15 Things That Happens During Labor That Nobody Tells You About

When you first find out that you are pregnant, you are obviously excited and happy about it. Then you may have family members and friends telling you how wonderful labor is. Actually for the most part they miss the labor conversation, you know? Like when I first got pregnant, everybody was giving me advice on how to take care of myself while pregnant and telling me not to worry about being a mom because it’s going to come naturally and it was all going to be great.

I asked my mom and my aunts about labor and all they used to assured me not to worry about it that everything was going to be fine. They would me that I would get contractions and that it was going to be a little painful but once I get the epidural, everything was going to be smooth sailing from there on. Really Family!? That’s what you fed me, BULLSHIT! Thanks I guess because I was only 20 years old, and If I knew the real truth about labor, I think I would have boycotted not to give birth, haha!

1 - Personality change: You will get all kinds of crazy, seriously. Those contractions are no joke and you will literally go insane. For my first pregnancy I did not feel the contractions that much. I immediately got an epidural and I was good and had no problems with the pain, but for my twin’s birth it was a whole different story. I felt every bit of the contractions, I was not in a great mood, I didn’t know what I wanted to calm me down. I would tell my hubby to stand next to me and then the minute he did, I would tell him to leave me alone. I was also voicing out my pain to the doctors, something I said I was never going to do. It’s crazy!

2 - Needles: When you are in labor, you will get poked more than once and it’s not fun at all. My veins are very thin and not visible at all, so the nurses had to poke me a couple of times more than the norm to find my veins.

3 - Blood pressure machine: You will have a blood pressure machine stick to you like glue. The blood pressure machine was my BFF for some time. The nurses will be taking your blood pressure a couple of times during the day after you give birth as well. Also before giving birth you will hear and see you and your baby’s heart rate levels in a machine right next to your bed. Which is kind of interesting and fun I guess.

4 - A lot of different doctors: You will see a lot of unfamiliar faces asking you questions and making you sign a lot of paper documents that are all hospital related. The nurses, the anesthesiologist, doctors and so on. Your OBGYN will not be the only doctor or medical professional that you will see during your labor nd delivery.

5 - Doctors break your water: Doctors might in deed break your water in order to speed baby’s delivery and also to make your contractions “stronger”. Just pray that you already had the epidural because if not, it will hurt!

6 - Only one person in the delivery room: For the most part your doctor will only allow one person in the room with you when you are ready to start pushing(If having a C-section, only one person is allowed). This is for healthy reasons and for your own good. You need to be in a calm state of mind and if you allow your entire family inside the room, you will not be calm and they might even make you more nervous. Your family can wait in the waiting area and you can concentrate on yourself and trusting your hubby or who ever you want to be in there with you to make you feel at ease.

7 - Numbness after epidural: Once you get an epidural, you will feel numb from your waist down and you will not even feel your toes move. Epidural is a serious drug and works immediately, which I was thankful for during both of my labor.

8 - Catheter: If you are planning to get an epidural or a C-section than you have to know that you will have a catheter on. I did not know this at all! It’s a little uncomfortable when they insert it and remove it but you will live. Since the epidural numbs you from your waist down, you will not feel when you have to go pee, so this is your bestfriend until after you give birth.

9 - Perineal tear: A perineal tear is basically an unintended tear of the skin and soft tissues that separates the vagina from the anus of a woman. This happens when you have a vaginal birth and can occur to some women. This happened to me with my first pregnancy and it was very uncomfortable to say the least. You will get stitches for it and after a couple of days it will fall off, no need to go back to your doctor to remove it. Just make sure you do not lift anything heavy or bend down because you want to heal as soon as possible.

10 - Poop: So let’s talk about the poop that you hear so much about and are afraid to death that it will actually happen to you. I have to admit this happened to me, yes girl me! I am not embarrass at all, and I can tell you the story and how it happened a million times. Honestly it’s part of the whole birthing experience and whether it happened to you or not who cares! Actually you will not even feel when you are pooping because again you are numb from the epidural. The only way you will know is if your doctor or hubby tells you that you did in fact poop!

11 - No eating allowed: Once you are in the labor and delivery room you are not allowed to eat. Maybe just popsicles, water and ice, which sort of sucks because you will still be pregnant and very hungry. So I am just warning you here before you go all crazy on your supportive hubby who is just trying to follow the doctors rule of not giving you anything else to eat. Also, this might help you not poop!

12 - Vomit: In some cases women may vomit while pushing or because they are hungry and anxious. My cousin actually vomited before pushing her baby out and it’s a totally normal thing to happen while you are in labor.

13 - May not see your doctor until show time: In many cases you might not see your doctor until you are ready to start pushing (unless you are scheduled for a C-section). This is because your doctor may be with other patients delivering their babies. So just know that your doctor will be there with you but not as soon as you may want him/her to be. In the meantime trust the other doctors and nurses who are doing their best to take care of you.

14 - You will deliver more than just a baby: You will deliver your placenta and you will see it too! If you have a vaginal birth you will push again after your baby is born, but this time for your placenta, how weird is that? I did not know this was going to happen when I was giving birth for the first time.I was seriously surprised when my doctor told me to push again after I had given birth. Nobody warned me! Thank you mom, okay fine she had scheduled C-sections for all of her three labors, so I guess she didn’t know maybe? Anyways, so prepare to deliver more than your baby on your delivery day.

15 - No immediately baby bonding time: Nope it is not like the movies where doctors place your baby on top of you while they stich you up or clean you up and you get to bond with your precious human being. Once your baby is born, you will have a chance to glimpse at him/her and then the nurses will weigh, measure, clean your baby. You will have about 45 minutes most to bond and then they will take the baby to do more tests and all of that good stuff. So you will have a small amount of time to be able to bond with your baby until about 3 to 4 hours after you have given birth. Then you can bond and be with your baby all day or even all night as well.