to not be scared of giving birth but be freaked out...

[OnlyWantsOne]

...by the 6 weeks that follow?

I remember sitting on the loo when DD was about 5 weeks old, she was screaming to be fed, i hurt all over, feeling disgusting and hating my ruined body oozing everywhere with sore bits and being pretty fed up TBH.

So, im 39 weeks, and I have started to dread the next bit... people keep phoning me (WHY do they think that it's ok to do this??) and asking if Ive had the baby yet... and Im dreading going for a wee and it making me cry.

Or that first poo.

Oh... heck

I concur and bow down to amaterasu

Fifth pregnancy here, I had 4 natural births so far and after the last 2 I was up and about with very little discomfort.

I always found the first wee more scary than the poo. It burnssssssssss.

The afterpains I had were really bad with number 3 but I didnt have any with numbers 2 or 4 weirdly.

You'll be fine, the first 6 weeks are a bit of a mare but you get over it. My baby is 6 months and it seems like forever ago that she wasn't here.

innocent smoothies

and lentils

they will make mr hanky come flying out with no trouble at all

gosh i remember the first poo, actually you weren't allowed to leave hospital until you had done one. i lied good job they didn't ask to see it

i was ever so slightly afraid that if i did any more pushing my whole entire insides might just drop out into the loo

but oddly enough they didn't

what are glycerin sipositries?

Eat tons of fruit and veg and drink loads of water: I have a 'laceration' from having DD2 two weeks ago and the water 'dilutes' and it stings a lot less. Fruit and veg deal with the poo issue...

Oh, and do ask the mw for pain relief after you give birth: I did this time and was treated to voltarol. Marvellous stuff that dealt with the soreness (quick labour, bits were taken by surprise!) and afterpains.

Good luck!

Oh god - I'm booking in for CS4 next Friday - and really shitting my pants now (excuse the expression!) about all the aftermath again.
I'm sure it'll be fine - I have DH and family around to help with the other 3 DC's for the first month, but will definitely have to stock up on lactulose/smoothies etc - with DC's 1 & 3, that first poo really felt like I was giving birth, but naturally as opposed to through the sunroof!

I don't know if somebody has mentioned it already and I have managed to miss it (if so, sorry). But I kept a jug by the toilet. When I went for a wee, I used to pour luke warm water over myself and that took away the sting.
(This was a mumsnet tip in the first place)

Aside from that, all the very best.

I had a home birth with my 1st DD (only 6 weeks now). I had a really good experience at home and will definately, if possible, have any more at home, so good luck.

Get some preperation h or other such bum cream in, it really did help. Drink lots of water. I got constipated a few weeks after DD born and going to the toilet felt like giving birth again (sorry if too much info)

Remember: It's the price of that heavenly little poppet, just see it as the DEAL. That's what worked for me. Whenever I was horrified I'd just think but I've got her!

My sis ( a former midwife ) always said to me to remember that at least I'm not having my baby in somewhere with no healthcare and no help if I got ill.

I know the NHS is far from perfect in terms of maternity, FAR from perfect but at least we unlikely to die in childbirth and our babies are very very likely to survive. That all helped me think myself through 2 labours with nought but gas and air!

sorry, i haven't read the whole thread but how do i vote for petelly's comment to be quote of the year!!

10lb of baby doesn't pass by your lady-bits without you noticing

oh and (birth/first 6 weeks of) baby number two was a breeze compared to number one...you'll be fine
i didn't even have g&a this time!

oh and start using anusol straight after birth

Also have loads of comfort food in the freezer, soup soup soup and cake and tea and soup and cake and tea.
no one must c ome without a basket of pastries

baths with tiny bit of lavender oil and some bath salts non fragranced sea salt type.

warm water on your bits and ky with a suppositry if you need it ...helps a lot..

accept all offers of help...be kind to yourself..

you WILL be fine.. feel it in me water.. hugs..

Agree with fruit and water etc to help, and that it is easier 2nd time around. And I found 8lb easier than 6lb something.(I have heard about the third being 'odd' and can confirm no3 was similar birthwise to no1, but afterwards MUCH easier than either 1 or 2)

Vaseline smeared on your bits helps keep the wee off any stingy bits. And I do the leaning forward to wee thing too. I really think the thought of that first poo is worse than the reality.

Good luck, I'm sure it will all be ok.

One thing I have learned after 4 VB.

25% of women having VB would apparently benefit from lady garden work from a consultant, but don't get it. Registrars and midwives do their best on the lady garden repair front, but simply don't have the same levels of surgical skill, so if you have multiple tears etc it's worth making a fuss and getting the top guy to put you back together, even if you have to wait a while for him/her to get around to see you.

FWIW.

BTW OP as people have said, it really does get easier each time. Flip the 'ruined body' thing around in your head and think 'great, let's capitalise on this and make everyone else run around while I do the princess invalid thing for a few weeks'. I got DH making me breakfast in bed for several YEARS on this basis, and he is now so well trained I still get this almost every day as a love offering!!

Regarding wees, just do them in the bath or use a hand shower while you wee, as other people have pointed out. No problemo.

Buy some great leisure wear (lovely term) and have your hair done as soon as you can after the birth so you don't feel so slobby around the house.

It will be fine.

mmm I think multiple fleecy brushed cotton jim jam bottoms are required.

boffinmum I have just fallen off my chair with envy! You lucky woman!

!

He is a love, I have to say.

But I did give him three lovely sons at great personal cost to my lady garden.

It's a fair exchange in my reckoning.

I gave dh a dd and a ds at great cost to my aforementioned unmentionable and I don't get two thirds of my days with b in bed!!!!
I'm prostrate with wonder at him. Did you get him like that or did you train him up from a wild state?

forgive sexism of my last post, it was for comic effect but I would be irritated by it were I a bloke too late now though....

He had been broken in quite well by his mum but I did the final finishing off.

Primark is selling a wondrous array of brushed cotton pyjamas in gay colours and festive patterns. I have just bought some in heeeowge size with little reindeer on. For a fiver. :)

I should say that there are different versions of the breakfast in bed. On a weekday we get up very early and the night before he has got ready the Teasmaid with mugs ready for us both, and a bowl of Special K for me, as well as DS3's formula and a bottle of water for it. That sits in our room overnight and is a very nice start to the day, not least because I have to take my tablets with something and it saves me going downstairs in the cold.

By Saturdays and Sundays I am very exhausted from being a pampered princess, so I get a second breakfast later on after he has had his lie in, of crispbread and proper coffee in a cafetiere. (I should point out that by this time I have been up about 3 hours caring for the DCs while he has a sleep, then I retreat back to bed for a bit).

If I am a very good girl or if he is feeling very sorry for me for some reason, I get the full Monty with a little flower in a vase as well.

It's fab.

but miffster that means I have to go to primark and its cold and im due on wednesday and I dont want to go any where!!