7 Things no one will tell you about giving birth
It doesn’t matter of you are a first-time mother or giving birth for a 3rd time, having a new baby is always full of surprises. Their actual size is amazing and makes you wonder how something this big can stay inside you and stay alive.
The method of giving birth is out of question whether you’re lying on a table after a C-section, sitting in water after a water birth, the moment you see your baby is of pure bliss.
But you have to pay a pretty nasty price for experiencing that special moment. The price is to undergo a series of awful but wonderful things like labor, delivery but no one would have told you about these 7 things before giving birth.
1 Due dates are overrated
Only 5% of women give birth on their due dates. Hence the dates given by your OB/GYN are more of an estimate than a final date when you are going to bring that baby into this world.
Women like to have a finish date in mind so that they can prepare themselves for whatever task they are doing, even giving birth. It kind of helps them in going through the 9 month period. But since as mentioned above, be ready to pop out that.
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2 Having epidural doesn’t numb you completely
An epidural injection is a procedure of pain management that can reduce the pain in a woman’s lower body. Usually it is given using a needle positioned in her back.
But having an epidural doesn’t guarantee that child birth will be painless. Women have been known to feel some feeling in their legs, others have been able to move their legs but feel nothing in the pelvis area.
Talk to your doctor about pain management if you are having lots of contraction pain.
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3 No eating or drinking during the epidural
You cannot eat after having an epidural. Also you cannot drink any liquid after having an epidural due to complications with the numbness. So having to give birth with an empty stomach is harder since it requires huge amount of energy to push a baby out.
So make sure to have a hearty meal before going out to the hospital if you are having an epidural for child birth. Some hospitals do allow some flavored ice chips during the labor, but it doesn’t seem much to satisfy your hunger.
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4 Your water might not break just once
Actually it’s not water but all amniotic fluid that forms a shielding around your baby in the womb. The feeling that you peed a little all the time when you are nearing your due date is actually the fluid leaking out.
So keep some maxi pads handy in order to avoid getting your clothes soiled from the fluid. It seems like a cumbersome thing, but saves you from changing clothes every day, multiple times.
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5 Baby might come out covered in cheese like substance
When you get to hold your baby for the first time since you have popped it out, don’t worry if it is covered in a sticky substance. Don’t worry it’s not something harmful. Well your baby was swimming in the fluid in your womb for 40 weeks or so and was covered in this stuff called vernix caseosa, which protected your baby’s skin.
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6 You have to deliver the placenta
Well after you have given birth to the baby, you might think that the hard part is over and you don’t have to push any more. But unfortunately, there is some more pushing to do since you have to deliver the placenta too.
Since you only have one more push for the placenta, it won’t be a big deal since you already have pushed out a small human. Some people save it to bury in their garden or get it preserved for stem cells, choice is yours.
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7 You might defecate during delivery
One small and very real possibility is that you might poop on the birthing table in the process of pushing out the baby.
This happens as the baby comes through the birthing canal; it puts pressure on the intestines and since you are already pushing for the baby, similar pushing causes you to defecate in the process. But it is nothing to get embarrassed about, as the nurses have seen everything before as it is a natural process.
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