One thing you wish you knew before you UCed

[icesk8]

I am trying to learn all I can about ucing so when its my turn I will be so prepared. So I was wondering what is one, or more thing(s) that you know now about uc that you wish you knew before. It can be anything, but I am just curious!

[akaisha]

oh, good question!! :

[prescottchels]

Oh Oh me too! :

[Unoppressed MAMA Q]

Have stuff on hand to bake. Like cinnamon rolls, yum.

Don't get in the birth tub until you can no longer bake the cinnamon rolls.

[Mommy2Ananzi]

Originally Posted by Unoppressed MAMA Q

Have stuff on hand to bake. Like cinnamon rolls, yum.

Don't get in the birth tub until you can no longer bake the cinnamon rolls.

I'm adding that to my to do during labor list. What a great suggestion!

[Bad Horse]

Good one, Unoppressed MAMA Q!

Subbing!

[Collinsky]

With my first, I wish I'd known that even if I felt totally confident and prepared, I could still freak out during transition. I was totally unprepared to feel any worry, and completely ignorant of how a small worry can snowball out of control when you're in labor. I wish I'd also prepped my husband that I might express some fear, and let him know what to do in that case, and that it didn't mean anything was wrong. That even women who know "everything" about birth and are completely confident can feel afraid and might need reassurance in transition. We were both totally unprepared for that.

I wish I'd known that having a houseful of relatives, even in the kitchen being very careful not to "bother" me... would feel horribly invasive and be something that I regretted.

I wish I'd known my husband makes a mean ziti, and that after giving birth it is Da Bomb. He made it because it's easy to make in bulk and save. I ate a million pounds of ziti when I was postpartum. I couldn't get enough of the stuff.


And I wish I'd known that waterbirth really was THAT big a difference.

[Bad Horse]

Originally Posted by Collinsky

With my first, I wish I'd known that even if I felt totally confident and prepared, I could still freak out during transition. I was totally unprepared to feel any worry, and completely ignorant of how a small worry can snowball out of control when you're in labor. I wish I'd also prepped my husband that I might express some fear, and let him know what to do in that case, and that it didn't mean anything was wrong. That even women who know "everything" about birth and are completely confident can feel afraid and might need reassurance in transition. We were both totally unprepared for that.

I wish I'd known that having a houseful of relatives, even in the kitchen being very careful not to "bother" me... would feel horribly invasive and be something that I regretted.

I wish I'd known my husband makes a mean ziti, and that after giving birth it is Da Bomb. He made it because it's easy to make in bulk and save. I ate a million pounds of ziti when I was postpartum. I couldn't get enough of the stuff.


And I wish I'd known that waterbirth really was THAT big a difference.

THANK YOU! This is just the type of thing I like to hear about!

I do know how much I can freak out during transition at least, and have tried to prepare dh for it as well as I can (this is his first baby, so first birth all around)
I've found a few really good UC vids on YouTube that has some mamas freaking during transition that I have been able to show him and let him know that will probably be me! And I've shown them to the kids, too.

My last hb, during late transition while I was just trying to wait out a cervical lip I had, my mw had at some point stuck her head in just to ask if I was doing ok. Yes, I replied, but as soon as she left I turned to my then dh and told him I was pretty sure I was dying and that he should probably get me to the hospital

I remembered during that time what my BFW instructor had told us during the class, that when we felt like we might literally die we were really close and to try to remember that physical pain cannot kill you. I just kept thinking that I knew she said that, but she had NO IDEA what was going on, cause I REALLY WAS going to die then. And then wouldn't she feel stupid to find out that pain COULD kill you.

I'm not talking about this to worry anyone, cause really? I have short, very intense labors, and yeah, it can get very intense and hurt a whole lot, but it's over quickly from that point, and you immediately forget about it when you hold your baby most of the time. And you feel SO PROUD and MIGHTY once you get to the other side. It's incredible and powerful. And wonderful.

And yes, food is extremely important for immediately afterwards! It's one of the very few times that I actually really love pasta. It's carbalicious and great for refueling after such a workout as labor!
That ziti sounds great!

[UnskulinMama]

For the birth - I wish I had specifically told DH to get the birth (at least some of it) on video. He had the camera handy but didn't want to interrupt my laboring to ask me if he could use it. DD was born a week before her due date so we hadn't discussed specifics like that and I'm pretty bummed about it.

Postpartum - I would probably NOT tell the pediatrician that it was a UC. I hate the fact that we have to do this, but it would've been alot easier to just say we had a midwife and couldn't disclose her name. He didn't call CPS or anything crazy like that, but he was miserable and spent the first whole appt (@ 4 days old) dropping comments about negligence and whatnot.

I wish I had realized how STARVING I would be when I was awake nursing in the middle of the night those first few nights... I got in the habit of keeping nutrigrain bars on my dresser, but I wish I had planned ahead and thought of something better. Mmm, cinnamon rolls would've been good!

Oh next time I will move the microwave to my bedroom. DH got pretty sick of me sending him downstairs at 3am to heat up my rice bag for afterpains and I was frustrated with how long it took him each time, but it was the only thing that helped.

This isn't UC-specific really, but I also will work harder to make sure I get more of a babymoon next time. DH was only able to take one week off and we spent most of it running errands like getting her BC, SSN, adding her to insurance, dr appts, etc... We had one or two days to relax together and then he was back to work and I felt like crap, physically and emotionally. If I was to do it again, I'd try to do *nothing* that first week but stay home and snuggle my newbie

[sunnymw]

Subbing

[icesk8]

What does subbing mean???
And these responses are great! keep em coming!!

[majikfaerie]

I wish I had read and prepared A LOT more. basically had no clue whatsoever, the only book related to birthing that I read during my entire pregnancy was Spritual Midwifery, when I was about 4 months.
and a bath... that would have saved me totally.

[BirthFree]

Wish I'd known that breathtakingly-painful contractions that start off without ANY lead up and last over a minute (and feel unbearable from the beginning) means it's going to be a VERY fast labor.

I also wish I'd spent more time contradicting the words a previous MW had spoken when one of my children was born - it replayed right as I was pushing out my youngest and it made me so mad that at that time her fear would play through my head. It won't happen again, but I wish I'd known that it had been there so I could have worked through it.

Otherwise, I wish I had known how awesome my DH was going to be - never in a thousand years after our previous two births would I have expected him to be helpful really, let alone rockin' helpful. It was wonderful. (He's currently being a poop head right now though so I'm not sure if I'll get a repeat or not ).

[wombjuice]

Originally Posted by icesk8

What does subbing mean???
And these responses are great! keep em coming!!

Subbing means subscribing to the thread...which is what I'm about to do, too! This thread is very cool.

(OT: Majikfaerie, I love your new article! )

[augustacherri]

I am with previous poster about not really acknowledging how much I would/could freak out during transition. I was pretty focused at the beginning, but with my UC, transition dragged on for nearly four hours. It really sucked and I was totally not expecting the pain to be worse than my first birth--an unmedicated hospital birth. I thought that since I was confident and that it was just my husband and myself that it would somehow magically be much less painful, but it was surprisingly worse.

Something I'm really glad I DID know before/during my UC was to prep a nice birthing "nest" in advance. I had put a plastic sheet down with lots of chux pads and a nearby trash bag. DH put some towels in the dryer to warm during transition and brought in a big plastic bowl for the placenta. When birth happened, the bowl was handy and my DH grabbed the warm towels. Afterwards, he picked up the whole mess of chux pads, etc. into the plastic sheet and threw it all in the nearby trash bag. Then he immediately threw the towels into the wash--voila! Everything was spotless in a matter of a few minutes.

I wish I had had DH take more pictures or perhaps a video of the birth. I wasn't sure if it would inhibit or distract me, so we decided beforehand that we wouldn't take many pictures. He took a few and I don't even remember him taking them at all. Knowing that, I wish he'd taken more! The very few we did get are so memorable and beautiful.

[sahmama_12]

subbing

[MyBoysBlue]

My DS was born so quickly that we didn't get to warm up some towels or blankets and I was freezing. He was born in October right by our back door and the cold air was coming in. I wish I had thought to get DH to fill the bathtub so we could hop in right away afterwards instead of waiting for the placenta while sitting on wet chux pads.

Orange Juice is just wonderful after giving birth. So is Rescue Remedy. I was surprised how much less shaky I felt after taking it.

[UnassistedMomma]

I wish I had known that even though it was my 4th, it could still be longer and harder than all of the other 3 combined.....

I had no idea that with 8 years between my last birth and that one, my uterus might kind of think it was a first timer. Sure, it makes sense... but it didn't occur to me for some reason.

(that's not applicable to most people I'm sure)

[sapphire_chan]

(

Originally Posted by icesk8

What does subbing mean???
And these responses are great! keep em coming!!

Click on "thread tools" and it will let you subscribe to the thread to receive email notifications when there are updates. Also, when you post to a thread it allows you to scroll down to "Additional Options" and add a subscription as well.)

To summarize what I've learned so far:
Postpartum:
Microwave in bedroom.
Food in bedroom.
Lots and lots of super fast food available

During labor:
Big sign on the wall " THIS IS TRANSITION, I'M NEARLY DONE!! ", actually several, on every wall I might be looking at. And the ceiling.
Dh might freak out to, so give him a reminder note "if it sounds like she's dying with no request for 911, you soon will have a daughter or son"

[Romana]

I wish I'd known that even when you do everything "right," some women don't experience a pushing urge. I could have had a 20-30 minute transition rather than an 8 hour transition if only I'd known. And probably avoided the transfer to the hospital. Instead, I waited for hours and hours for the pushing urge, then finally went to the hospital only to discover I could push and was holding my dd 20 min later.