The not so beautiful side of childbirth

It seems like a new baby is born or a pregnancy is announced almost everyday on my facebook.  It takes me back to what childbirth was like with Daniel.  I was thinking about this as I was nursing him this morning.  There are a few things that I wish I had known before childbirth.  It wouldn't have changed my mind about getting pregnant, but at least it might have prepared me a little more for it.
I know I have moms that read this that have many more kids than me.  I'm not an expert like you, but I do have my 2 cents.  If anyone wants to add stuff to the comments, feel free!

Some things I wish I would have known:

I knew I wouldn't be able to eat once I was admitted, but I wish I would have eaten more before I was admitted to the hospital.

All the classes couldn't have prepared me for how painful the contractions were, they took my breath away.

Some babies don't latch right away.  This was a sensitive thing for me.  With the exhaustion of childbirth then to have Daniel struggling to latch, it made me very emotional.  Luckily my mom was there to see that I was struggling, she went through the same thing and knew that a nipple shield would help.  He latched on to that great.  The 2 months I had to use that were frustrating but at least he was getting my milk.

Hospital beds are not made for tall people.  I was basically sitting Indian style the first night because the bed was too short for me to extend my legs.  Luckily the next day the nurses found a bed extension, but I was SO uncomfortable.

Make sure the nurses give you a donut to sit on in the hospital bed (if you have a vaginal birth).  I didn't have one and I could not find a comfortable position after they took me into recovery.  I maybe got 1 hour of sleep after Daniel was born.  Once my mom again saved me and told them to get me one, it was so much better.  I could actually relax a little.  It was so painful down there without it!

I had absolutely no appetite after they took me to recovery.  They brought me a turkey sandwich but I could only force feed myself to eat about a quarter of it.

Nurses come in A LOT.  Almost every hour to push on your stomach, check your temp, and check on baby.  You do not get a lot of rest.

Breastfeeding contractions.  I've heard its worse after the second or more child.  Because breastfeeding naturally releases hormones that contract your uterus back to its normal non-pregnant size, you can feel it (if you're not hopped up on pain meds).  I definitely felt it.  It was like a period cramp.  I had heard about it ahead of time so I would try to tell myself that its just my body doing what it is supposed to to get me back to my pre-pregnant state.

Finally able to get some rest after the bed extension, donut, and pain meds kicked in.

Hemorrhoids!!  This was so painful.  Childbirth constipated me and on top of that my medication was known to make you constipated.  All the stool softeners in the world could not have made my first bowel movement any less traumatic.  It was like going through childbirth again.  I was screaming and crying the whole time.  It took a few days after that first one to get me normal again, but the hemi's would not go away.  They would come and go for about 6 months.  I could not sit down after going to the bathroom because it hurt so bad.  I had to lay on my side until the pain subsided enough to be able to sit down.  This made breastfeeding so painful.  Not only was I in pain from sitting, but I was in pain from Daniel's latch.  If there is one thing I try to warn new mothers about its hemi's.  Its an uncomfortable subject but I feel like if I was a little more mentally prepared for it I wouldn't have been quite so traumatized.


Some glimmers of light during a rough childbirth/recovery:

Root beer flavored ice chips
Cupcakes
The first shower... oh my that was like heaven!
Witch Hazel... saved my sanity from the pain of stitches and stretching down there
Ice packs... also for down there
Graham crackers

Next time if we can afford it I would love to go to a hospital that gives out mani/pedis to new moms.  I would have loved a little pampering during the rough recovery.

I wouldn't trade Daniel for the world, but I guess you can never be fully prepared for childbirth since you never really know how its going to go.  I hope this helps some women out there prepare and some men prepare to have lots of sympathy.

8 months

I guess I should write this before he turns 9 months

Updates:

Sleeping

He is getting more consistent at sleeping 9 hours before waking up for a feeding.  Its nice to start feeling more like myself since he is sleeping better.  There was one week that he would wake up after 5 hours and just scream so I would bring him in with me and get him to sleep a little better.  We think it was because he was backed up because once he got regular again his sleep got better.  He is now starting to push 10 hours before waking up to nurse, then goes back down again for another 2 hours.
We had to drop the crib mattress because he stood up and was leaning over way too far for comfort.  I was worried because he wakes up when I put him down even at the high setting, but for the 2 nights it has been down he has slept great!
He sleeps with his bum up in the air, its so cute!
Naps we are still working on.  They are getting more normal which is nice for planning purposes, but he is still not very good at taking them in his crib and the standing up issue is not helping at all.

Eating

This kid eats A TON.  He still nurses every three hours and on top of that has 2-3 good meals during the day.  He gets his own breakfast then likes to share my scrambled eggs.  He will snack on puffs or cheerios all day.  At dinner he eats about 11oz of baby food.  Its a veggie, applesauce, and a meat all mixed together.  So 3 different bottles of baby food and he chows down.  Its gone so fast!

He loves his new high chair

Play

Crawling!  Getting into everything!  Lots of talking!  Man, this kid has had so much personality come out.  We took some of his toys to storage because he was growing out of them.  I think we're due to take more down.  He pretty much just plays with the jumperoo, doorway jumper, and whatever he can find on the floor.

I don't know why but the bathroom is his favorite place to crawl to.  I guess its because when we're not out in the living room with him its because we can usually be found in the bathroom.  He loves to come in and sneak up on me in the shower (with David's supervision).  He is currently crawling into the bathroom as I type this to go see daddy.

Holidays

So much fun!  My mom took such good care of us, it was awesome.  She got the room we stayed in hooked up and even got a glider to go with the crib for the room that Daniel was in.  It was nice to not have an interruption in schedule which a vacation usually brings with a baby.  She would even go in when he was waking up in the morning and take him to go play to give me some extra sleep.  Amazing!  They had so much fun together.  She hadn't seen him in 5 months so they both needed the time to get reacquainted.  By the end of the trip they were best buds.

Flying out... he did so well!  Flirted up a storm with all the ladies around us

Their favorite game

 Sorry for the weak of stomach but we still have to give him prunes to keep him regular.  Well, they were really working one of the days.  Gross.  David doesn't know the trick with onsies to take it off going down instead of over the head so he got poop in his hair.

 This kid loves dogs!  He loves it when they lick him, he loves to grab their soft ears, its so fun to watch.  He did this with two different dogs while we were there.

 We got to meet up with a teammate of mine and her cute little guy.  He is 6 weeks younger than Daniel.  They were so cute with each other.

 Christmas Day!!
He was having so much fun ripping off the paper.  He could have been happy with just the wrapping paper.  He got a bunch of new bath toys which we have really been enjoying.

I love Christmas THIS much!

My sweet boys together

Handsome

He loved playing in this, we would fill it with toys and he could keep himself entertained.

Our room at my parents house had a mirror on the closet doors.  Since the only mirror in our apartment is in the bathroom he doesn't get a lot of time to check himself out.  The first time we set him in front of it this happened.

Vacation was awesome, it was really difficult to leave.  We've been having lots of fun here too though.

Here are some other fun photos.

teeth!

No more photos mom!

Kisses with mama

Saying happy birthday to nana