It's funny how things work. Women have been having babies since the beginning of time, you would think by now they would start being honest about it! Let me explain what I mean. When you become pregnant and perhaps even before, most women who have already had babies will tell their war story to you. Morning sickness, cravings, back pain, just plain uncomfortable. Then you go into the labour stories..20 hours of labour, 2 hours of pushing! Sounds horrendous and for the most part it is! After all these stories though, they usually end it with, "it's not so bad"..
I am here to tell you, "it is that bad!"..lol
I have only had 1 child so far and let me tell you, there are holes in their stories that I am pretty sure they leave out as to not scare you. For example:
1) Once you get into your third trimester the doctor will do a test for staph b. I was not aware of this until right before he did it. I was laying there getting a routine pelvic exam to check on baby. Just when I think he is done he adds in the tidbit "just have to do a staph b test. It's uncomfortable but necessary" and proceeds to put a swab up your rectum. It was probably a good thing that I didn't know it was coming because I would of worried about it. Either way, its uncomfortable and you feel slightly violated at the same time.
2) Once in labour you feel like a road side attraction right from the get go. Seems like once you're in labour everyone gets to take a look at what's happening down there. It doesn't get any better once you have the baby either. I had a C-section so I was in the hospital for 3 days after. Every morning there was a team of people in my room whether I was decent or not. Nurses and Doctors want to see what you're doing when you're breastfeeding, lab is here to take a blood test, another guy is here to look at the baby. By the time I left I am pretty sure the whole maternity floor staff had seen my boobs.
3) That brings me to the next thing they fail to mention. Everyone goes on and on about how breastfeeding is such a beautiful and natural thing. In theory, yes, you are bonding with your baby and providing them nourishment. Unfortunately, it hurts like hell and that's before you've done it for a while and your nipples become chapped, or worse!
I personally never produced much milk, and was supplementing from the start. Try as I might it never got any better and after 4 weeks just switched her completely to formula. You would think this is where the pain ends. Nope! Even though I never produced much, when your boobs become what they call "engorged" it is terribly uncomfortable. For about 4 days after stopping the breastfeeding your boobs hurt and there is nothing you can really do about it!
4) Near the end of your pregnancy you can't wait until your body goes back to normal. You will be able to tie your own shoes, sleep comfortably, the perks are endless. Which is true, you are able to do all those things once you've had the baby. They just fail to mention that your stomach will be like a bowl of Jell-O that you carry around and almost have to shift around when you sit. I'm sure it depends on how much weight you put on while pregnant. I, myself put on 30 lbs, which is in the recommended range. I guess it's because your skin was stretched out and now you have too much of it. It was quite bothersome to me and wanted it gone ASAP. I'm at 10 weeks now and its still there a little bit but a lot better then it was. I recommend Palmers Firming Butter https://www.palmers.com/en/cocoa-butter-formula/27-firming-butter.html which can be found in Walmart for around $7.00. As well, once I hit my 6 week mark after the C-section I have been doing some exercises to help. I found the website http://www.fitpregnancy.com/exercise/postnatal-workouts/5-exercises-your-post-baby-belly and try to do some of them while my baby plays on her play mat.
4) They say that you will love your hair while pregnant. It's true, my hair has never been more healthy! Once again, they fail to mention that after baby you lose it. I'm not talking you no longer will have that great shine. You literally lose clumps of hair at a time about 6-8 weeks after you have the baby. It's disturbing! It is normal though, don't freak out and think there is something wrong. For some reason while pregnant your body holds onto hair rather than sheds it. This is your body letting all that extra hair go. My suggestion is to definitely buy a drain filter or be prepared to have your shower/bath drain plugged over and over again.
This is my insight to the dark side of pregnancy, not to deter you from having a baby but to make you more aware of what's to come. Take from it what you will.
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