Birth - what didn't you know about that you think someone should have mentioned?

[i-need-a-martini]

I read this interesting article about this woman who is complaining about the things never told to her about her natural delivery. http://www.dailylife.com.au/life-and-love/the-unspoken-consequences-of-natural-birth-20131029-2wdca....

I think it is quite interesting because the lack of information that abounds about 'natural' births as opposed to c-sections is astounding. Yes there is lots and lots about what will happen at the birth but it's like the rest is secret womens business that can't be mentioned. Or if it is mentioned it is mentioned in such a fake positive way that it should be laughable.

A good example is a pamphlet I got given about taking care of my stitches. The pamphlet suggested that the cut will heal best if exposed to air and asunshaine. Really? Do I 'expose' myself in the backyard?

And on the other hand, the horror stories about c-sections are so exaggerated it is incredible.

A little balance would be nice.

And real information would be even better.

What weirdness did you not expect after you gave birth?

[crystal**flake]

I loved my c section, I was so worried about it for weeks when I was told I had to have one and on the day I wanted to be knocked out but hubby said I would prolly regret it and you know what...................I would have.  I loved every moment of it.

[azureline**]

I didn't expect complete strangers to be lifting the hem of my nightie for a peek, nor checking my breasts so often.

I also didn't expect them to give me the wrong baby to feed and insist I was wrong when I told them! The rest I kind of expected.

[i-need-a-martini]

I am the same as you Crystal. I had heard and read so many horror stories (so much pain, not being able to life the baby, not being able to walk etc) that I expected the worse.

What I didn't expect is that I would fare 10 times better than women in the same ward who had given birth naturally.

Mind you, what I hadn't expected at my first c-section was the sound of my flesh being sliced. Sounded like the noise scissors make as they cut through fabric.

[crystal**flake]

LOL,  Martini I remember big time the splash of my waters.

[twinkles**stars]

I didn't expect such a quick and easy delivery.....it was suposed to be a text book birth. By thr 3rd I thought I knew it all....nope shs was nsarly a kitchen floor birth.

[crystal**flake]

I've heard every birth is different as that little one is a different little soul.

[cherry*135]

I missed the last 2 weeks of  ante-natal class, because the baby didn't wait until then. I think it would have been good to get to the end of those classes before the baby was born.

[cq_tech]

I was born via C-section in 1949 and for years afterwards I swore I could remember that the first thing I saw was a man wearing large horn-rimmed glasses, but dismissed it as a bad recurring dream, until at about the age of 9 or 10 I asked my mother to describe the doctor who had delivered me, and he was wearing horn-rimmed glasses at the time.

Even though I remember absolutely nothing else of the first several months of my childhood, I still often wonder if what I saw was real, or simply imagined (although the general consensus is the latter).