Anyone want to share some other parts about pregnancy that no one seems to talk about?
Mine is that after you have the baby (mind you I know nothing about c-sections), they fill a diaper with ice for you to essentially wear in your underwear... and line it with Tucks pads. And you refill it often. So if you're planning on CD-ing, I'd still buy some newborn diapers for yourself!
Re: s/o MP and 2nd time moms
M/C #2 - October 2016
MMC #1 - April 2016
I was lurking on the October 2011 board and really wanted to post replies to some of the questions so I will say it here instead.
I'm one of those few people whose water broke. HOWEVER, it was not a gush. It did not continue to trickle afterwards. I woke up with my hand on my crotch because I guess I knew I was wet. My panties were soaked, but the mattress wasn't. I was very confused because I thought is was suppose to be this huge amount of liquid. I went to the bathroom and I had a very light pinkish brown tinge when I wiped. So I knew it was probably my water and not just pee. (I did other tests to see if it was pee too)
Anyways. The point of this story is that my water "sprung a leak" instead of fully breaking. I had to be induced because it still is considered to be broken at that point and then they fully broke it. I just wanted to share because my same story was happening to a girl on the Oct board and she wasn't sure if it was her water or not since it didn't follow the typical water breaking stories she'd heard.
Actually the ice diaper is amazing...
Ditto the overnight maxi pads. The GIANT pads from the hospital in the mesh stretchy panties are all I wanted to wear the first 48 hours...
Ditto vomiting and shaking from the pain during transition . And being naked and on all fours in front of the young cute OB resident but not caring. And then pooping while he is staring at my girl parts and not caring.
- when your cervix starts to dilate as your body prepares and your OB sees this in your later 3rd tri exams, he may manually 'strip your membranes' (google it) to get things going. Its a little uncomfortable and doesn't work for all, but it worked for me!
Don't be scared! I know this looks horrifying when written on paper, but the instant I held my daughter I felt no pain and didn't care about anything. It was purely euphoric bliss.
The nurses recommended Milk of Magnesia to help with this. DO NOT take it unless you need it. I was home for a day and figured it was about time so took some. I had a very messy accident all over the floor. Thank god my mom was there.
And one more thing- DH still laughs that what was hanging out of me after DD came out, before the after birth came out was like a scene from a zombie movie. They will put the placenta in a little tub and show it to you if you want to see it (I was curious).
No, transition is the time between 8-ish centimeters and being ready to push. It's when a lot of people ask for an epidural.
And on the zombie thing, my husband still talks about the blood, though I wouldn't know if he didn't say anything. All I remember after having K was that the midwife told me that I needed to push the placenta out, and I looked at her like she was absolutely crazy. I had pushed for 3 hours, and I was DONE pushing.
It sounds like a lot of you are talking about giving birth and not having an epi "(like losing all modesty, not caring about whats going on, etc). Is this true if you get an epi as soon as you can and not let it wear off until everything out? Cause that's what I'm planning on doing! I feel like since I will be numb I will totally still care about whats going on around me since I won't be in so much pain lol. Can someone enlighten me??
Also, who used a sitz bath? What is it and how does it work?
The squirty bottle with warm water was heavenly. So was the "epi-foam" they gave me.
They give you a stool softener after you deliver. So helpful.
I had an epi, and no, I didn't get out of bed on my own until 8-10 hrs after I delivered. When they moved me from L&D to the PP floor, my nurse helped me into the wheelchair, gave me DS, and then helped me into bed on the PP floor. I delivered at 3:43 am. At 8 AM, I had to pee and the nurse helped me to the bathroom. Once I got the epi, they used a catheter to empty my bladder.
The worst part was that I tore during labor and was given an episiotomy. Once all of that healed, I could still feel the issues when I crouched down. As it turns out, I tore some tendons down there. It took a long time for that to heal, but it did. But I think I felt it for a good 18-24 mos. That said, when I had a quick exam at the start of this pregnancy, my OB had to double check my chart to see if I tore or not- apparently I had healed *that* well.
So, I guess my point is, yes, these things happen but once you recover, things do heal. You have to remember that it took 9 mos to "bake" the baby, and it takes your body 8+ mos to recover. I felt more like I was back to my old self physically about 7-8 mos pp.
I had the opposite experience - a few hours after birth I got up to go pee and wound up peeing all over the floor of the bathroom (in the hospital). I was so embarrassed I cleaned it all up myself without calling for any help from the nurses. I had ZERO bladder control. Fortunately that corrected itself.
I have never told anyone that story!
I may or may not be hyperventilating a bit reading these posts! No I seriously thank you ladies because no one, even close family and friends, talk about this stuff b/c it isn't the "fun, cute" stuff! Although I think I'll keep this information to myself and let my poor DH find out the hard way, so he doesn't panic for the next 4 1/2 months!
I was wondering the same thing about the epi.. I feel like most of the symptoms described esp those of which that happen during transition are what happens when you're going natural not when you have an epi... from what I've heard, not because I have any clue!
1- Never had the ice diaper after giving birth. Just the mesh panties and the ginormous maxi pads. I know a lot of moms LOVED the dermoplast they give you (spray-on stuff that helps with the vaginal pain) and the peri bottle, but I never used either. I used the dermoplast in the hospital hoping it would help, but it burned and I always ended up inhaling a bunch. :
2- DO NOT WIPE if you tear during delivery! Hellfirebrimstonevag if you do. Seriously- I forgot and made that mistake ONCE. About 5 days afterward (depending on the severity of the tear) you can wipe gently.
3- Your body feels alien and jiggly after having LO. The sensation was so off-setting to me that it made me horribly nauseous and I was barely able to eat until nearly a week PP.
4- I actually bought Women's Depends for the PP bleeding. I felt stoopidashell wearing them, but it was seriously so.much.easier. than dealing with pads. Still have half the pack and intend to use those this time around.
5- I totally second (or third, or fourth) whomever mentioned stool softeners. Pack some in your hospital bag along with your PNV so you can keep them in your system at all times. It's that serious!
I really didn't want to scare people, but I truly had NO ONE tell me about some of this stuff, and it was a total shocker when the nurses brought me an ice pack to stick between my legs. We also had to go buy Tucks pads once we got home, and I wished we had known to have some on hand.
I had an epi placed when I was during transition I guess (I was stuck at a 6 and really wanted to sleep). I literally had it for 10 minutes so felt a lot, but honestly the fatigue of pushing for 3 hours was worse than the pain. I don't think the pain after the birth is any better with or without the epi, and to me that was the most unexpected. People talk about the birth experience and forget to mention anything that happens after.
I don't remember shaking with mine... I know I got really sick after DD1's though.
Can I just say that these vaginal delivery stories are making me feel a little bit better about my c/s? Ice diapers??
I experienced the indifference to the lack of modesty and absolute LOVE for those cotton mesh panties.
I had an epi very early on because I was immediately put on pitocin and my doctor felt there was no point in torturing myself with psychotic contractions for 20 hours (my water had broken but I did not go into labor). Although I couldn't feel the contractions, I still puked 6x during transition and was shaking and all the rest.
Sitz bath is almost like a portable bidet you can use to kind of hose off your very sensitive undercarriage after labor. I had one but never got around to using it. Might as well as for it in the hospital, though, because if you go buy one after it's like $20 for a piece of plastic. I used the peri bottle and dermaplast others mentioned. And of course the tucks pads and stool softener everyone else has mentioned.
Sending you lots of wet-your-pants vibes .
FWIW- I didn't have an epi and I couldn't tell I pooped- my husband told me he saw the nurses cleaning it up (God Bless them). And also, once DD slid out, I did not feel anything as far as delivering the placenta and being stitched up (I tore in 3 places. DD wasn't huge, but she came out fast with one arm at her face). They give you a quick local numbing agent, which helps. The natural endorphins(sp?) helped a lot!
Also to help all the mommies to be who we have terrified...all the "grossness" aside, I totally felt like a Goddess after giving birth. I felt like I could take on the world and do anything. You can do it!