"WHAT?!?!" Those Things Nobody Warns You About.... - Page 18

[dianna11]

Pregnancy:
- Moles, like WOAH! There is one on my head that is now the size of a raisin, and it's flesh coloured. My hair is baby fine to begin with, and it's rather visible I do hope it goes away after.

- I forgot about this the last time, but my hoo-hoo is HUGE The midwife said that the whole pelvic area gets vascular, but whoa!


PostPartum:
- Sweat! I feared DD would drown in my sweat at night - I think all of the water weight I had during pregnancy just flew out of my pores and I would wake up in puddles.

- Sex can be painful during pregnancy and FAR after the magical 6 week PP mark. I think it took until about a year PP before sex didn't hurt. it didn't get actually enjoyable until about 2 years pp, then I went and got pregnant again :P

- Hair loss. Oh boy. I have baby fine hair to begin with, and I ended up with bald patches. It didn't just end at 3 months PP,. it would go in 3 month cycles , and fall out in hand fulls.

[klink2]

post-partum
I had no idea of the intensity of those bonding hormones. Sitting there just bawling my head off and hurting with love for this little thing that was only an idea just days before.

And let-down! I had no idea my breasts would start leaking any time I heard any baby cry. Trips to Target become an adventure!

[mchalehm]

I wish I had known:
* That I would, indeed, hate being naked in front of people--everyone says that during labor you won't care, but I did, very much;
* That not every mama can make enough milk. I know, I know--mainstream people give up on breastfeeding too easily, yada yada yada. Well, apparently I have IGT, but I didn't know, and my baby lost a LOT of weight while I was going from LC to LC, nursing all the time, holding my screaming (i.e. hungry) baby all the time, etc. I really wish that someone had said to me, "There are a few exceptions to the "everyone can breastfeed exclusively" rule; let's think about whether your situation might be one of these and what we can do." My baby went hungry for a long time and I would not do that again.

(And by the way--in case you're wondering--I didn't give up on breastfeeding completely. But we always needed to feed formula too, and I firmly believe that she really did need it. My supply never came up, not at all.)

[leafwood]

That being in labor to me felt like I was having IBS and it made me want to deliver my baby on the toilet.

That right after birthing, when they handed me the baby it was OK to feel a bit detached, overwhealmed, and not necessarily instantly bonded to my baby. And that despite that experience, I would fall maddly, deeply in love with her within days.

Post partum.....that the hunger during early BF was so intense I became a demanding, hormonal, feeding maniac and dh was fetching all sorts of late night feeding props for me while I nursed (like, I NEED fresh strawberries and yogurt at 3am). And that this never happened to me during pregnancy so it was quite unexpected.

That a ductal yeast infection is far more painful than any labor related experience, and that many medical providers aren't informed about symptoms or treatment.

[~NewMa~]

My first surprise came after I was first starting to show. After haivng an orgasm, my uterus just stood at attention. I thought I was going into preterm labor or something! I know your uterus is a muscle and contracts after orgasm, but I've never been able to see it in action. The firmness and distention had me totally freaked. No pain or anything with it though- thank goodness, Buuut- I kinda wish I had been warned that that could happen!

- expecting first in April

[cushy]

Nobody told me what a fourth degree tear was, or that it was even possible, until I got one.

Nobody told me I would willingly and happily take castor oil after three days of hospital food, no bm, and lots of stitches. I was actually thrilled to have diarrhea (tmi- sorry).

Noone told me about the super ugly and uncomfortable varicose veins in the privates.

Oh man, I could go on and on. There have been lots of surprises. This is fun to read though while starting my last trimester. Ah, memories...

[*Melissa*]

FWIW, I had no poop/puking with my labor at all. Actually, right before I went into labor (or when it first started) I thought I had the flu, because I had the runs so bad, but after I got it all out, there was nothing to worry about.

I guess what surprised me the most is having contractions 6 weeks postpartum after finally having sex again!!! I was like.... this isn't pleasant...

[jlsizemore]

This is baby number 5 and I've NEVER had hip pain like this before. I guess what has surprised me most is how different each and every pregnancy has been. It seems like there has always been something that hurts with each one. With the previous pregnancy I had kidney stones something awful and ended up having surgery on my left kidney after I had that baby. I just hope my hips go back to normal!!

[cubasianchica]

dont know if its been mentioned but no one warned me that the baby kicks internally... you always think of it kicking outward but when I felt this at first boy was it totally different

[JennaW]

Originally Posted by mchalehm

I wish I had known:
* That I would, indeed, hate being naked in front of people--everyone says that during labor you won't care, but I did, very much;

I'm glad you posted this because I am about 7 weeks and have always felt that I would prefer to birth with just me and DH because I just would not feel comfortable having my family see me naked or see my vagina. I was just thinking the other day "Well maybe it would be nice to do the whole family thing" but I really think it would make me very uncomfortable, and hinder the process.

[nolonger]

Even if I felt comfortable about being naked in front of ds and dd's partner, I'm afraid that would be a deal-breaker for them so they will not be at the birth, although I'm hoping I'll want them around during the very early stages of labour and that they will want to be there.

Just a sad reality of having teenaged boys. YMMV and I hope it does.

[Beeblebrox]

Originally Posted by jlsizemore

This is baby number 5 and I've NEVER had hip pain like this before. I guess what has surprised me most is how different each and every pregnancy has been. It seems like there has always been something that hurts with each one. With the previous pregnancy I had kidney stones something awful and ended up having surgery on my left kidney after I had that baby. I just hope my hips go back to normal!!

I was going to post this as my own, but I think you touched on it. I haven't been able to read the whole thread so I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but I never knew about symphisis pubis dysfunction (sp). Extreme pain in your pelvis area from a misalignment. It can cause you pain to walk, lift your legs to put pants on, turn over in bed, freeze up when you start to walk after being still for awhile. I knew something was up with this pregnancy because I didn't have this with DD. It's much worse than your regular aches and pains in pregnancy and my hips and joints and killing me!

[jlsizemore]

Originally Posted by Beeblebrox

I was going to post this as my own, but I think you touched on it. I haven't been able to read the whole thread so I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but I never knew about symphisis pubis dysfunction (sp). Extreme pain in your pelvis area from a misalignment. It can cause you pain to walk, lift your legs to put pants on, turn over in bed, freeze up when you start to walk after being still for awhile. I knew something was up with this pregnancy because I didn't have this with DD. It's much worse than your regular aches and pains in pregnancy and my hips and joints and killing me!

I KNOW!! I can't believe how painful and uncomfortable this has become. Thank GOD I only have to make it until Tuesday. I have no idea what the recovery of this is. I can only hope that once the baby is out my body will go back to normal and I won't have to deal with this pain any longer.

[Past_VNE]

I can't believe my thread is still going...over THREE YEARS LATER!!!