What to expect

Question

What are some things about labor and/or the third trimester than you wish you would have known? Tests they do, checking for dilation, ANYTHING you can tell me!! I just want to prepare myself! Thanks in advance

Answer

After:
There is a lot, but a few pieces of information.. 
You will bleed heavily, especially for the first few days in the hospital. You may have blood clots as big as softballs (Yes, you read the right, softballs) come out. This is absolutely normal. The blood often looks a lot worse than what it is, but you will want to be prepared.
You will be using a squeeze bottle to clean yourself down there for several weeks. (Say goodbye to toilet paper) You will want to invest in a towel you can lightly dab yourself off with to have at home.
Your first bowel movement will terrify you, but the fear is usually worse than the pain depending on how bad and if you tear.
When your milk comes in, regardless of if you are nursing or not, your boobs will be as hard as a rock and will feel like they are on fire. Feed or pump out the pressure. It will be miserable, but will disappear within a few days.
Anways, sorry for the long comment(s)!..The love you feel for your baby will make everything worth it, and it won't seem as bad after the fact. Just remember you can do it! Good luck momma!!

Answer

I am a FTM, now my baby is 4 weeks, and seriously found so many things out.
3rd Trimester:
I gained ALL of my weight in the last 8 weeks or so (you will grow a lot).
Glucose test, around 30-32 weeks, to see if you have developed gestational diabetes (Drink a really thick sugary thing ((a lot of people like fruit punch the best)), wait an hour, have blood drawn. If you fail, you'll have to do it again and wait 3 hours. If you fail that, you will have to do finger pricks the rest of pregnancy).
TDAP shot, around 35/36 weeks, to make sure you pass the pertussis immunity to your baby in first weeks of life.
Strep B Test, anytime in 3rd trimester (Swab your vaginal and rectum to see if you have the bacteria ((there are no symptoms to adults, but can cause blindness, death, etc to babies)) if positive they have to give you an iv med while in labor every 4 hours).
Cervix check, depends on your doctor, but throughout the last 3 weeks for sure (uncomfortable, not painful, but they insert their hand into your vaginal all the way back to your cervix).
Mucous plug (this was seriously the most gross thing about pregnancy to me. You will have this thick mucous discharge that is yellow to clear in color. It typically comes out over several days, but will be several inches long if it comes out all at once. yuck. ((BTW, this does not mean labor is starting))).
Bloody show (after you lose your mucous plug, you will have your bloody show, which will be either brown or red in color. ((Labor typically starts within 48 hours)) it should not soak through a pad).

Answer

Labor:
This is kind of in the eye of the beholder, and also depends on if you plan to go natural or not. All I can tell you is to be prepared to go beyond whatever pain you thought you would feel, but you can do it. 
Contractions are hell on earth (excuse my language), but they have periods in between that don't feel like you are going to die. 
Make sure you have a support person! (Have this person take notes for you while you're in labor about what is happening).
Also, you will probably feel like you have to poop the entire time after your baby moves down into the birth canal (you may poop and pee on your baby while in labor, the nurses will clean it up for you, and won't tell you it happened) but you really won't have to. Walking helps a lot! (Staying still during contractions only make them worse)
Take a bath if you are able to!
Do not eat, everything will come back up.
When your water breaks it will feel like an extremely hard kick, and contractions will quickly intensify until delivery.
If you are able to handle the contractions and baby isn't in distress, let the baby move down into a lower station before pushing. (The baby will do it naturally over an hour or two. It will make pushing shorter with less risk of tearing).
Even though you will want to, do NOT push until they tell you to, can be very dangerous for both of you.

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Lots of pain and pressure from baby. You, feeling great until about week 33 when you now feel sleep deprived like the first trimester. Baby head moving on your pelvic nerve.  Then you may need fetal testing which is done once or twice a week around wk 34 till u gave birth. Oh yea the joys of the last trimester.

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How quickly you can get tired in your third trimester & how swollen you can get in the last trimester and a week postpartum. Expect for contractions to get so bad during labor that you won't have time to catch your breath and the epidural can wear off if you get it too early -.-

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To make sure you get a good rest every night around your due date my son came 2 weeks early and I was up the night before and I kept falling asleep giving birth to him , & that they weren't going to allow pictures to be taken

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Eat all as u can during your last weeks before u go into labor .Basically just get prepared of the needles and whatever complications u might have. After , my delivery I was having high blood pressure they have to keep me an extra day because they said if I leave now I could have an seizure or something and that was my first time having High Blood Pressure..

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