Tips/tricks/advice/facts you wish you knew?

Question

Any moms have tips/tricks/advice/good to know facts they wish someone told them about their first pregnancy/delivery? I'm nervous and would feel better if I was more informed! Thanks!

Answer

Be ready for other women to start talking to you about breastfeeding and your boobs. Even women you don't know that well.

Answer

Nobody ever discusses the "aftermath". It's not pretty! You bleed for up to 6 weeks, the hospital will give you pads the size of a football field, you'll literally be afraid of your vagina! Not to mention, the thought of having to poop is absolutely terrifying. Is it all worth it, yes, but nobody ever talks about it....they tell you how awful labor is, but in my opinion, labor is nothing compared to the aftermath.

Answer

Don't get hung up on a birth plan. Chances are that thins will
Not work out per your plan and it will just stress you out . Know that the docs and nurses won't let anything happen to you or baby and just go with it as labor progresses. Try to remember to pay attention to things like how baby's face truly looked that first time. How dads face looked during the labor and first eyes he set on baby. All these things I don't remember at all from number one and I wish I would have just let it all work itself out instead of stressing that things were going according to plan .

Answer

Go with the flow. I went in with a typed out "plan" and nothing went as expected with my first. My goal with my last three births was get to the hospital and it worked :) 
Ask for an ice pack after birth to put against your vagina. It helps with the pain and swelling. I lived on one after my first after getting an episiotomy.

Answer

I would tell myself to SLOWLY gain weight instead of freaking out like I did and gaining it all within the second trimester. I was so afraid I wasn't eating enough that I ate way more than I needed to and probably could have saved myself at least ten pounds if I'd been more attentive.

Tips/tricks/advice/facts you wish you knew?

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