Anything you wish someone had have told you about pregnancy, labour, delivery or post partum care?

I’m due with my second child soon, but being pregnant again has reminded me about how much more prepared I feel this time having an idea of how things will go. With my first I did lots of reading and chatting with other moms, but I still felt unprepared for the reality of pregnancy, labour, delivery and post partum care. I remember thinking why do people feel the need to hide this from moms? I guess I just felt I would have handled the whole thing better if someone had have told me the not so nice possibilities ahead of time! Anyone want to share some things you wish you had been told about ahead of time?

pregnancy-

During second and third trimester you can experience a variety of hip, pelvic, back, etc. pain and there is little you can do about it other than cope with the pain and wait it out until pregnancy is over.

Labour-

Many of my friends told me that labour felt like heavy period cramps. This can be the case, and some people get lucky, but for me it was more like someone ripping my body apart from the inside out. I truly believe if someone had have told me to expect that level of pain I would have been able to get through it a lot better. Also, epidurals aren’t for everybody and there are risks, but they can also be the best thing that ever happened to you (in my case, worked perfect and I felt so much relief).

Delivery-

Pooping during delivery is not the end of the world. The nurses and doctors won’t even acknowledge it, they keep a garbage beside them during the delivery and change whatever bed liner they use when needed.

Post-partum care-

Some women say pooping is the worst part. For me the peeing was worse. It stung to pee for weeks after delivery and I only needed three stitches. Some women need more and id imagine the more you need the worse it’d feel. They give you a little squirt bottle when you deliver. Fill it with warm water and spray your vag while you pee. It helps. Seriously, bring that thing home with you lol.