fairy1984
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hi,
thought some of you might find it useful to hear the things i found useful during my labour:
during birth:
my tens machine - i dont know if it was because Sophia was back to back but nobody was taking that off me! i wanted a waterbirth but no chance with my tens, the boost button (elle) was perfect.
straws for drinks - my birth was long and having drinks given to me through a straw was good. just wish i'd got the bendy ones
pethadine - as i said i wanted a water birth therefore wasnt supposed to have this but it felt sooo good. it made me sleepy but made the contractions so much more bareable for the first few hourrs and calmed me down.
listening to the midwives - i couldnt have done it without listening to them calming me down and helping me visualise "breathing my baby out" and telling me to keep pushign and how well i was doing. i was begging for a general anesthetic and c section and they kept calm and didnt give it to me ( a good thing in the end as i've only got episiotomy stiches now and not recovering from a general anesthetic and c section).
on the ward after - having enough clothes for baby. within 24 hours i used 3 sleepsuits (she was sick on two as she had alot of mucus on her chest). oh and we needed to go to the hospital shop and get more scratch mitts and hats as i only had 1 pair of SM's and 2 hats whcih we went through
post labour:
as i've got an infection in my stiches and prob womb - tea tree oil in bathes has been so soothing
we didnt do it but homemade meals in freezer would've been great. luckily we've had parents bring them over but they're a godsend. you literally have no time for quite a while (i'm suprised i've found this long)
enough muslin squares (10 isnt enough for us)
loads of newborn babygrows (white makes washing easier)
outfits are useless - anything fussy to put on is not worth the hassle at the moment
EDIT:
loooads of maternity pads if you have stitches - you need th e thick ones and wont want to wait for them to be full before changing as you need to keep the area dry and clean.
also larger sized disposable pants - i'd go to 2 sizes bigger than your pre birth size at least
anyway, hope this is helpful for some. obviously you'll all have your own different labour to mine but this was what i was greatful for
thought some of you might find it useful to hear the things i found useful during my labour:
during birth:
my tens machine - i dont know if it was because Sophia was back to back but nobody was taking that off me! i wanted a waterbirth but no chance with my tens, the boost button (elle) was perfect.
straws for drinks - my birth was long and having drinks given to me through a straw was good. just wish i'd got the bendy ones
pethadine - as i said i wanted a water birth therefore wasnt supposed to have this but it felt sooo good. it made me sleepy but made the contractions so much more bareable for the first few hourrs and calmed me down.
listening to the midwives - i couldnt have done it without listening to them calming me down and helping me visualise "breathing my baby out" and telling me to keep pushign and how well i was doing. i was begging for a general anesthetic and c section and they kept calm and didnt give it to me ( a good thing in the end as i've only got episiotomy stiches now and not recovering from a general anesthetic and c section).
on the ward after - having enough clothes for baby. within 24 hours i used 3 sleepsuits (she was sick on two as she had alot of mucus on her chest). oh and we needed to go to the hospital shop and get more scratch mitts and hats as i only had 1 pair of SM's and 2 hats whcih we went through
post labour:
as i've got an infection in my stiches and prob womb - tea tree oil in bathes has been so soothing
we didnt do it but homemade meals in freezer would've been great. luckily we've had parents bring them over but they're a godsend. you literally have no time for quite a while (i'm suprised i've found this long)
enough muslin squares (10 isnt enough for us)
loads of newborn babygrows (white makes washing easier)
outfits are useless - anything fussy to put on is not worth the hassle at the moment
EDIT:
loooads of maternity pads if you have stitches - you need th e thick ones and wont want to wait for them to be full before changing as you need to keep the area dry and clean.
also larger sized disposable pants - i'd go to 2 sizes bigger than your pre birth size at least
anyway, hope this is helpful for some. obviously you'll all have your own different labour to mine but this was what i was greatful for