I learned about the squatting bar at my birth class too, and I was really thankful I did. I ended up asking for it and using it. I think it really helped keep my pushing time shorter.
+1 to how prepared DH feels now, and how that translates to me feeling even better.
The 5-1-1 rule with contractions. We were told, in general, to we can labor at home until contractions are five minutes apart and last one minutes for about an hour. The exception is if your contractions started out spaced apart and got closer and closer together super fast.
Also, to walk around and use gravity. Lean slightly forward against the wall occasionally so baby faces the right direction to prevent back labor. And just the whole fact that back labor is caused by the baby facing your stomach, so the back of it's head is pressed against your back.
Oh yeah the other big one was starting now to spend as much time as possible on a birth ball, hands and knees, walking, whatever you can do to get your belly hanging forward to let gravity help baby spin in to position. Sitting comfy reclining is thought to be the reason behind rising numbers of babies with the back against our spines. Babies head is heaviest so that helps them assume the downward position. Their backs are the next heaviest part so if we spend a lot of time sitting and reclining gravity has baby's back spun toward our back instead of at the front of our bellies. Make your belly a hammock for baby.
I think the biggest thing I took away from ours was:
-once you get to the hospital, you get no food until the baby is out of your body.
So... this pregnant lady will be doing some major snacking between contractions at the house, otherwise some poor, unsuspecting L&D nurse is probably going to get her face bitten off by an extremely hangry laboring psycho.
The other things I got out of the class were the hospital specific policies. Like:
-you can't leave your room to walk once your water breaks, you can walk around your room though -all the pain meds (besides local/epidural) that you'll receive are opiates/synthetic opiates. So I won't be taking those even as a last resort because they totally fuck up my brain. -they only do "traditional" labor position, so you'll definitely be on your back for delivery
Reading this makes me appreciate how different hospitals can be. We're allowed to eat, encouraged to walk around, and can labor in any position we want and the nurses will often suggest some different ones for you if it's not working.
I think the biggest thing I took away from ours was:
-once you get to the hospital, you get no food until the baby is out of your body.
So... this pregnant lady will be doing some major snacking between contractions at the house, otherwise some poor, unsuspecting L&D nurse is probably going to get her face bitten off by an extremely hangry laboring psycho.
The other things I got out of the class were the hospital specific policies. Like:
-you can't leave your room to walk once your water breaks, you can walk around your room though -all the pain meds (besides local/epidural) that you'll receive are opiates/synthetic opiates. So I won't be taking those even as a last resort because they totally fuck up my brain. -they only do "traditional" labor position, so you'll definitely be on your back for delivery
Agreed @bubbs119 . I no likey your hospital @kej0004 . Not that I *wanted* to eat in labor, but I could have... and I delivered DD on my hands and knees there was 0 chance I could have stayed in the prone position for that.
The best thing I took away from our class was the realization for DH what labor looks like (he says he honestly thought it was like the 80s movies) and seeing the L&D ward and meeting some of the nurses. I had it in my head that they would all be very clinical and "You're a new mom, who knows nothing" which a) is ridiculous - and I knew that logically before - because they're all really sweet and nice! b) are going to be super helpful c) my mother (an RN) and my L&D nurse friends would be rather pissed that I thought that at all
On the forceps front - our hospital doesn't use them often, which I found out after going to L&D for monitoring). The nurse was asking the usual "Are you in a safe relationship" questions and I answered yes. She said "Ok, but I'm noticing this red mark on your cheek..." I have a few burst capillaries on my cheek from when the forceps were used when I was delivered - as I got old, the red mark stayed the same size and is now a little mark on my cheek bone. If I'm really mad, or pale it stands out like a beacon - or pregnant, it's gotten brighter in pregnancy - and she thought it was a mark from being hit. I had to explain I've had it my whole life and it's nothing. My nurse was shocked that they had used them at all. She wanted all the details about why they used them (I had no idea.. I wasn't really there at the time and that was 31 years ago lady!!). My mom and I had a good laugh about it later - and she explained why they used them (I was in distress, and my mom wanted them to try before a c section - I was stuck halfway down).
Many of these things were also said in my class. I'm jealous of those of you who had your L&D tour at the same time. Ours is separate and they only do it on weeknights. I'm too damn tired to do my tour and wonder if I really *need* to do it.
My nurse told us the only things we'll absolutely need during labor are hair-ties and chapstick. You'll want your hair out of your face/off your neck and your lips crack from all the breathing.
So, I added them to my registry. Because you can never have too many hair-ties.
Also, that once you have the epidural you're done walking around. You're stuck in the bed. I'm a wiggly person so I'm now planning to hold off as long as possible. And that the epidural can slow the labor process. Again, I'll hold off as long as possible.
I learned how amazing one hour of skin to skin is for baby. If you have an uncomplicated, vaginal birth, the nurses and doctors hold off on taking measurements and the other medical things until after one hour of skin to skin. Even if you have a c- section, you get one hour of skin to skin after the cord is cut (which they delay too). During the hospital tour, the nurse said that some moms start breast feeding while their c- section is finishing up. The hospital has instituted a whole "baby friendly" policy. The baby also sleeps in your room, not a nursery. This was learned during our labor and delivery tour.
Like others, I learned that the longest part of labor is at home. So, bounce on that ball,take a shower and go for a walk.
-forceps are gigantic frightening clinky salad tongs (I pictured them much smaller) -pooping while pushing is a good thing for the care providers to see because it means you're pushing correctly -amniotic fluid can be hilarious. Instructor was a doula for 17 years and had one labor where right after the baby came out a HUGE gush of fluid shot out and hit the new dad in the shoulder. She did a fun slo-mo Matrix move reenactment.
Well this is reassuring! Because I definitely remember shitting with DS! I was so mortified, even though I knew at the time it was totally normal (but didn't know it was actually a good thing!)!
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