Near the last end of your pregnancy, your physician or midwife will probably have ‘the talk’ with you about what to expect during labor and delivery. Make sure you are prepared for the talk by having a list of your most concerning questions handy. That talk is the time to get rid of any lingering anxieties you are suffering from. Believe me, shaking off those anxieties will definitely make the process of labor and delivery a much less stressful one. And as people tend to say about these things (because it’s true) the less stress and anxiety you have, the physically easier your L & D process will be.
3 Elements of Labor and Delivery that You Should Mentally Prepare For
Even if you ask every imaginable question, you’ll always face the possibility that not all labor and deliveries go as planned. However, mental preparation for the possibilities is half the battle.
Come Back When You’re Really Ready!
You might be in the labor process for days… weeks. What? So, your baby is due in three days and your contractions started hours ago and they feel pretty strong and it already feels like.. a little bit… like you’re kind of sitting on your baby’s head. Don’t worry! You’re not, exactly. But you’re not exactly near to being out of the laboring woods, either. This phase of labor can last for days, weeks, in some wild cases, a month. Just be prepared for being told to ‘just go home’ and come back when you’re really having a baby! Make sure to ask for the signs you should watch out for, but in general, the loss of your mucus plug or your water breaking are good symptoms to look for to know it’s definitely time to head back to the hospital or to call the midwife.. again.
I Can’t Take One More Minute!
Whether in the labor or delivery process, exhaustion is a real thing. It’s not uncommon to see laboring women shaking all over with sheer exhaustion. What makes it worse is that aside from ice chips, you can’t really have any replenishing nutrition that you desperately need in those moments. Luckily, your body is a baby delivering machine and even when you think you don’t have one more push in you, you will. You’ll also hopefully have a helpful partner or two to help you physically ball up so that the pushing is the only task for you. You’re not totally helpless in this, either. See all of the older grandmothers, and mothers hovering around in your last days of pregnancy, telling you to ‘eat! you need to keep up your energy!’ Well, listen to them, they know what they’re talking about. Having a healthy diet pre-labor and delivery absolutely will help. Once the delivery process itself begins, you won’t be eating again until your baby is born.
Major Changes in Plans
So this birth was supposed to be a VBAC? But during the labor process the doctors, nurses or midwives determine that it looks like the safest route for mother and baby will be another cesarean. Don’t sweat it. Don’t get upset or unnerved. Try to go with the flow of your labor and delivery process for what and how it is. An unpredictable series of fortunate or unfortunate events that will bring your baby to your arms. Nothing more. Nothing less.
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