I was reading one of my friends blogs that had a baby not too long ago, she posted her birthing story. She was awesome and went ALL natural (not for me, send me to the drugs and give me double), but I really do think it's amazing when people can do that. Anywho, as I read her eloquent writings of the good the bad and everything in between, I....started crying. Like literally, tears were just streaming down my face. Now this could be the hormones talking, but it was insane! I'm not sure if it was that I am scared, nervous, anxious, excited, or confused, but tears of something were streaming down my face! To be honest, I've been so focused on getting through the nausea and all of that, I haven't given too much thought to the fact that I'm going to squeeze a human being out of me.
Everyone always says it is so worth it and you forget the pain in no time, but I'm not there yet (and won't be for quite some time) and I think there was almost a sort of panic rushing through me! How on earth do you get through the pain? No honestly, send me the longest comments of your life and tell me how you got through the pain? Because while I joke (but not really because I'm totally serious) about getting the drugs, I've had a few friends who said their epidural wore off and they ended up feeling everything. So tell me my wise-already-given-birth-friends, what the heck did you do when you were actually pushing your baby out?!!
While I know I have time, I think I need to really get serious about this having a baby thing and start reading up on how you get through the delivery and everything. Anybody read any good books on that part of the process? I think I'm good with getting through the pregnancy (well not good, but I'll survive) and now I need to really start wrapping my brain around the delivery.
Thank you for reading this, if you're even still reading this, crazy pregnant woman over and out. :)
hey! congratulations first of all! I was so excited when Cody texted Andrew. the pain....honestly, there is no pain if you get an epidural. I know people say theirs wear off but that's a very slim chance. Here's how it goes down :)....they make you sit through some of the contractions (whether at home or at the hospital because you haven't hit the 5cm dilated which is when they usually offer epidurals). For me the contractions I actually felt were no different than normal period cramps....actually they were easier to handle because they only lasted like 30 seconds and then you could relax. If they get too painful for you just say you want the epidural right asap. The epidrual takes like seriously 2 minutes or less to completely numb the contractions. For both my girls the right side of my body didn't take to the epidural and I could still feel some of the pain. To fix this they just gave me another dose of the medicine and turned me to the side that would gravitate the medicine to the right...make sense :) the second dose completely knocked everything else out and I felt like a big jelly lady with no pain. After that point you can just take a nap :) They give you a little button that you have full control over which pumps more medicine into the epidural in case you start to feel it wear off. I would push it at any sign of feeling anything lol. I'm a wimp I guess. Think back on any past surgeries you've had, even wisdom teeth....did the numbing medicine work well for you? If so, your body will probably take just fine to the epidural. If worse comes to worse and it doesn't quite work right, they have other pain meds they can give and you'll just deal with it when it comes to that point. Hospitals also have special classes that you can take that teach you breathing techniques (Lamaze..something like that) and meditation that helps with the pain. You'll do fine! Just do like you said, take the drugs and double them up :) congrats again!
ReplyDeleteFor me, I was induced so I don't know if I would have had the same experience if I would have gone into labor on my own. I got the epidural and didn't feel any pain, even when I got to a ten. But, after about 10 minutes I felt like I didn't have any epidural at all...with every contraction my whole body would just start pushing, like if you offered me a billion bucks not to push I would say, "no way!" And I pushed for an hour and a half--it was exhausting and horribly painful haha, just telling you the truth!
ReplyDeleteHere's my advice: don't go in super worried. You never know how your labor will go and it may be a breeze. I know some women that can't feel anything with their epidurals.
k this is gross, but....don't be afraid of going to the bathroom while you're pushing, don't hold back because you're afraid of it. I did that and then I realized if I didn't push harder I was going to be pushing FOREVER. The nurses won't even act like anything happened :) promise.
Your body will be able to handle it. After 40 weeks of being pregnant, you'll be willing to do anything to get the baby out of you!
Oh another thing, realize that even though you're in a hospital, everyone is there to help you and you're paying a lot for it! If something is bugging you tell them! Don't be afraid to speak up. Or in my case, speak up to Tony and let him tell the nurses.
I could go on forever...if you want any more honesty write me on facebook haha.
I was thinking about my answer and wasn't sure if I really answered your question. My answer on how you get through the pain is your body just miraculously does it. I don't know to explain it. You'll be amazed what it can do. Your instincts will take over (if you are feeling the pain and can feel the urge to push) and you just know what to do. I was scared I wouldn't know "how" to push, but when it came time my body just starting pushing. Your instinct to get the baby out kicks in and you get through it.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading birthing stories when I was pregnant, but, especially earlier on, when I would read some of the descriptions I would get this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach--the same kind of, "I don't know if I can do this!!!!" feeling. So i can totally relate. For me though, as I got closer and the more I studied and prepared, I got more confident and less worried. I think it is really important to know your options and know what you want your birth experience to be, and then to be flexible. But feeling like I didn't have to rely solely on other people's recommendations, but had researched enough to know what was going on, really helped rid a lot of anxiety that may have been there which = being able to relax which = helping cope with the pain (the more you can relax and breathe though a contraction, the less it will hurt...the pushing...well, the pain pain part only lasts a matter of seconds, and then you have a baby, so I wouldn't worry about that too much). And it IS true. I can't even really remember what the pain felt like--my mind just can't recreate it. Hoorah! Just a few days afterwards, I started talking about #2! hahaha, having a baby is just so awesome, and having a newborn is so precious, that you can hardly wait the year plus that you know you want to wait! hahaa...My recommendations for books would be "The Birth Partner" by Penny Simkin. I LOVED this one...even though it is meant for whoever will be with you, I felt like it gave a lot of good practical advice and info that I could use. It talks about stages of labor, pain medication options, and a bunch of other things. Penny Simkin also wrote Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide, which was a nice reference guide. We also watched a childbirth DVD that I checked out from the library(because we didn't want to pay to take the hospital class, and i am so glad we didn't. The DVD was great, lots of good info, and was fun to watch together and covered I'm sure probably better than the hospital class would have) "Laugh and learn about childbirth" by Sheri Bayles. I've also heard people recommend Ina May's Guide to Childbirth (it wasn't in at the libary so I never read it). Movement is a great to help with the pain, massage, bath/shower. And also, I wouldn't worry about learning some crazy breathing technique. The key is just TO breathe. That will really help to take normal, deep breaths as you relax. And for me too, it also helped that my husband knew what to expect because then nothing phased him and he could be really supportive and remind me to relax or breathe or whatever. Whenever I would learn something new or find something that i liked or thought was interesting, I would tell him...so he had had an earful by the time d-day came around :) Okay, sorry, TOO LONG of a comment, but hope it helps! Sorry to hear you've had a lot of morning sickness, hope it starts (if it hasn't already) to get better. And congratulations!
ReplyDeleteHi Joree! I just saw the link to your blog from Kim's. I thought I would check it out, and since I only had a baby a month ago I thought I would offer some encouragement. I had a 42 hour labor, which is NOT normal, so don't worry. I got the epidural about 30 hours in, and I didn't feel a thing. He gave me a low dose too! The epidural ran out about the time he was crowning, which was about 4 hours or so before he was born. I could feel my legs and only light contractions, and it was perfect. It was good to have some feeling, so you could feel if your pushing was actually working. My advice is not to worry. (This is coming from the biggest worrier ever by the way.) Nothing I planned worked out. I was planning a natural, SHORT labor because that's what all the women in my family had. I learned there is no point in worrying because it will all work out the way it's supposed to. Plus, when they put that beautiful baby on your belly, it is SO worth it. It's incredible.
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