I liked a lot of the ideas I got for our birthday coming up, but I decided that I will put them on hold for now. Since there isn’t much time left, I don’t want to begin a big project (hello, procrastination!). So while I was lying in bed tonight nursing my little one to sleep, I got to thinking about labor, and more specifically: poop. I was newly pregnant with my first when I first heard of such a thing and, well, there was no going back then! (Not that I would have declined motherhood if I had known, but full disclosure would have been nice.)
So what I want from you is to e-mail me (subject line: “MY LIST”) your list of what you wish you had known before becoming pregnant and I will compile the lists and post them here on our birthday along with a review of some of the most stunning entries of the year. Your list can include absolutely anything from body shape changes to emotional changes, from humor to seriousness, from negatives to positives. Let’s prepare the next generation of moms for motherhood!
NOTE: I will not accept any new submissions for the birthday celebrations regarding your lists after Friday night, June 29,2007 (I still need time to put it all together!).
My list-
(I’d e-mail but I don’t use microsoft express)
I wish that someone told me that after a c-section, you are not allowed to drive for a MONTH afterwards. Especially with having my babies in the NICU, it was hell not to be able to hop in the car whenever I felt the need to see them, without having to rely on someone else.
I’ve had two c-sections and was never told to drive afterwards. I think I was out there driving about a week after.
Please send me your email address. When I click the link it comes up with Yahoo Mail but there is no address in the “TO” line, same with when I click the “contact me” link.
Thank you!
I wish I was told about heamorriods ( I know spelling is wrong) I was 18 when I had my daughter and had no Idea what those lumps where attached to my butt. Now I know what they are and 3 kids later I have never had them again.
This is an awesome idea! Can’t wait to see it!
I wish someone had told me I might have to use a catheter–which I did–after delivery because your bladder is so distendended from the baby squashing it that you may not be able to go to the bathroom on your own. Ouch.
I wish I’d known that the more oxytocin is released, the more receptor sites are created, making your body more sensitive to future oxytocin release. Since oxytocin is so important to the birth process, it’s extremely important that the mother be nurtured during pregnancy and invite only things into her life that make her feel good.
I wish I’d known that pushing just because you’re fully dilated can harm the body and hinder the birth, and that it’s ideal to wait for the body to do it autotomically. I would have saved myself suffering and avoided unnecessary risk to the baby.
I wish I’d known how much the hormones open you up during and after the birth (for bonding,) so that I was extremely sensitive to the slightest negative energy in others, which created PPD. I wish I’d known how important privacy is to the normal hormonal (sexual) process of birth. I wish I’d known that my needs for privacy should come before others’ needs to see the birth and baby.