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If I knew then what I know now..............................

Hi I'm due next Tuesday and it's just starting to dawn on me that labour is only the beginning not the end!!

For anyone who has given birth in the last month is there anything you wish you'd known before that you'd like to share? Big things or small all tips gratefully recieved!

Replies

  • babies are much easier when they are inside you lol
    fea x
  • have plenty of you time you wont get it when baby's here!!! and Sleep as much as you can!!!
  • I totally agree with the above two statements.... oh, and i was planning on not shouting throughout the labour as i thought this would use up too much energy so i was just going to breathe through the contractions but i found it helped to shout when pushing (it made me do it harder!!) wish i had known that earlier as it helped get her out quicker.
    Also, don't take down too much gas and air if u are planning on having it, i had too much too quickly and threw up everywhere oops!!! Hope this helps u a bit xx
    Good luck x
  • The only thing i wish i had have known was that the contractions are bearable but it'e the head coming out and the pressure of the head moving down thats the worst!! But then again all i had was gas and air through my whole labour!! lol xx
  • I agree with Jayne I had a really quick labor and enjoyed it what I struggled with was the sensation of the head moving down. I hadn't been to any antenatal classes for various reasons and because it was all so quick was expecting the pressure of the head to be like it was so pannicked a bit. THen I relaxed and it was fine.
    Friends told be it felt like s****ing a red hot cannonball and I didn't understand but its exactly what it felt like. I only had pethidine which hadn't actually kicked in!! I was given gas and air but too late so that each time I took a breath it bought on another contraction so gave up with it as it was only 10 mins before lo was born!!
    My panic was that I wasn't expecting the pressure making me feel like the head was coming out of my backside rather than where I expected it to!!!
    WOuld do it again tomorrow.
    Good luck
  • contractions were the hard part 4 me as i had a real long labour, make sure u make the most of u time as u wont get much when baby here lol, enjoy yrself though its all worth it in the end x
  • i wish i'd known that my usual normal life would be over & that the baby would take over completely, the sooner you realise that you cannot have/do both, the more i relaxed & enjoyed it,.
  • Thanks so much for these replies it's SO useful to hear from ladies who've just done it. I am definitely going to do some nice things for me over the next couple of days.....I keep spending my time cleaning, tidying, and generally doing chores which now feels wrong given your responses!
  • I had my LO 3 weeks ago. I knew I wanted to keep as active as poss during labour but I hadn't thought about what position I wanted to be in when baby was delivered. I ended up kneeling on a cushion & leaning over a birthing ball with hubby sat infront of me holding my hands. I would highly recommend it, I rocked back & forth on the ball as the contractions were building & while they peaked I was able to squeeze the ball (and hubby's fingers!).
    Also I agree with Han21, shouting while pushing helped me to push harder and focused me on the task.

    I was surprised at how well I coped, I'm not a naturally brave person but something just takes over during labour. I couldn't use gas & air cos it made me sick & the 1 shot of Meptid I had didn't really do anything; I never thought I would go through labour with no pain relief but it actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

    Good luck x
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