| Author |
 Topic Search  Topic Options
|
Katherine 
Newbie
Joined: 01 January 1900
Location: New Zealand
Points: 949
|
 Post Options
 Thanks(0)
 Quote  Reply
 Topic: Stuff nobody told you about giving birth
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 3:17pm |
What surprised/shocked/amazed/embarrassed you about being in labour and giving birth? And the early days of motherhood as well... I'd love to hear your stories.
Nobody told me that the minute my daughter was out, the pain simply evaporated, as if by magic.
Nobody told me I'd be so ravenous following her birth that I demolished toast, tea, dinner, dessert, an entire box of chocolate macadamias, and several glasses of water, all in one "meal" that lasted for about an hour!
Nobody told me that babies aren't really that cute when they first come out, and that they may have coneheads, especially if you stopped pushing while they were crowning. My kid wore a hat for three days until her head evened out, because I didn't want anybody to see it.
|
 |
|
Sponsored Links
|
|
|
lisa85
Senior Member
Joined: 11 September 2008
Location: Christchurch
Points: 2465
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 3:23pm |
|
Nobody told me that you still bleed downstairs for about a week with a c/section.
Nobody told me that when you have to sleep in the same room as your baby/s in hospital, how much NOISE they make at night. Not just crying but constant gurgles and squeaks all night long that make it impossible to sleep!
Nobody told me how you can actually seem to thrive off no sleep at all in those first few weeks. You actually have much more energy than you could ever imagine!
|
 
TTC #3 since Jan 2010 - PCOS
MC April 2010
|
|
lilfatty
Senior Member
Joined: 22 August 2007
Location: Waitakere
Points: 9799
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 3:25pm |
How much it hurts! I mean REALLY hurts .. beyond all comprehension hurts. 
That they arent robots that automatically work on the three hourly cycle like the books say.
That most of them dont like to sleep anywhere other than on Mummy.
That you will have this little being attached to your breast pretty much 24 hours a day and your ass will go numb from sitting down feeding so much.
Your highlight of the day will be if you get to have a shower.
You will eat with one hand (or not eat at all) for months because the other arm has a baby in it.
You will love like them so much it hurts and you know every second and every extra kilo was worth it.
|
Mummy to Issy (3) and Elias (18 months)
I did it .. 41 kgs gone! From flab to fab in under a year  LFs weight blog
|
|
Katherine
Newbie
Joined: 01 January 1900
Location: New Zealand
Points: 949
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 3:34pm |
 lilfatty wrote:
That you will have this little being attached to your breast pretty much 24 hours a day and your ass will go numb from sitting down feeding so much. |
Ha! SO TRUE!
Also, nobody ever told me that just because I have massive boobs doesn't mean breastfeeding will be easy. It took ages to "get it right", and I had to feed in some pretty awkward positions to ensure that my giant breasts didn't flop down and smother my feeding child. Seriously, they were bigger than her head for a while!
Along the same lines, nobody ever told me that trying to express breast milk might not work for me. I could have saved myself some serious dosh (as I bought a posh hospital-grade pump) and stress if I had realised that pumping just doesn't happen for some people.
|
|
kellie
Senior Member
Joined: 02 February 2009
Location: Auckland
Points: 1229
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 3:38pm |
That you might as well leave your modesty at the door when you arrive at the hospital
Edited by kellie
|
|
|
|
Bizzy
Senior Member
Joined: 01 January 1900
Location: New Zealand
Points: 10974
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 3:41pm |
i'm pretty sure we have this thread already!? 
|
|
|
|
myfullhouse
Senior Member
Joined: 29 July 2007
Location: West Auckland
Points: 2944
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 3:45pm |
|
Gosh I agree with all of those.
Nobody told me that some oe the pain experienced was a burning pain!
Nobody told me that you could be sitting in gosh knows what muck after giving birth and that you wouldn't even notice much less care since you had a beautiful baby in your arms
Nobody told me the different experieince you could have 2nd time round with a different mw even when both were great
Nobody told me that I would actually be able to think coherantly (sp??) and even give DH directions to the hospital (following the side streets) while in labour and most likely about 8cms!
|
|
|
|
weegee
Senior Member
Joined: 28 May 2008
Location: Kaukapakapa
Points: 4611
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 3:46pm |
Bizzy's right, I just bumped two similar threads, one's 6 pages long
Here are the links:
http://www.ohbaby.co.nz/Forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15630&PN=1&TPN=1
http://www.ohbaby.co.nz/Forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=27370&PN=1&TPN=1
FWIW my thing is - nobody told me that my hair wasn't falling out like normal when I was pregnant, so it's normal for it to start falling out in massive clumps after a few weeks!
|
Mum to JJ, 4 July 2008 & Addie, 28 July 2010
|
|
Katherine
Newbie
Joined: 01 January 1900
Location: New Zealand
Points: 949
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 4:05pm |
Let's see if the new mums will come in and post their experiences here -- I'd love some fresh perspectives too! :)
|
|
AandCsmum
Senior Member
Joined: 13 May 2008
Location: Palmerston North
Points: 8432
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 4:09pm |
No one told me that giving birth was like going for the mother of all dumps  I thought it was going to so much further forward IYKWIM
|
Kel
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12
|
|
boys.boys.boys.boys
Senior Member
Joined: 12 February 2009
Location: waikato
Points: 402
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 4:30pm |
|
I so agree with everything!!!
Nobody told me that it is quite normal to tear with a normal birth and need stitches, oh my what a shock!!! (I thought they only came if you had to have a episotomy!!)
Nobody told me what you are meant to wear during labour... for that matter, i still dont know!!!
Nobody told me how hard it is to get those lovely little eyes to close and go to sleep at night....
And nobody told me how hard it was to put my babies to sleep in their beds cos then I couldnt see them for a hour or so!!!
|
|
4 boys!! 7 years, 5 years, 2 years and 8 weeks...
|
|
Chickoin
Senior Member
Joined: 29 October 2007
Location: Perth
Points: 4154
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 4:35pm |
|
New babies smell funny.
I didn't know just how hard a newborn can suck ur poor nipple not long after being born, that was really scary!
|
|
|
|
SquishysMum
Senior Member
Joined: 01 January 1900
Points: 1083
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 4:50pm |
|
How much your ARMS can hurt! Seriously, I expected everything else to hurt, but arms?
|
|
MummyFreckle
Senior Member
Joined: 08 February 2007
Location: Auckland
Points: 4120
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 6:01pm |
That having 9 people in the room with your fanny exposed was such a non-issue compared to my childs dropping heart rate....
|
|
MrsH
Senior Member
Joined: 27 September 2008
Location: Porirua
Points: 859
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 8:11pm |
|
No one told me that the new Granddads (who were waiting in the Whanau room) we're coming in to see their new grandson WHILE I'M BEING STITCHED UP!!!
(I'll never forgive my clueless sister for that.... and I can't look my father-in-law in the eye anymore)
No one told me that I'd temporarily forget what all the hard work was for once he was out and that once I heard him cry, I turned into a completely different person.
|
|
|
|
Rachael21
Senior Member
Joined: 01 January 1900
Location: New Zealand
Points: 4700
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 8:14pm |
|
Haha love your ticker weegee thats awesome
|
|
Lexidore
Senior Member
Joined: 06 December 2008
Location: Stokes Vegas
Points: 4634
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 8:46pm |
|
Nobody told me that although I worried about "pooing" while I gave birth the whole way through my pregnancy when I did I wouldn't actually care!
Nobody told me that an epidural site could be bruised so bad that I would have agonising shooting pains in my back for days afterwards.
Nobody told me that 2-3 weeks after I gave birth I could still end up blocked up and scared to go poo even though the first time I went was fine!
Nobody told me my little girl could pee on me during nappy changes I thought only boys did this haha!
Nobody told me that the bath could actually make my contractions worse!
Although people told me how much the first time I saw my baby would mean to me you still dont know how much it will mean till it happens!!
|
|
|
|
Chickaboo
Senior Member
Joined: 12 November 2008
Points: 9471
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 9:22pm |
nobody told me you can have pethadine more than once during labor instead of trying to hold out till it got totally unbearable
nobody told me forget the projectile vomit or wee's they an also quirt poo's over you 
|
 
876
|
|
RoSee
Senior Member
Joined: 12 March 2009
Location: Auckland
Points: 366
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 11:10pm |
Nobody told me it actually does keep hurting for some time after you've given birth (the pain didn't magically disappear for me!!) 
Nobody told me that once the baby was here I would spend 97% of each and every day worrying about something!
Nobody told me that the love you have for your child is so incredibly strong it can be physically painful 
|
|
|
|
Rowsieair
Senior Member
Joined: 17 August 2009
Location: Hibiscus Coast
Points: 308
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18 January 2010 at 11:19pm |
kellie wrote:
That you might as well leave your modesty at the door when you arrive at the hospital |
So true! I dreaded the thought of that many people having access to bits I never intended them to...by half way through labour I couldn't have cared less how many people were there!
Nobody told me my hair would be falling out afterwards for a while...
Nobody told me not only did the epidural numb you around the middle but also all down your legs aswell....for a while afterwards!
Nobody told me babies have weird things like dry skin and gooey eyes and all sorts of little things like that...they're always clean, smooth and perfect when you see other peoples...!
|
|
|
|
Stuff nobody told you about giving birth
September '11
