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2nd Trimester
Labor fears...
Okay, so first off, I know I can't be the only one scared of labor! If you aren't, kudos to you, but whatever your on, give me some. haha. So I wasn't terribly scared of labor until my sister in law recently had her son. I'm curious to know, if you have an epidural, do they catheter you? Because I know if it works right it numbs the entire bottom half of your body, so how else would you relieve yourself? Either way, just something i'm curious about, and I would rather hear from real people than Google!
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Re: Labor fears...
I think people would be lying if they said they weren't woried at all, fear of the unknown is normal!
I am nervous and I've been thru it PLUS I'm a L&D nurse, any questions you have feel free to ask me!
Yes if you get the epidural they cathetierize you. After the epi is in place and working well, you can't feel it. I had my catherter before the epi because of blood pressure medications and it really wasn't too bad anyways.
Let me get up on my soapbox for a moment:
Its ok to worry, but don't let it consume you, enjoy THESE moments. You will never get this day back, you will never be in your second trimester with your first baby again, and as wonderful as my second pregnancy is its different I can't savour it like i did my first. These days women only have a few babies, we are only pregnant a select, limited number of times (unless your a Duggar
). Its precious and special and you shouldn't waste these moments worrying about future moments that frankly we have no control over. Do some reading, have an idea of your plans and keep your eye on the goal: a healthy mama and baby, in the end however you get there isn't THAT important. I like to tell people, women do this every day, they have for all of time, they aren't any stronger/better then YOU, you can do this too! Take each day as it comes! Enjoy that inside baby! It honestly all just goes by too quickly!
My labor fears are all the bad doctor/nurse stories I've come across. Forcing unnecessary things or whatever. I also have fears of something going wrong. But after watching my sister give birth to my niece, I'm not afraid of actual labor and delivery.
Yes, if you get an epidural, you get a catheter. Which is why my goal is to go all natural. I have a fear of being trapped in the bed and being cathed.
Don't get yourself worked up too much about labor. When it comes you are ready for it, and no one can tell you how or what exactly will happen. Labor is something you can read about, discuss, anticipate for, wirite a plan for, but really you will understand it once you go through it. Personally if I think too hard about it, my mind gets all crazy and I think about things like emergency c-sections, or tearing, or laying in bed for hours without any dilation going on down there. I am going to write a birth plan, but I know they change, so I don't have it permanently tatooed anywhere. Go with the flow, read up on things you don't know much about, and relax! I find it easier to not think too hard about it and go with how you feel. If your contractions start out light (they normally do) and just get increasingly stronger you will be able to read your body and know whether or not you want pain meds, or if you can handle the contractions. Its something you won't know until you get there, and even though I've had kids, each labor can be different!
And yes, I did get a catheter with an epi, but you can't even walk with an epi, so that's why you get one. I absolutely HATE getting catheters but your numb and can't feel it when you have an epi.
I didn't worry about labor until like week 39 when I was like..hmmm...now we gotta get it out! But, think of it this way: millions of women do it all the time, and willingly go back for 2, 3, 4 or more times!
In regards to the catheter, my hospital didn't put a catheter in right away, I think they call it a balloon catheter or a foley catheter? I could feel some pressure and felt like I needed to go, so they inserted it, drained my bladder, then removed it. It wasn't awful or anything!
You're not alone... I have labor fears, too, and I've been through it already! I actually WANTED the epi but because I had a "stubborn cervix" (it stayed at a 1 for the longest, even though she was dropping still), and it jumped from a 1 to an 8 in about an hour... by that time it was too late to get the epidural as i was about to start pushing soon. I felt all 9 lbs 5 oz of my DD and it's obviously a pain I had never experienced nor could I describe... and i almost considered not having another child because of just that. But here i am pregnant again, and I've been through it once and i made it out okay, so I feel a little more confident... Yea, it may not be pleasant (for everyone, SOME women look like they enjoy it or at least don't feel a thing! Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones, who knows?) but it DID go by really fast when i look back on it... once i was told to start pushing i was on a mission and I got through it! Don't stress about it now, you'll be worrying for no reason... just cross that bridge when you get there, learn breathing techniques and read up on tips to help ease labor and delivery. Go in there with a good mindset and focused and I promise you'll come out of it okay!
DD #1 passed away in January 2011 at 14 days old due to congenital heart disease
DD#2 lost in January 2012 at 23 weeks due to anhydramnios caused by a placental abruption
I was a CNA too, and no way do I want a cath anywhere near me! I'm hoping to go all natural, but as a FTM I'm not ruling out meds, since I don't know what labor will actually feel like.
Before getting pg, I was also so cool about labor... it's natural, our bodies are made for this! This would be my chance to do what women have been doing since the beginning of human kind! And now I'm pretty much scared sh*tless
What helped me alot was reading books on labor, understanding all the physical changes, when they happen, how they happen, how to cope, etc. My fav book so far is The Birth Partner. Even tho it's geared towards the partner, it explains things clearly and I like how it's organized. I think it will be a great reference to go back to while I"m in labor to remind myself that what I'll experience is normal. I get pretty bad BH, due to some uterine irritability, and it repeating a mantra of "this is normal, this is natural, this is ok" in my head over and over again somehow makes the pain much more tolerable. Hoping that it helps in real labor too.
Married April 1st 2017
DS #1: May 2009
DS #2: Jan 2012
Call it hormones or not, but your post made me tear up and it was very inspirational!!
I'm not too worried about the labor itself, but more worried there is going to be a major snow storm and I will have problems getting to the hospital. Irrational in a way since I only live a mile from the hospital in a pretty busy area, but still something I'm dealing with. I like to have full medical services around me when I'm having a baby :-)
The epidural is no big deal. Yes it hurts, but it hurts a lot less than the contractions, so you won't think it's that big of a deal. I would recommend one! You still feel the birth and can feel things (feels like pins and needles when you touch your legs), it just helped kill the awful contractions for me. You are right that they won't let you out of bed after an epidural. They didn't leave in a catheter at my hospital. However, my nurse went ahead and did it right after I had the baby just so I wouldn't have an accident, but I didn't feel anything and no big deal.