In this post I will be listing things you might not know about pregnancy and Delivery. Keep in mind that everyone's experiences are different and some of these thing might not apply to you.
Pregnancy
1. Menstrual like cramping: When you initially get pregnant you can experience menstrual like cramping. Obviously when you first find out you are pregnant and then experience pain, it can be very scary. With my first pregnancy, around the time I would have gotten my period I did experience cramping. If you are experiencing bleeding (heavy bleeding or bright red bleeding) accompanied by cramping, you should get checked out right away.
2. Very painful pelvic pain: With my third pregnancy near the end, I experienced extremely painful pelvic pain. The pain got so bad that I was finding it difficult to actually walk around. Some woman can develop Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction. SPD is a condition that causes excessive movement in the pelvic region and causes pain and discomfort.
3. Baby's movements can be painful: I'm sure every newly pregnant woman can't wait until the point in her pregnancy when she can feel little baby's movements. It's great to feel that they are active and doing what they are suppose to, but as baby grows their living environment shrinks. My pregnancy with my second son had me at times to the point of saying "ouch" out loud. Not to fun to feel like your baby is working on cracking your ribs one at a time.
4. Each one of your pregnancies will be different: Just because one pregnancy was difficult doesn't mean the next one will be and vice versa. I have went through 3 different pregnancies and each was completely different. You can not predict future pregnancies by past ones.
Labor
1. Induction contractions are different than natural ones: In my experience at least, induction contractions are much more painful than the ones I had naturally. With natural contractions I had downtime between each contraction even at the very end. With my induced contractions the contractions were coming so quickly with the help of the medicine, that there was no time in between each contraction to recover.
2. Catheters: If you decide to get an epidural you will also be getting a Catheter. A catheter is a flexible tube inserted inside you so that you can relieve your bladder. This is necessary because with an epidural you can not walk to the bathroom or feel if you need to relieve your bladder. They will take the catheter out before you push your baby out so you probably won't have to actually feel a thing.
Delivery and beyond
1. After birth: After you push your new bundle of joy out, you're not actually done. You will have to deliver the placenta. The placenta was the home to your baby for the last 9 months. Usually with a few pushes directed by your doctor, your placenta will be delivered.
2. Swelling: As you can imagine, pushing a 7 to 9 pound baby out of you can cause damage (down there). You might need stitches from tears and you will probably have swelling. Usually within a week most of the swelling will go down unless you had some sort of complication.
3. sitting normal: It might be a little while before you can just sit normally. Just think, If your swelled (down there) and have stitches, you are not going to want to put pressure on that area. Usually shifting your weight to one side when you sit can fix the problem until you are back to normal.
4. Sitz bath: At the hospital they will provide you with a Sitz pan or you can purchase one at places like Walmart. a Sitz pan goes on your toilet, you fill it with hot water and sit on it. This helps to reduce swelling, keeps your stitches damp so they won't pull, and helps keep everything clean down there. Sitz baths will help your recovery process, so you'll want to do as many a day as you can until you feel back to normal.
6. Not like it use to be: If you happen to have had tears during your delivery, its only natural that you can have scarring. Doctor's will try and "fix things up" down there as best they can, but don't be surprised if things are not EXACTLY the way they were before.
5. Baby Blues/Postpartum Depression: Sometimes after woman have a baby, they can feel down or get extremely depressed. Remember it takes a while for your hormones to get back to normal and just adjusting to a new baby can be difficult (no matter how much you wanted it). Sometimes things don't go as well as you would like or maybe you put to much pressure on yourself to be perfect. If you are feeling down or depressed I high recommend talking to a doctor. Sometimes you just need a little help getting through a rough patch and there is NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF. You are no less of a mother just because you're going through a hard time, in fact you are an AWESOME mother for getting the help ,so that you can be there for your baby. You are not alone!!
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