Pregnancy tip for mommas

Pregnancy & Postpartum
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My pregnancy tip is to prepare your body for labor as much as you can. I didn’t.

I got a maternity ball and bounced on it to help turn my baby head down, but that was about the extent of my preparation. I really didn’t understand how to prepare my body or how important it was.

If I could go back and tell my pregnant self to do a few things, it would have made a world of difference. I just didn’t know.

There are stretches you can do, perineal massages, different lunges, exercises on a maternity ball, breathing exercises, and learning how to actually push during labor. Nobody explained any of that to me.

The doctor came in, told me my baby’s heart rate was dropping, and said I needed to push. So I pushed as fast and as hard as I possibly could. That led to three severe tears and a very long recovery. I was still having pain in my vaginal area nine months after giving birth.

Part of that was because I hadn’t prepared my body, but part of it was also because I pushed so aggressively. Instead of counting to 10, we counted to 15 seconds each time, and I pushed incredibly hard with very little rest in between.

After doing more research, I learned that pushing as hard and as fast as possible isn’t always the best approach. If I had slowed down and focused on controlled, intentional pushes, it might have taken just a little longer for my daughter to be born, but I also might not have put my body through so much trauma.

Overall tip: Prepare your body for labor ahead of time and learn proper pushing techniques so you can work with your body, not against it, during delivery.

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Oh my goodness mama that sounds so painful!

I couldn’t agree more with you, although I didn’t tear- but with my 3rd I was so eager to meet my little on I pushed as hard as a I could and fast too- my baby had bruising for the first 2 weeks of his life :cry:

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This is such a precious picture! You are absolutely glowing! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

I’m sorry you went through so much pain from pushing to aggressively. This is another one of those situations where our doctors could be providing us with the information we need to know to be successful. It’s so frustrating how unprepared a lot of us are as first time mothers, and how much of that could have been avoided with a simple information packet or website that our doctors could be providing for us.

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Oh my goodness I bet that was scary!!! yes I tore in three spots. One was right where you pee so literally every time I peed. I was in excruciating pain and that lasted for a good six months.

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15 second is crazy! I feel like I was going maybe 8 seconds? Definitely not longer that 10. I didn’t know what a perineal massage was till i was close to pushing and my nurse was doing the massage for me with mineral oil and hot wash clothes. It felt uncomfortable, but definitely a fair trade off for a short recovery. How are you feeling now post partum?

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I absolutely agree!!! get anything you can to prepare for labor it will truly help when the time comes !!! I wish I had prepared more! I wish I had done more pelvic strength exercises woooooffff

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Yes…when she came out, I was excited. Then hindsight, I’m like… guys (dr and husband) you really didn’t do good by me. My pelvic floor is so bad. I’ve been going for 8 months now and “down there” is not the same because of the adhesions and then them being cut. I’m sad about. I wish I knew to prep or even if my dr would have done something the day of like yours or even had me go a smidge slower. Now that understand things, it makes complete since that my body split in places. Thank you for asking. I really appreciate it. It’s so great to meet you.

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It’s nice to meet you too! And I hope it gets better. For the first 2 weeks pp I kept wetting my pants if I tried to hold it like normal. I was committed to adult diapers for about a month or two because post partum underwear weren’t absorbent enough and I hadn’t learned to run to the bathroom the second I had to go. There’s a lot people don’t talk about post partum, so I’m grateful you shared your experience. Just wanted to make sure you’re alright and heard. Everyone will always ask about baby, but mama you’re important too!

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Drs should really do better at preparing us

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I couldn’t agree more

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Oh my goodness- it is so refreshing to hear from you. You are right, no one talks about this side. And then it makes me think, so is there something wrong with me?!! I really appreciate you sharing.

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You’re completely normal. :heart: Everyone has a different birth and postpartum experience. Growing up my mom talking about her episiotomies made the very idea of birth scare me for the longest time. Shoot, I was scared I was going to poop in front of an audience when I was pushing. Haha

We live and we learn. I don’t know the extent of your injuries and how you live day to day, but it might be worth looking into physical therapy or asking your ob what the best options are to help with discomfort? If insurance covers it, it’s worth a try?

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Thank you!! Haha. I might be your mom to my kids :rofl::rofl:

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