took weeks to get full control again. Doctor thought it was because of my long labor and his head was probably pressing against the blood flow to my urethra. Let me tell you how fun those few weeks were. I was scared to death and one of the nurses in the hospital was really not helpful about it. Her great comfort was "you may never get it (control) back." Seriously nurse? The doctor was waaaaay better about calming my fears.
That I would be begging for a C-Section after 30 hours and a failed epidural. I only ever gor to a 4cm.
C-sections were my worst fear. After hearing about the tearing and hemmie's though... I think I am happy to have had the C!
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For me it was how quickly labor went, 7 hours from the time water broke to the time DS was born.
Contractions, they weren't at all what I was expecting! I was expecting them to have me doubled over in pain, but in reality they were only MILD period cramps.
Recovery, I had no PP pain or discomfort and wanted to leave the hospital the morning after I delivered. That didn't happen as DS had to spend time under the bili-light for 2 days.
I always heard that puking is normal, but I didn't realize I would yak the entire time! LOL!
How exhausting pushing was!
The thing I am most suprised at is how freaking neat & awesome the whole birthing process was. I had to push for over 2 hours but It was just so calm & peaceful in there. No one was freaking out or running around like on TV!
I was completely wierded out by BF-ing while pregnant but when she was finally born I immediately wanted to BF!
I loved the experience & I hope with our next baby that I will get to enjoy it as much as I did with Emerson!
1) That taking the epidural off, the tape, would hurt more than the needle.
2) I didn't want the epidural, but needed it. Then it was gone by the time I pushed.
3) That I really didn't give a shiot what I looked like. I brought my make-up, clothes..etc.
4) That so many people were going to see me with my legs spread. I had 3 nurses, 3 doctors to pop my bag, my own OBGYN and Zaiden had 5 nurses there when he was born.
1. I was surprised that the pain wasn't so horrible. I was induced and still didn't get an epidural. I think I was very lucky.
2. I had never heard of nausea during delivery. I had to get meds to stop the vomiting
3. The thoughts that go through your mind, like "Oh, they're not paying attention right now. Next time I get a contraction I won't tell them so that I don't have to push. They won't even notice because they're not looking. I need the break." Ha!
twitter: @aliciamariel
1. How badly I needed to move. Sitting still sucked.
2. How hard I needed my help (doula, DH, and sister) to dig their fingers into my lower back. I didn't realize how hard they were pressing until a couple days after L&D I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and saw tumb-print sized brusies all over my lower back and butt
3. How connected I felt through DH and DS throughout the experience.
4. That music really did help to distract me.
5. Amazement at how my body just took over and got through all of my 18 hours of (drug free) contrax and how experiencing that made me feel so connected to all the women who came before me.
This. My mom warned me that it was painful, but for me that was WAAAY worse than l&d. That brought a tear to my eye when they were pushing on my stomach! Horrible!
1. I wasn't expecting to feel so sick while I was laboring. I knew I'd be in pain, but I was surprised that I also felt nauseous and had cold sweats. To me, that was almost worse than the pain.
2. How long I would have to push for (4 1/2 hrs). I also never thought I'd have to have a vacuum extraction, but DD was stuck on pubic bone.
3. That you could break your tail-bone during child birth - that one still hurts
4. How absolutely amazing the moment they put the baby on your stomach is. I just wasn't prepared for the emotion I was going to feel at that moment. I'm getting a little chocked up just thinking about it now.
5. How almost as soon as it was all over I wanted to do it again. Even though I had a really long labor and a painful delivery, it was such an amazing experience that I can't wait to do it again!
6. How sore I would be after. It's been almost 4 months and I'm still sore down there. I suppose the broken tail-bone isn't helping either.
I'm lurking from 0-3, but thought I would add to the list:
I thought the pain medication (honestly, don't ask me what it was, I don't even remember- I was so out of it when they gave me the shot in the arm!) would really help take the edge off contractions that were making me crawl to the top of bed. In reality, the shot lasted through two contractions and I had to wait for more medication.
Like I said, I didn't think I would be clawing at the bed and using my feet to arch my back and crawl around the bed during contractions- I also had really irregular contractions with hardly any breaks in between.
I pushed for a little while and when the baby finally "came down" it BURNED. They kept telling me to push through the pressure, but it wasn't pressure, it was burning!
I never thought I would be one of those women who yelled and told people to shut up and stop touching me, but I was. I also moaned a ton during the contractions
I thought with the pain I was feeling, I wouldn't feel myself tear, but I did! It felt like someone putting a match out down there.
When they broke my water, it was just a little dribble, but during every contraction, water would gush like I was uncontrollably peeing.
That was about it. Everything else just seemed normal. Those were the things that made me go "Oh my God! Is that what that is!?"
ETA: I forgot to add- No one ever mentioned to me the labor shakes. With all the adrenaline, my chin was quivering so much I could hardly talk and my body was shaking like it was 2 degrees in the room! I also got restless legs really bad once I had to be back in the bed. I just felt the need to just move them around all the time.
Ooh, I just remembered something. I was in shock and didn't have a ton of emotion when they laid DS on my stomach. In fact, they were so busy laying down sterile paper that they were covering my face and I was all reaching up and pulling down the paper like 'Oh, hello, I'd like to see my baby after he comes out.'
But after they took him from me, while I was getting stitched up we were watching DS getting suctioned, wiped off and evaluated on his own little table, the nurse said, "Don't worry Dad, I haven't forgotten you haven't held him yet." She finished up and held DS in a bundle of blankets to my husband.
When DH got DS, he looked down, his eyes filled and he said in this choked-up whisper, "oh my god," and then his tears started to spill over silently. The entire room just stopped at that moment and I 'got it.' That was about the time that all the docs and nurses left us alone. What an amazing day.
::sigh::
That was my experience exactly. The IV was the worst part and I went natural. My water also broke at 36 weeks (thankfully at home on a Saturday instead of at school with my 1st graders). We were scheduled for the strep B test on Monday. So weird...
1) Like the OP, I was surpirsed that contractions were basically intense menstrual cramps.
2) Honestly, the biggest surprise is now my L&D went. I took natural labor classes, had a doula, and was dedicated to the process. Yet, with 22 hours of unmedicated labor, 14 hours of labor with an epi, DS did not budge. I ended up getting a c-section. I was sure if I tried long enough I would not a c-section, and attributed the higher rates in recent years to doctors just trying to get you in and out. I learned that sometimes...it's the only safe option. I still find it hard to come to terms with, but it is what it is.
I didn't realize that recovery would take so long and be so painful. It's definitely worse than having the baby. I'm nearly 13 weeks PP and I am still not myself.
But if I could just get a few nights of full sleep that may help, right?
The other thing that surprised me was how fast my l&d was. It's my first so I was expecting a long day event. I had no signs of labor, my water breaks, 7 and half hours later I'm holding DD. Crazy.
That's what I was going to post. After constantly hearing "you'll forget all about the pain when you see the baby," I was very surprised to find myself in so much pain when the epi wore off that all I could do was curl in a ball and call the nurse through my clenched teeth. The contractions were really nothing compared to that. With some Darvocet, Motrin 800, Tucks, numbing spray, and an ice pack, the pain was reduced enough that I could at least hold my baby.
ETA:
Mine was opposite. I expected calm, peaceful environment, with a few nurses and a doctor or two. Instead, DS's heartrate dropped to 30 bpm when it was time to push. My room immediately filled up with people, and I was rushed to the OR (they thought they were going to have do a c/s, but let me try pushing first, with forceps to help), and there were 3 OBs, 1 or 2 med students, 2 NICU doctors, an anesthesiologist, and a handful of nurses, all rushing around. My nurse talked me through it. My OB gave orders. Everyone else was quiet, just going about their assigned tasks. Organized, but busy. My OB told me later that they were all freaked out, but they hid it well by focusing on what they had to do.