Pregnancy's Best Kept Secrets

kinkine

spud30 wrote: »

After pains is one blimmin thing they keep quiet.

When I had my second, the after pains, which felt just like contractions carried on for a fair few days, and were especially bad when I fed him.

So girls, if you are having your second baby, be prepared for labour to last for days after giving birth.

I've been reading this thread for a while now, and have laughed so much I cried and upset the baby who is trying to breastfeed as I do this (multi tasking or what!).

I'm surprised no one has mentioned raspberry leaf. I was told when I was pregnant that in the last couple of weeks you should try and drink raspberry leaf tea "because it was good for your uterus and helped with contractions and afterpains". I couldn't drink the tea, but instead I took raspberry leaf capsules. I don't know if it was coincidence, but I had my second baby on 30th December and (having had a nightmare induced first birth with every medical intervention known to man) I managed without pain relief. Before everyone starts thinking how smug I am, on the day she was born I went for a nap at 3pm, woke at 5pm feeling like I was going to start a period with these funny cramps that came every two minutes (can't possibly be labour - it's supposed to build up gradually I thought!). 6.30 phoned the midwife who said it's probably braxtons but come in anyway. Arrived at labour suite 8.18 and baby born 8.24 (one midwife was still taking my trousers off!).

Anyway, the point is I managed the contractions, and can honestly say I never experienced any after pains. It did hurt but as someone here said I saw it as each contraction bringing me nearer to meeting this much wanted baby (my first is 13).

I also took arnica capsules for the last couple of weeks and the midwife said I had healed quickly and that my uterus had gone back to wherever it was supposed to really quickly. This is apparently what hurts - the uterus shrinking back.

I hope this helps somebody - but please check with your midwife or a pharmacist first because I know you're not supposed to take it in early pregnancy.

TheWaltons_3

oldMcDonald wrote: »

OMG, yes!!!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

and to add....

5 kids, seven words: crappy bladder control when coughing, laughing, sneezing!!!



I wish I had been told to believe how very, very important pelvic floor exercises were!

Lisa

ME TOO!

First child, was lovely and tight and no problem... wondered why these old midwives and health visitors were droning on about Pelvic floor exercises every visit....

Second birth.... wish I knew how important they are because I've got 3 months to improve or I'm going to a special physio plac3 :eek:

Snaggles

Afterpains.....ouch! They hurt me more than the real contractions. I'm not joking either (although my contractions weren't THAT painful really). Every time I fed DD, I'd be curling my toes up from the pains in my stomach and my boobs! My uterus shrank back very quickly though, which is a good thing apparently. :rolleyes:

djtonyb

The Waltons

The special physio is not as bad as it sounds. I 've been undergoing this for 7 months (pelvic floor and stomach muscles damamged by infection but thats another story).

They hook you up to a machine similar to a TENS machine to stimulate the muscles and to calm the bladder. You then get special exercises to do to join in with the pulsing.

It works!!!!!

Anthillmob

hex2 wrote: »

Just how fast one can come out!!!!!!! As in too fast for medical staff to keep up with both times.

'normous 'nockers as in bloody great water melons, and just how much breast feeding for the first time hurts, and carries on hurting every time he latches on for a few weeks

Cat trying to latch on when I was leaking - this happened to a friend too so I know I am not the only one.

People thinking that because you are pregnant that they have the right to touch you

How stupid you get - combination of tiredness and hormones is not good

and on the flip side, how nice a home birth is!
how helpful and kind other people can be

hex your signature intrigues me!! 'anthill inside'

anyway i see your stupidness and raise you a 'raging hormones that mean you start having 'naughty' thoughts about people you really shouldnt' (like your boss)

Anthillmob

ive only read 3 pages so far and ive had to stop as i am crying so much it hurts.

this is such a fantasticly funny thread.

did anyone else hear babies crying even when it was the dead of the night and all was quiet? i heard crying babies for weeks after chops' birth.

piles, sore undercarriage, being cut and then sewn up by a doctor who looked like he was weidling a huge fishing hook, being told to go and have a shower whilst the epidural was still wearing off and walking like some neanderthal as one leg was numbish and i was sore, finding some dirty article hadnt cleaned up after themselves in the shower previous to me, dying for a sh*t for days after but too scared to do one, having the world and his wife stuff their hands up me for a feel around during labour including the student midwife, hospital food, gas and air making me sick, farting in the anesetists face as he was putting in the epidural (had a contraction that made me fart)sweltering hot on the ward,....

but it was all worth it and im sure it will be again...

Elle00

PMSL at this one! Well I've just got to contribute because I too had a few shocks even though I read several hundred website pages and books on the subject.

When they said I would lose lochia after the birth, what they didn't tell me was that it would suddenly stop after ten days only to suddenly reappear with a bright red SPLAT all over the kitchen floor a day later...

When they said my breastmilk would dry up within a few weeks (because I couldn't breastfeed on a med) I believed them and didn't waste my money on breastpads thinking the drips would be short-lived. Twenty-one months later I still produce milk in one boob on a daily basis.

When they told me it was normal to itch a little due to an "aversion to pregnancy" I believed them even when I started scratching in my sleep and covering the bed sheets in blood. If only someone had of said the words "pregnancy can change your immune system thus making you allergic to penicillin" think how many bed sheets could have been saved?

When they said "morning sickness during the first trimester" I took it that I'd feel a little queasy of a morning for a few weeks - not 24/7 for twenty-five weeks.

When they said I might get thrush, I didn't realise it would be a special breed that ate canesten tablets for breakfast and still want more.

When they said my breasts would change I didn't realise that included my nipples turning brown and growing repulsive little lumps around them that have never gone away. And I'm disgusted to realise that enlarged breasts don't last forever having spent a fortune on lovely 40E bras only to bin them in recent months for 38Ds (humph).

When they told me I couldn't possibly be anywhere near going into labour at 35wks pregnant because the baby had come free from 1/5 engaged and sent me home I believed them. Thankfully I fought my corner when they added that the water trickling down my legs the next day was pee and I was admitted in time to give birth by caesarean that night! You should have seen the look on that SHO's face when they wheeled my newborn and I past her LOL.

When they said you can expect to gain half a stone to a stone DURING pregnancy I took it that all was well when I got through 8 months without gaining a pound; only to balloon many stone in the months following the birth for no apparent reason.

When they said the baby blues meant feeling a little down a few days after the birth I took it that I would literally feel "a little down" and not that I would suddenly start bawling for no apparent reason and start worrying that everyone would think I'd cheated on my husband because the baby didn't look like him!!! I was like a mental patient days 3 - 14 post-natally.

When they said your bits go a bit slack after birth and that you might "leak" for a while afterwards I assumed that wouldn't apply to those who deliver by caesarean - then quickly wished I had bothered to do those pelvic floor exercises afterall.

I wouldn't put anyone off pregnancy because it's worth it in the end when you have your gorgeous baby but personally I'm going to just be grateful for the one I have and concentrate on my career in the future. At least then if I work hard enough I can save up for plastic surgery to finally get my body to resemble something normal again. :rotfl:

Anthillmob

emilyt wrote: »

Has anyone mentioned the placenta yet!.

i caught a glimpse of mine and thought it resembled a bright red ten pin bowling ball in a bag. :rotfl:

Elle00

Anthillmob wrote: »

i caught a glimpse of mine and thought it resembled a bright red ten pin bowling ball in a bag. :rotfl:

You didn't fancy turning it into pate then?

happymoneysaver79

Just had to tell you all. The hubby is wanting me to have another baby, mine is still only 15 months! Had the worst labour ever, baby didnt want to come out, had membrane sweep (nice) - nothing, sex (difficult) - nothing, long walk (exhausting) - nothing, curry (indigestion) - nothing, bloody bouncy ball in hospital (what is that all about?) - nothing, puncture of waters with what looked like a knitting needle (ouch!!!) - nothing. FINALLY I was induced and nine hours later out baby comes face first , lost 2 ltrs of blood, third degree tear and manual removal of placenta (lovely) under emergency general anesthetic. All with no pain relief except gas and air (think they forgot to put the gas in though!!).

Hubby, who was at the birth, said the other day "wasn't that bad! why don't you fancy another?"
............now is it just me ????????