How to deal with exhaustion during labor?

SpruceGrouse · July 2012

Hi

I am not at all worried about pain and labor but I am wondering how I will manage to cope with being tired and in labor. I could easily see myself handling pain just fine but can see myself being brought to tears from exhaustion.

I am going to be at the hospital, I will have a midwife and high risk OB. I will be allowed to eat, so I think that could help with my energy.

Any good tips or advice? Thanks in advance for replies.

AmyRI · July 2012

Rest as much as you possibly can towards the end. I was so tired from working full time that at 39 weeks 1 day I decided I needed to be done, despite my plan to work until my due date or baby arrived. That was a Monday. I went home, napped, slept that night. Relaxed, hung out with a friend, and napped more on Tuesday. Went to bed Tuesday night at 10:30 as usual, woke up Wednesday morning at 12:30 am to contractions. I really do think my body was telling me to rest up.

Remember to relax between contractions. I labored on my knees, laying over the edge of my bed most of the time. I would need to rock, sway, etc during contractions, but then I would sit back on my feet and rest my head on the bed between them, completely relaxing my body. At one point, just before transition, I was actually sleeping between contractions, laying on the bed on my side holding DH's hand. He couldn't believe I was actually sleeping, but I felt SO much better even with those short 90 second dozes between contractions.

robyn2201 · July 2012

Towards the very end I got really tired. Between contractions I was dozing off. When this started to happen, my doula had me drinking more water and I had some honey sticks. Once I was told that I had reached 10 and could push, I wasn't tired anymore. Then once DD was born, the adrenaline rush was crazy. It was several hours later and I tried to take a cat nap but it just wasn't happening. It was only later that evening that I crashed and slept a bit.

dosafyre · July 2012

I also was falling asleep between contractions during transition, after being up all night. it was refreshing and kept me from exhaustion.

pinksweetpea2 · July 2012

Don't discount the amazing effect of endorphins.

GoldenPeaches · July 2012

Staying hydrated with Powerade or gatorade helped me. The MW offered me a herbal tincture at one point but I have no clue what it was but it really helped.

I stayed home as long as possible, and ignored labor as long as possible.

In early labor or early active labor, try to get yourself to eat SOMETHING, even if it's light.

hunnybunny614 · July 2012

Like pp's, I labored at home. Being able to lay on the couch or in the tub was much more relaxing than when i got to the hospital. During labor, keeping things quiet and having ice chips helped get me through the exhaustion. After the birth, i couldn't sleep at all. I think i got four hours total the two days we were in the hospital.

Joyfullnoise · July 2012

pinksweetpea2:
Don't discount the amazing effect of endorphins.

This! Plus when it is time for baby to come out you don't have tons of choices (your body kind of takes over? I felt like my mind was along for the ride.) My labor ended up being 5 hours total...no one is textbook!

InfinityDreamer · July 2012

I was very worried about this as well with my last two labors. For me, in general, being exhausted means not coping with anything very well, which means feeling out of control, which in labor makes me scared, which means much more intense discomfort...and it becomes a cycle.

What I did was try to close my eyes and make my body as limp as possible between contractions. I practiced this ahead of time by starting with either my fingers or my toes and making each segment of my body (i.e. fingers, hands, forearms, upper arms, shoulders) limp, working towards my core. This actually really helps me with the insomnia I always seem to develop during the 3rd trimester as well.

btartaroind · July 2012

I would definitely agree with PPs when they say try to get as much rest as possible before the contractions get bad. One thing that helped me was asking for something to eat. I was allowed clear liquids so I had Jello and broth, which was amazing and gave me a little extra energy. Also, there is so much going on that I didn't feel exhausted until I was in the middle of pushing. (This is when I started yelling "how much longer?" "Am I almost done?") I think that was from the screaming and the, well, pushing. I don't know if there is much that could have prevented that. I will say right after I was done pushing I was like a zombie staring into space, I had never been so tired in my life!

brewcitybride · July 2012

Ugh, it is a hard one, and probably was the most challenging part for me. My water broke at 6 a.m., so I felt like I had to go to the hospital, contractions were not super close together, but I still felt more comfortable being there. I was in labor for 24 hours, and at the end, I was seriously delirious with exhaustion, not with pain! Try to take naps, if you can. Keep your mind off the pain, as that is exhausting. Get foot rubs from hubby, listen to music. Good luck! The good thing is, once th baby is born, you forget all the pain and tiredness!

mel6304 · July 2012

I went into early labor around 7:30 pm, and I was so excited I didn't rest up at all, so by the time I started pushing around noon the next day I was exhausted! I ended up pushing for 4 hours and my MW fed me spoonfuls of honey, and sips of ginger ale, to give me some sugar to keep me going towards the end.

choppinbroccoli22 · July 2012

It's really good that you are aware of what it is that is your #1 demon.

I also worked right up to labor, and maybe this is something my body was able to do and maybe it lended itself to exhaustion... but I can't really say, because anyone would be exhausted toward the end of 44 hours. Didn't matter- that adrenaline kicks in when you need it. I was proud of my pushing.

There's only so much you can do to prepare... and at some point you will feel exhaustion. My midwife told me (when I told her this), that she WAITS for women to say, "I can't do this!!!" It means you're almost there. When you hit bottom, just remember, EVERYONE does. And it means, you're doing great.

joecubed · July 2012

choppinbroccoli22:
It's really good that you are aware of what it is that is your #1 demon.
I also worked right up to labor, and maybe this is something my body was able to do and maybe it lended itself to exhaustion... but I can't really say, because anyone would be exhausted toward the end of 44 hours. Didn't matter- that adrenaline kicks in when you need it. I was proud of my pushing.
There's only so much you can do to prepare... and at some point you will feel exhaustion. My midwife told me (when I told her this), that she WAITS for women to say, "I can't do this!!!" It means you're almost there. When you hit bottom, just remember, EVERYONE does. And it means, you're doing great.

This is so true. And, to emphasize the universal reality of hitting bottom, I also said, "I can't do this!!", but after only 2.5 hours of labor. My doula responded,"That means you're almost there." DD was born 15 minutes later. It's not really caused by the length of labor (although a 44 hour labor is much more difficult than a 3 hour labor), it's just part of labor. The good news is that it's usually part of the END of labor

choppinbroccoli22 · July 2012

joecubed:
choppinbroccoli22:
It's really good that you are aware of what it is that is your #1 demon.
I also worked right up to labor, and maybe this is something my body was able to do and maybe it lended itself to exhaustion... but I can't really say, because anyone would be exhausted toward the end of 44 hours. Didn't matter- that adrenaline kicks in when you need it. I was proud of my pushing.
There's only so much you can do to prepare... and at some point you will feel exhaustion. My midwife told me (when I told her this), that she WAITS for women to say, "I can't do this!!!" It means you're almost there. When you hit bottom, just remember, EVERYONE does. And it means, you're doing great.

This is so true. And, to emphasize the universal reality of hitting bottom, I also said, "I can't do this!!", but after only 2.5 hours of labor. My doula responded,"That means you're almost there." DD was born 15 minutes later. It's not really caused by the length of labor (although a 44 hour labor is much more difficult than a 3 hour labor), it's just part of labor. The good news is that it's usually part of the END of labor

Holy cow!! That really does put a fine point on the universality of hitting bottom no matter how long your labor is! What an intense story!

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