What is it like being pregnant and going thru labor ?

Question

I don’t have any children. 
I am turning 25 this year and I have been thinking about it a lot more.  I can’t wait to have kids and I am starting to have baby fever lol 
However, I can not tell you how much I am terrified of actually being pregnant and going thru labor. I am so scared of hospitals, needles, blood, and worried that something could go wrong. 
How did you ladies get thru it ? How was your pregnancies? Do you have any advice ?

Answer

I got pregnant only 3 months after my now fiancé and I started dating so obviously it wasn’t planned and I think that had a lot to do with why my pregnancy was not at all what I had ever thought it would be. I thought I couldn’t wait to be pregnant until I actually became pregnant and realized just how much it sucks. So for example, I was chunky in high school - I was always the “fat one” of my friend groups growing up & I had “tried” dieting and could never lose the weight until a few years after I graduated, I actually took it seriously and committed myself to diet and exercise and lost 40 lbs and kept the weight off for years. So when I got pregnant and started gain weight, it was really hard to accept that & it made me so sad. On top of feeling fat and ugly, I was sick for the first 4 months and that was really taxing as I still had to get through my shifts at work and carry on with life like I wasn’t creating a human being & that was tough too. There were a lot of things about pregnancy that I experienced that I didn’t even know was apart of the process. Like the increase in discharge, the cramps, the discomfort of having a big ole belly weighing you down, the swelling, the nausea from car rides or smells that you used to enjoy that now made you want to hurl, even brushing my teeth would make me gag and sometimes throw up, how ungodly difficult and damn near impossible especially in your last trimester, sleeping is, the list could go on. I really hated being pregnant. The ONLY thing I enjoyed was feeling my son move around in my belly. But even that isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. Sometimes his kicks were so strong, they hurt and would stop me in my tracks. 
My labor and delivery experience on the other hand, was perfect. I couldn’t have imagined it going any smoother than it did. I was due December 31, 2018. Didn’t go into labor. But had been experiencing Braxton Hicks for about 3 days and the night of my due date the contractions were so strong, they woke me from a sound sleep. That morning I lost my mucous plug and panicked and thought that meant I’d go into labor any minute. Luckily, I had an obgyn appt later that day anyway - my doctor sent me to the hospital to be evaluated because my bp was high and there was protein in my urine, she suspected I’d probably be induced, but the hospital released me as all my blood work and test came back normal. I had another appt with my obgyn Thursday that same week, everything looked great, they scheduled my post dates ultrasound for later that day and I set up an induction date for January 7 if my son didn’t make his arrival before then. Went back to the hospital for my ultrasound and my amniotic fluid was dangerously low and my doctor decided to push my induction to that night. So my post dates ultrasound was at 5:45 and by 7 PM I was in a gown, in the room I’d deliver my son in. My doctor checked me and I was already 3 cm dilated. She decided to hook me up to an IV and push some fluids and see if I’d go into labor naturally. And I did. I labored first about 12 hours before I got an epidural. So 7 am the following morning, the anesthesiologist came in and administered my epidural, at some point my doctor broke my water, nurses put a catheter in me, and I continued to labor away, pain free. My epidural started to wear off (but that exactly what my doctor wanted to have happen, she told me the more I can feel, the easier it’ll be to push), my doctor let me have a second round as long as I was progressing, I was (thank god) so I got another epidural around noon or so. And around 4 PM I felt sick and started throwing up. I thought it was because my epidural was wearing off the my back labor was EXCRUCIATINGLY painful but I guess it’s a common sign that you’re ready to deliver. So some nurses came in and I did “practice pushing” but trust me - they were NOT practice. By the time my doctor had her cart ready, my son was crowning. I pushed maybe 6 more times, and he was born. Odin Lloyd Daniels was born at 4:50 PM Friday January 4, 2019 weighing 6 lbs 13.5 oz and 19 inches long. Small boy. But he was BEAUTIFUL ♥️ in the moment she laid him on my chest and I looked down through tears of joy and accomplishment - it ALL was worth it. And then she started stitching me up lol and I felt EVERYTHING. Pushing didn’t actually hurt - I think I was so distracted by the contractions that I didn’t even feel “the ring of fire”. I just kept pushing. Honestly the recovery was worse than the actually delivery part. My vag was SO sore. And you’ll bleed....A LOT and it’ll smell like death. Something I didn’t know about postpartum. But it’s normal. It’s called lochia. Lol 
Everyone’s experience is so different from one another - but one no matter how amazing or how traumatic the whole experience may be, no matter how you deliver, it so fucking empowering. Seriously you’re gonna feel like a god damn super hero and you should! Being a mama is hard. Work. But it is also so amazing. My son is 1.5 old now and even just this far, watching him grow and learn new things is just so rewarding and brings so much joy to my life. Yes, I have days where I really really dislike being a mom, some days I’d do anything for some time to myself, some days I wish I could’ve slept in, some days I miss out on things I wish I could be doing BUT I love my son more than I ever knew I could love someone. He’s my little bestie lol

Answer

Im currently pregnant and let me tell you that i was exactly like you before i got pregnant. Me and my partner didn’t plan to have a baby, unfortunately i got pregnant while on the pill. I never wanted children, simply for the fact that i was terrified of being pregnant. I was just so scared of pregnancy i never wanted to go through it. Im 35 weeks at the moment and I’ve had a verrrrry easy pregnancy so far! Before getting pregnant i was at the gym all the time and still was until this coronavirus started. I was literally scared for no reason, now thats not to say my next pregnancy will be the same but i took it day by day and now im already coming to the last few weeks! I still don’t enjoy pregnancy but only because i don’t like feeling restricted in my body. My point is, not all pregnancies are the same but you never know until you go through it! A lot of girls have told me at the beginning telling me “wait till this happens to you” “you’re gonna get this and that”. I can’t really comment on labor as I haven’t gone through it just yet but i am so excited for labor! Ill worry and be scared of labor if there is something to worry and be scared of. Till then, I can’t wait to finally get to that day of meeting my wee boy.

Answer

It's so different for everyone... 
1. One of my SILs (I'll call her SIL #1) has had 2 miserable pregnancies... with two miserable labors. With her daughter, she had some extensive medical issues that could have been fatal and she was a week late and ended up having back labor (SIL #1 is extremely petite and she looked like she was smuggling a huge pumpkin). With her son, it was slightly less miserable but her labor was much worse. Her cervix quit dilating and the hospital ignored her, and she ended up delivering and severely tearing because her son was coming out one way or another. 
2. My other SIL (SIL #2) has had hyperemesis gravidarum with both pregnancies and high blood pressure but healthy pregnancies otherwise. Her first was terrible back labor but he was relatively quick. She just had her second, but she had to be induced due to a preeclampsia risk. 
3. My pregnancy was a BREEZE! I worked up until almost my due date (2 days before). No Braxton Hicks. Super healthy pregnancy. My labor was relatively simple too. I went in at 7am, was at 4cm, so they kept me. I ended up having an epidural at 8cm (long story) and my son was born at 5:30pm. If my next pregnancy is half as good as my first, I'll be a happy woman.

Answer

I’ve had two children.
Labor wasn’t too terrible pushing wise.
It’s the contractions that killed me.
Once I got my epidural I was able to breath and relax.
Pushing feels like pushing out the biggest poop of your life.
I only got two stitches with each labor.
No tearing to my butthole haaha.
My vag was swollen like a freakin hot dog bun after.
But overall I managed. I’m back for round three! Preggo again! Hahaah so it obviously didn’t scare me off too bad.

Answer

I had two kids and very easy pregnancies/deliveries.
I never felt sick, tired or had weird cravings. I only knew I was pregnant because of the test, and well growing lol.
With both I had c-section, neither emergency, but was in labor with 1 child for hours and pain wasn’t bad. Recovery second time was 10x easier than first. Even the first I felt good in 3 days. I was active/walking with both of my pregnancies so not sure if that helped. If I could do it again, I would have 10 kids like this because it felt so easy. But raising them is different part so I am good with 2 😬

Answer

I sadly gave birth at 21 weeks. Horrible pain , I wasn’t that far along so I cant imagine full term.  I also did it naturally because I was at home when it happened. 
My sister had to give birth naturally and she refuses to ever have another kid , she can’t have epidural because she has a plate on her spine where it goes. 
You tear the skin from your vag to your asshole. There’s minor and major tears. I had a friend who had a major tear and my sister. They said living with it after for however long was worse. Taking a poo is excruciating. But it’s worth it to have a baby.

Answer

Ummmmmm.  It's worth it. LOL

Answer

Exercise and eat right, it helps.. There is pain involved but if you really want that baby it is so worth it. My pregnancies were always high risk buy I wish I could have done a water birth

What is it like being pregnant and going thru labor ?

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