Child Birth

In a lot of ways labour and delivery was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. After going to the child birthing class I was terrified. They explained how child birth didn't happen the way it does in movies and how only 1 in 10 women have their water break before contractions start. Guess what. I'm one in 10. I even called Health Link to see if I needed to go to the hospital because when my water broke in the middle of the night I wasn't sure that's what it was. I knew ahead of time that I wanted an epidural and I must say it is the best thing ever invented. Sure, people can brag about having a natural birth, but all that means is you're crazy because in the end we all end up pushing out a baby.

Once the contractions really started to get serious I was shaking and vomiting. The epidural was the only thing that got me through. After that, I had a nap, texted family and just took in the whole experience.
Now here's the myth busting part. The epidural doesn't just numb you from the waist down. My whole left side was numb from the shoulder down. Also, you can still move your legs and feet, I just couldn't hold up my knees. Oh, and the ring of fire you may have heard about, completely true... even with an epidural! I didn't feel a thing until the very end. Then there was some swearing...

I was lucky as the whole thing was over in about 9 hours and the majority of the time I felt fine. What I wasn't prepared for was the recovery afterwards. They always talk about recovery from a c-section but not a vaginal birth. I couldn't sit down properly for at least a week. It hurt to sit, stand, lie down, get up, walk... and it took about 6 weeks for it all to really go away. The best thing ever, frozen pads. No, really. Put some water in the centre of a maxi pad and put it in the freezer. This also works with breast pads (which we will get to later). You will not only be sore but incredibly swollen. Frozen pads are relief.

And here's a little nugget no one tells you about... the bleeding! So, you haven't had your period for 9 months? Guess what, you are going to have 9 months worth of bleeding for 3-6 weeks!!!!! I was lucky it only lasted 3 weeks, but if you are pregnant you need to go to Costco and buy bulk granny pads. We're talking super long, super thick, super absorbant, heavy duty, overnight with wings and anything else they have. You will use them from delivery until, well, 3-6 weeks.