what nobody tells you-labor and delivery edition

mrs.g_6708

When it's time to push you will know because the baby feels like it is going to rip through your ANUS. 

I pooped everywhere and didn't givea *** (pun intended You have so much adrenaline pumping through you, all you care about is getting the baby OUT. My nurse just cleaned it up super fast and I said "I FEEL LIKE I'M POOPING?! AM I POOPING??" And she was a sweetheart and lied to me and I could tell DH was trying not to laugh. Very traumatic and funny moment.

My labia were as huge as a hotdog bun after delivery. SO SO swollen.

You don't wipe after delivery after you pee/poop. Well, very very gently after you poop. But for cleaning pee, you only use a squirt bottle filled with warm water. 

You will be begging to take mesh panties home with you. 

mrs.g_6708

I forgot to comment on the shaking. I shook violently after birth. They gave me a shot of demoral to help it stop and help with the pain. I tore and pushed for 3 hours.

blueyd1

Ooh, one more thing (LOL)! Open all the packages they bring to you each day (of pads, panties, sample formula, diapers, wipes, etc...), even if you don't think you're going to use them (especially the pads!). They cannot take back anything you've opened, so you get to take it home. Your insurance covers it, so take advantage!

cat2784

Agreed, take everything you can, ask for more if you want it. I took what I had leftover but would have loved more of those ice pack pads:)

Adrenaline made me shake and puke, a LOT. 

You will sweat like a pig for a few days. It's all the fluids they pump you with. If you get a cathedar placed after ( my epi took a while to wear off) you can't imagine the amount of pee they will empty out of that thing! My DH still talks about it!

Be prepared for your recovery room bathroom to look like a murder scene. It won't bother you or the nurses of course, but I forgot before some visitors came and I'm sure it scared and grossed the hell out of some when they asked to use it! Oops 

In my case nothing was as horrible or painful as I'd prepared myself for. I too thought right away "hey that wasn't that bad" . Recovery was rough but tucks and colace are your bffs  

shanpren

People love to share scary stories.  Take it with a grain of salt because everyone/ every labor is different.  

SweetHurricane

PlumCallaLily:

Wow, these are all very helpful!  I wish there was someway to make this a permanent post up top or something!  I need this in about 5 months when I'm about the head to L&D!  I'm afraid I'm going to forget it all!

At the top of this thread there is fine print in blue that says "Watch this thread". Click that. Then if you look on the left column, right under "my boards" you'll see "Check Private Messages" and then "Threads I'm Watching". You can click that at any time to see a list of every post you've "watched".