What L&D and early post partum is really like

So my son (holy smokes that sounds amazing - still can't get used to how it sounds!!) is now 11 days old and I feel like I owe it to all my upcoming May mommas to do a post on what labor, delivery and early days  post partum are really like! So here goes nothing!

1. Your water may or may not break - but if it does there will be no denying it. I was dead asleep and woke up saying I think my water is breaking and there was no denying it. The liquid will be cloudy and will have a sort of earthy smell to it. And there will likely be a lot of it. I gushed fluid from 3 in the afternoon Sunday until well into Monday. If you have to question of you water broke it probably didn't.

2. Your water breaking alone is not a reason to rush to the hospital. My water broke around 3:30 Sunday afternoon - we called Rita and the doctor but we were not having any contractions whatsoever. The doctor told us because of our water bag breaking we needed to check into the hospital within 8 hours. I did squats, lunges, bounced on the ball. Walked the stairs and finally we checked into the hospital at 11:30 but didn't feel one contraction until 1am and didn't have CJ until 3:04 the next day. :)

3. Contractions are no joke. I never really had many Braxton hicks contractions - the worst I had the whole time was some slight cramping. The early contractions were manageable but 3 hours in and only 3cm I was dying. This is where I feel like 2 important things played a role for me in making the decision to get an epidural. 1. I educated myself and prepared myself before CJ came with clases and reading countless articles and books - but I should have focused more on the mind over matter aspect of delivering and trying to get to that zen-like peaceful place. Before baby #2 I would definitely focus more on meditation and maybe even hypnosis to try to get through it naturally. The second thing this taught me is to allow the docs to do cervical checks if they seem them necessary but it certainly isn't necessary for me to know how many cm dilated we are until it's go time or until I need to know to make a decision. After 3 hours of what I thought were bad contractions only to hear we were only 3cm I hit a mental block and told myself no way could I do another 7! 

4. There will come a point where all modesty goes out the window. You will be half naked and you won't care one bit. After I got my epidural and couldn't feel anything - I actually at one point asked my nurse - do I have panties on?! And the answer to the question was no and I didn't care - at all.

5. Speaking of panties order depends - now. Get the silhouettes which although totally hideous make you feel like you are wearing fancy pants underwear but they are 100% necessary - both for when/if your water breaks but also for post partum - ain't no shame ladies!

6. If you have a natural, vaginal delivery you will poop on yourself - a lot - and you will not care. I promise. This mortified me before he came along but as it was happening I didn't have a care in the world! Every little bit meant he was closer to being here!

7. If they offer you a mirror to watch during delivery at least watch one push! It's simply amazing what your body is doing. For me I couldn't watch for too long because when I didn't see serious progress I got a mental block - but watching a few times was amazing!

8. Ask if you can pull your baby out yourself. This was by far and away theost amazing experience of the whole delivery. I hadn't thought of it but our midwife offered it up and it was truly amazing!

9. After the epidural don't trust your legs until the next day. I fell - hard - in the
bathroom about 3 hours after I pushed him out and they had to file an incident report and I had a huge road rash nasty bruise on my tush for a week!

10. Your bathroom will look just like your hospital room for at least a week but you need everything! Between ice packs, heat packs, super sized pads and peri bottles (most amazing invention ever!) you will need lots of supplies - case in point

11. Enjoy every single second and embrace every little thing that happens! I would live those 4 days over and over again if I could - and that's why I've documented every tiny detail - because I never want to forget it and I want to be able to share it with Casey one day. And remeber no matter what happens be flexible, be open and know that for every pain, every second of discomfort and every moment that you just don't think you can do it anymore - you can and you will and to quote Jimmy Fallon yet again "it's the most worth it thing".

XOXO

K