Things you wish you'd been told or prepared for before labour

[Anana]

I wish someone had told me that moving around or shifting positions would make the next contraction 10x worse than the one before. I also wish I never listened to the whole theory that your contractions would be spread out in the beginning. The very first contraction I felt was only 2 minutes apart and they neveR lasted longer than 45 seconds for me. The thing that helped me the most was to try to relax my body (head, neck, back, stomach) etc with each contraction. It made it hurt much less than when I was tensing up which was my natural inclination. Last bit of advice is to not get discouraged in the early stages of labour. It took me 6 hours to get to 3 cm's and about 45 minutes to go from 3-10cm. Labour seems to be different for everyone. Try to trust your gut and don't let anyone make you feel less than if your labour or post labour experience doesn't go exactly according to plan.

 

[CamoQueen]

Wish I'd been prepared for the pain that comes when going from 9 to 10 cm. For me, it was just awful waves of the worst gas-type cramping. I was on all fours dripping in cold sweat and writhing on the bed, lol, oh I was a mess! There was no fear of pushing, but a desperate happy relief to end the contractions. Also, when I was 10 cm and ready to push, I mean my body was making me push. I couldn't control it! The nurses were telling me to wait and go slow so I didn't tear, but I could not stop myself from bearing down. Two pushes later and baby was out.

Also I didn't realize this, but if you're still bleeding more than they like after you deliver, they will push and massage your uterus very, very forcefully to get it to contract. Let me tell you ladies, this massage (applied by two nurses with their full body weight) was as painful as the end stages of labor! My abdomen was bruised for 2 weeks after.

And I'm really excited to do it again. There is nothing in the world like delivering a child, absolutely nothing!