Labor is no joke.
We’ve all heard the stories of the painful contractions, being in labor for 24+ hours, and tearing your area.
But what if there was even more than all that? Things like the shakes, not bonding with your baby right away, and a month-long period following labor.
Turns out, there’s a lot of things moms haven’t been telling us. Here, they finally share all.
How wet everything can get.
This is quite the mental picture. Water breaks — we all know that — but apparently it’s a lot of water.
One Reddit user compared it to a slip-n-slide.
C-sections are not exactly easier than giving birth.
“The first time you get up after a c section is hell. Absolutely hurts so bad and your incision takes weeks to heal if not months. Being awake during your c section and you feel all the tugging and pulling inside you.” – Redditor Olive09
It hurts to pee afterward.
This makes sense, considering you just pushed a baby out of your area!
One Reddit user has a tip for this: “if you lean forward on the toilet, then the pee goes away from the most painful areas.”
You might experience contractions even after giving birth.
“Your uterus continues to contract after delivery to get back down to pre-prego size. It’s pretty painful, worse than menstrual cramps. And breastfeeding really kicks the contractions into high gear.” – Redditor CowCamp
Your downstairs area will look a LOT different.
“Your vagina is going to look like a nightmare after. Don’t look at it or touch it, put ice packs and medicine on it but don’t investigate. I repeat: DO NOT INVESTIGATE. You’ll just keep yourself up at night fretting over what happens if it never goes back to normal.” – Redditor Iristhevirus217
You’ll have a month-long period afterward.
Joy! Part of the fun of pregnancy is not having a period for nine months.
So to learn that you’ll have a month-long period after giving birth is just cruel.
One person said to take your heaviest period and times that by 20.
The shakes after giving birth.
“The shaking after giving birth surprised me! I kept apologizing to everyone who was still working on me or the baby, but they said it was totally normal. I’d never heard of it before!” – Redditor ToastedRawhide
You’ll want to make lots of “padsicles.”
This is essentially a sanitary napkin that you chill in the freezer and place inside your underwear to relieve pain and discomfort.
One Redditor sprayed hers with witch hazel and aloe vera.
You might not have contractions.
“If you have back labour, it’s just ohmygodmyinsideswantokillme extreme pain for several hours, instead of getting a little break between the contractions. That was sure swell to experience.” – Redditor cassanthrax
The smell could be extremely off-putting.
After all your body has been through, it’s pretty understandable that you won’t smell like a rose.
One Redditor said that their nether region smelled like a slaughterhouse. Yikes!
That you’ll be touched down there… a lot.
“Random strangers were going to be feeling me up, from the inside to see how dilated I was. Every couple hours. After a while you stop caring.” – Redditor Buffalocookiebutter
Labour could go extremely quick.
It varies from woman to woman.
While some are in labor for days, others are in and out of the hospital. One Redditor shared that they only had to push twice for their child.
You might tear.
“I tore front to back. Didn’t need reconstructive surgery, but the stitches wouldn’t heal for months because it would reopen every time I pooped. It was 7 years ago and I’ve never looked down there myself but the scar feels like a rope.” – Redditor Spazmer
You might get blood clots.
“I didn’t see the clot shoot out of me since I was focused on my baby on my chest, but I did see my husbands face after it shot out of me. It’s the most horrified I’ve maybe ever seen him. He said it looked like a human heart blasted out of my vagina.” – rebren
Not everyone bonds with their baby right away.
We’ve all seen the picture: the newborn baby is lying on the mother’s chest after she just gave birth.
While the moment looks sweet, it’s not always so emotional for everyone. And that’s okay.
Epidurals can have side effects.
“For me it was intense itching that made me nearly lose my mind. I spent a solid hour begging my partner to scratch my feet, but I couldn’t feel them being scratched.” – Redditor MyStingersAreFicky
Your level of care will go out the window.
You might poop yourself and not care one bit , get used to random strangers checking how dilated you are and absolutely love the stretchy underwear they give.
Let your freak flag fly!
Coccyx injuries are common.
In case you don’t know what this is, it’s your tailbone.
If you are positioned in a way during labor that applies pressure, it could break or pull . “16 months later and my ass STILL hurts,” wrote one Redditor .
You might experience hair loss.
“Sometime in the next six months, you will lose a lot of hair. An incredible amount. Giving birth is like any traumatic event and can trigger hair loss several months down the road. At one point, I spent so much time trying to remove my hair off my baby, it was gross.” – Redditor deleted
You could receive incredibly uncomfortable compliments.
According to Redditor P8II, certain doctors tend to light up when they see a good placenta . Don’t be surprised if you’re commended on an area of your body that even you have never seen before.
Their may be blood when you’re water breaks.
In a since-deleted comment, this Reddit user said that when her water broke — only blood came out. She was utterly terrified until she got to the hospital and the staff assured her that this was perfectly normal.
Your breasts will more than likely leak.
“I had a really hard time breast feeding[sic] but even so my breasts leaked milk like… well, a water fountain for about a week. Also, breastfeeding was harder than my Masters[sic] degree.” – Reddit u/Nylonknot
It’s very likely that you will vomit.
This is precisely what happened while Redditor leasuar was giving birth and she was completely caught off guard. To make matters even worse, she explains in her post that she has a debilitating phobia of throwing up.
Pay no attention to the man (or woman) behind the curtain.
Attention fathers; this one is for you. If the mother of your child has a scheduled C-section and she’s chosen you to be in the room with her, whatever you do — don’t look over the curtain.
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Post-partum depression is a real thing that affects more women than you realize.
“I had known about PPD and the “baby blues”, but it was honestly sickening to me how sad I was after getting home from the hospital,” said Redditor Kiwigirl80 . “I had wanted a baby for so long, finally had him and then just hated it.”
Diapers aren’t just for your baby.
Reddit user Spazmer says that the best piece of advice she ever received was to wear an adult diaper after birth. This will allow you to move more freely and comfortably around the house — especially in those first few weeks.
The first shower after giving birth will be the best one of your life — enjoy it.
“THAT SHOWER! That first glorious shower… you’re filthy, sweaty, covered in body fluids. You’re marinating in hormones that make you feel rapturous. That SHOWER! So amazing.” – Reddit u/gosglings
