what happends after labour????

[tinkerbell*]

can anyone help? being a 1st time mummy and being slightly petrified of giving birth, i was wondering,,, what happens after you have given birth, little one is sorted out ect etc... when do you put knickers and maternity pads on??? i'm guessing you bleed pretty much from when you give birth untill i stops weeks later??? im really worried im gonna bleed everywhere i am very sqweamish and hate periods anyway, i am starting to panic!!!!

if i have an epidural, i wont be able to put any knickers on will i???? do i have to rely on the m/w doing this??? awwwwww please can someone help, i am totally freaking out about labour and pushing, and gunge... hehe

also what did you give birth in? did you wear a t-shirt, nightie, or hospital gown?

Thank you.....

 

[Snuggle]

Aw hun, you really wont even have the time to think about knickers TBH I am squeamish too but when it came down to it I really didnt notice all the blood and mess. After birth I was given toast and tea and had about 10 maternity pads between my legs (I was naked coz I got too hot in labour and stripped off ). After this I went for a shower and put underwear on then with about 4 pads as you bleed quite a lot. Its nothing to worry about I promise you

 

[Jade&Evie]

I gave birth to Evie at 7.25 and by 3pm I was at home in bed with a cuppa so I would really really really urge you to try not to have the epi- I was adamant I was going to have one but when it came to it I was fine without

Labour is a very natural thing most of the time- your body will do the work for you

After E was born, they stitch you if you need it and after skin to skin etc you can get cleaned up, put mat pads and knickers on etc, and they bring you something to eat

I bled for abour 3 weeks but it was only heavy for about 5 days.

Oh, and I gave birth in the Nud!!

 

[suzy100]

i gave birth in a t-shirt (never had time to change as maisy was born 7 minutes after we arrived)
Midwife ran me the best bubble bath i have ever had. OH washed and dressed me (i could have managed perfectly well but he wanted to)
had a cup of tea then went outside (maisy was in incubator being very well looked after) and had the best fag of my life.......naughty i know but oh well

 

[andreag]

I laboured in an old long t shirt, and after delivery had skin to skin and fed LO whilst they delevered the placenta and stitched me up (that took a long time). once all that was done, and me and oh had had lots of cuddles with LO, they turned the lights low and left us for a while and we got tea and toast (LO being spark out by this point). I then had a shower and changed and put the pads on then (whilst I was on the bed there were those big bed pads underneath). I never had a bed bath. Then we went down to the postnatal ward for the night. Try not to worry about it - they really have seen everything before and I really enjoyed the experience.

 

[charlie84]

I laboured in a vest top which i wore to the hospital. After Calleigh was born i held her and she had her first breastfeed before anything else was done. They then took her off me so i could be stitched and they could check her over and weigh her etc. The trainee midwife dressed her for us in the clothes i had bought with us.
Once i was stitched up a bath was ran for me. OH helped me off the bed and into the bath, yes it is messy but my god you are so grateful for a bath/shower after the birth.And to be honest you dont care OH helped me get dressed and what not whilst my mum had Calleigh. We all then sat round having tea and toast. I got transferred down to the ward afterwards.

 

[tinkerbell*]

Awwww thankz for your replies girlies. i think i might have TOKOPHOBIA.... (fear of giving birth)hehe whenever i think about it i can feel my heart start to go all racey and i get all panicy. i dont know how i will cope, but i know that i WILL cope. i know that its gonna happen whatever and that i'll get thorugh it,,, im just scared

 

[keli]

Really there's nothing to be scared of i had a good labour and can say that i enjoyed it and would quite happily do it again! Try doing some relaxation excerises or deep breathing. I bet you'll surprise yourself your body really does all the work you just have to relax and let it happen. I'm sure you'll be fine

 

[trixipaws]

i kno this may be cliche but its true when ur baby is in ur arms ur thoughts will be far, far away from whether ur bleeding or got ur fanny hangin out! lol.

i too was very very squeamish and petrified of giving birth, not just the pain but the horrificness of it the idea of what happens to ur body namely ur front bottom! but even i took it rele well as im sure u will too and i would do it again as i was lucky and had no complications.

tbh i was actually suprised at how little gore there actually was!

u will be fine hun honestly u got a good attitude there

but i know that i WILL cope. i know that its gonna happen whatever and that i'll get thorugh it

i swear i was like u too but iv done a U-turn. please feel free to PM me if u need to ill try to reassure u and i cant emphasise enough how neurotic and freaked out i was too- i was probably bordering on tokophobic too but iv nothing but fond memories of my daughters birth, including all the pain and distorting body parts would u believe!

 

[Sage]

aawwww you are just like every other 1st time mum i was a complete mess and soooo nervous during the last few weeks of pregnancy. but looking back as soon as you go into labour your body just takes over your mind 100% and you honestly dont care about anything other than getting the baby out. then once its out lol you really dont care about anything apart from wanting to sleep or bouncing off the walls looking at ya baba! (or basically just flying off all the drugs like i was heehee )

I had an epi and you can feel your legs but dont worry they do it all for you and honestly its a relief coz ya minds all over the place and i cant believe im saying this because im the most easily embarrassed and private person ever but it was a relief! After i gave birth and was stitched up they cleaned me up quickly, lifted me onto a clean bed and i was wheeled into a quiet room before being taken up to the ward. when they cleaned me they just put a big maternity pad inbetween my legs so you dont have to worry about knickers and youve got sheets over the bed so you dont need to worry if you bleed.

Its natural to worry about every little thing, your a mummy now and thats what us mummies do! CONSTANTLY!

 

[fran_23]

just to say the same as everyone else really- it is so normal to feel this overwhelmed as a first time mum..obviously something unknown is very scary..but honestly you will be fine and after just having given birth you will be so relieved that baby is here and you have done the hard bit- you'll not notice any gore etc..to be perfectly honest..the weirdest thing that happened to me (and i kind of wish i'd been warned so i'll tell you) was i gave birth lying down and my waters only broke at the last min and then i stayed there to deliver the placenta then get stitched etc then was cuddling baby for ages..so when i finally stood up and went to get in the bath i moved the pads the midwife had stuck on me- and the rest of my waters came flooding out..i was standing there gushing for about 20 secs..but it was fine..i laughed about it!! its only coz i wasn't expecting it i was slightly like wtf?... but anyway theres nothing to worry about..you will cope!! and i bet you say that its not as bad as you expected it to be..i know i did!!!

 

[Sherlock]

Re the bleeding. I opted to *not* have the injection to help deliver the placenta as my MW told me that although it helped stem the bleeding in the short term (the first couple of days) you then tended to bleed longer after that (going into weeks here). Without the injection she said I was more likely to have heavier bleeding the first couple of days then lighter and for a shorter time.

I bled fairly heavily for 2 days. Only one large-ish clot and then it more or less stopped and I had light bleeding a few days then it stopped.

The thing that I didn't like was the lochia (sp). Although the bleeding stopped soon after, the rest seemed to continue for a fair few weeks more. That was somewhat ick once I stopped actually bleeding.

Its one of those things that I never really read up on or thought about. And I am the queen of preparation But every woman will have it happen after giving birth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lochia

 

[clarey]

Please dont be too freaked out, I am the shyest most private person you could meet and I really just did not care once in labour, I didnt have a particularly easy time and ended up trying absolutely every which way to push my LO out even feet up in stirrups which I was adamant I wouldnt do but I would still do it all again tomorrow for my LO (and dont tell my OH but I cant wait for baby no2!)
Also I had an assisted delivery with spinal at the last minute cos my bod couldnt take any more and I was shaking too violently for anyone to help me lol, (OMG that needle was the best thing ever) and I as I couldnt move for several hours I was tidied up a bit and put in knickers and pads by the midwives, I promise you just wont mind, you will so focussed on your new baby and a bit high on hormones etc, looking back I practically invited the midwife to have a look down there at every visit whether she needed to or not! It will all be fine and if you do feel a bit uncomfy you will forget so quickly, dont worry hun its an amazing time

 

[Daffodil]

Great thread for us 1st timers!!

Sherlock, thanks for the lochia info.

Dawn

 

[Suzie and Faith]

I'd planned a natural water homebirth... i ended up in hospital, legs in stirrups, about 50 people in the room, they tried venthose and in the end forceps...

Before birth I was the sort of person who wouldn't dream of ever taking any clothes off in front of anyone except OH and yet I really truly and honestly did not care at all!

I got a bit high on the gas and air which definitely helped me!

I wasn't prepared for the amount of blood I lost - I delivered the placenta naturally (it popped out nearly straight after she did!) and so the blood loss at first was very heavy. I had a bath after the birth (was left by myself for it (which was surreal but good)) and it was more like a blood bath! But I had had a LOT of stitches and had been cut.

I gave birth in a large black t-shirt.

It's one of those things that you won't believe until after BUT you really don't care about nakedness and you really do forget the pain.

xxxxxxxxxxx

 

[Miss.Monroe]

i too was very very squeamish and petrified of giving birth, not just the pain but the horrificness of it the idea of what happens to ur body namely ur front bottom! but even i took it rele well as im sure u will too and i would do it again as i was lucky and had no complications.

thats how i feel at times, although its very natural, it just seems so barbaric that a human body is coming out of your front bottom! its just madness! im trying not to think about it.

 

[lea m]

I wore a nightie that I got for labour and afterwards they just stuck a pad or two between my legs, asked if I wanted a cuppa and food and let me nap! (This was the same each time! I had had Dia morphine so HAD to go sleep!) though this time Im hoping I wont be sleepy!!
When I felt up to it they took me to have a shower (Ichose shower each time, the thought of a bath with the blood I dont like baths at the best of times lol) and then wheeled me to the ward!! Its great! After all that pain you go through, it feels sooooo relaxing afterwards (if no complications obviously)

 

[flowergirl]

I was also really nervous about giving birth as I wil do anything to avoid pain and don;t cope well when I'm ill etc. I couldn't imagine being able to cope in labour. I turned a corner when I told my mum how I was feeling and she very simply told me that the pain was there for a reason and the best thing to do is go with it- don't tense up and fight against the pain as this will only cause the labour to last longer and the pains to go on longer! Breathe through the contractions and know that you will get a total break from the pain in a minute or so. Relax at these times also. No one knows how they will cope in labour- just be assured that your body knows what it is doing and especially in the pushing stages, almost totally takes over! I found giving birth one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I still feel so proud of how well I coped.

When I gave birth I had planned to be dressed in one of my OH's shirts but ended up starkers with my bare ass in the air for all to see! It was just the position my body needed to be in for getting the baby out!

After I think one midwife cleaned up Kathryn and dressed her as I was given the injection and delivered the placenta. I was brought tea and toast and then I breast fed baby for a while. The midwife ran a bath for me and my OH helped me to wash and get dressed. I wore two maternity pads and it was around 3 hrs later that I was taken down to the maternity ward for the night.

I bled for around 6 weeks after the birth but it was only heavy for a few days and there were only 3 clots early on that were smaller than a 50p so not too extreme!

 

[pilkers]

Crikey...I've just read this and though back almost 6 months and I cannot remember what I was wearing! I didn't care what I had on...I didn't care how I looked...I just wanted the baby OUT!

I think that I was wearing a hospital gown even though I had taken my own stuff to wear for the birth. After the birth they gave me tea and toast, which I had been looking forward to but couldn't eat as I was sick. I'd gone into shock after losing quite a lot of blood. because I was on blood thinning injections throughout my pregnancy due to a medical condition. My blood was like water!! Then I was wheeled into the shower beacuse I couldn't stand up and my mum washed me down!!!!

 

[Kimbo]

can anyone help? being a 1st time mummy and being slightly petrified of giving birth, i was wondering,,, what happens after you have given birth, little one is sorted out ect etc... when do you put knickers and maternity pads on??? i'm guessing you bleed pretty much from when you give birth untill i stops weeks later??? im really worried im gonna bleed everywhere i am very sqweamish and hate periods anyway, i am starting to panic!!!!

if i have an epidural, i wont be able to put any knickers on will i???? do i have to rely on the m/w doing this??? awwwwww please can someone help, i am totally freaking out about labour and pushing, and gunge... hehe

also what did you give birth in? did you wear a t-shirt, nightie, or hospital gown?

Thank you.....

i cant remember fully.. i had a spinal block for forceps so i had a catheter in for a good 5 or 6 hours afterwards... then they just put a pad between my legs - no knickers! until i got down to the ward they put some on then..
but they had to do it for me.. i couldnt move or hold myself up cos i was so weak so it was quite embarassing lol

i had a nighty on while in labour, until i went into theatre then they put a hospital gown on.. all open at the back
but u really wont care!