the nurses want you to have a birth plan
You should have a sheet of paper with a general summary of how you want your labor experience to go. It should include things like your expectations for pain management, who you want in the delivery room and if you want the nurses to save the placenta. Write down these things as you think about them throughout pregnancy: Do you want to vaccinate your baby? Circumcised? Do you want dad to cut the umbilical cord? And so
Your delivery probably will not go according to plan
It's frustrating, I know! It's perfectly fine to say, "I really need something for the pain." Two years ago I had a patient who came with a 10-page birth plan. She wanted to have a natural birth, without medication, lying on a specific pile of pillows,so she asked her husband to cut the umbilical cord. It turned out that when the water source broke, her husband slipped in the liquid, hit his head and became unconscious. He was rushed to the emergency room for the head injury just when the baby was born, so he missed all the delivery and could not cut the baby's cord. Sometimes, things just do not go according to plan, but you do not have time to worry about it.
When your water breaks, it's not like in the movies
Some women experience a large jet, but for others, it is a very small leak. You might think, "Did my water break or did I just put on?" Either way, it does not stop after it is broken initially. It will continue as if you were urinating slowly during labor. As the baby pushes down, the amniotic fluid that surrounds your baby continues to leak until your baby is born, at which time there is usually a large stream behind the baby.
Breastfeeding is not always intuitive. We have some babies that turn on right away, and other babies that need a little extra help. It is not as natural as you would expect. I always tell mothers: "You are learning to breastfeed, but also your baby!" It's new for both of you. All nurses are trained to help breastfeeding mothers, and most hospitals have lactation specialists who can be coaches through breastfeeding.
Your milk will not "enter" until a few days after birth
The first milk you produce, right after delivery, is called "colostrum." It is high quality material and low quantity with all the necessary immunities to protect your newborn baby. Sometimes, mothers get anxious not to produce enough milk immediately, but your baby had many nutrients in the uterus, so you do not need much after delivery. Approximately two or three days later, in general, you have already left the hospital, you are likely to experience congestion in your breasts. That's when you'll start producing larger amounts of milk
You will still look pregnant right after you give birth
Do not bring your tight jeans with you to the hospital, because when you leave, you'll see almost the same as when you got there. Your stomach is like an empty shell after delivery: of course, the baby is gone, but your uterus is still up in your abdomen and your blood volume is still higher than before pregnancy. The body takes at least six weeks to return to its pre-pregnancy state. During that time, your uterus shrinks in size and descends back to the pelvis; You lose weight and your abdominals recover muscle tone. and your blood volume, which increases by 40 or 50 percent during pregnancy to support the baby, returns to normal.
You and your baby will go home in diapers
During those first two or three days in the hospital, your postpartum bleeding and discharge will be very intense. Your nurses will give you peripads large enough to absorb all the bleeding. Your uterus is trying to get back into shape, so it is compressing all kinds of open blood vessels. By the time you return home, it will be much lighter and you will be able to use regular size pads. It is normal for small blood clots to form, but if you see blood clots larger than a golf ball or if you are soaking a pad every hour for more than two hours, you should call a doctor. Some mothers continue to be discharged for three weeks after delivery; other moms, up to six weeks. Buffers are not an option, since your vaginal area is quite sensitive after birth, so you'll have to use pads until it stops.
Do not be afraid to ask for help once you're home
Giving birth is an incredible job, exhausting and hard. Your body has just been transformed for nine months; now, in the course of six weeks, it will be transformed again into a non-pregnant state. You should try to rest for that to happen, even if that seems impossible with a new baby in the house. We tell new moms to sleep when the baby sleeps, avoid strenuous exercise, and get help from their partner or family so they do not have to do anything but concentrate on their recovery and their new baby. If you try too hard, even if you just put the dishes in the dishwasher, you may notice more intense vaginal bleeding, and that is your body that says, "You are doing too much, sit down and rest."