Things I wished someone had told me before I gave birth...

That it would hurt to go to the toilet after birthing and tearing. 
I had an epidural for my first birth, but the catheter came out during the last stages of labour, and they didn't bother putting it back in. Soo...once the numbness in my lower half wore off, I began to be aware of the need to go to the bathroom and quickly!! I was much too shy to ask the nurses for help to get there, so I half limped/half dragged myself to the toilets. I tell ya...I almost hit the roof with the pain of passing urine. I had no idea what was wrong, just that it hurt REAL bad, and I decided then and there to just hold on. And so I did. For at least a day. I didn't drink any water because I knew that it would make me need to go more, and I didn't want to go because the pain was worse than labour! Ohhh I am laughing now at my naivety, but back then it was no laughing matter. ;-) It caused me weeks of pain! Finally, after about 2 weeks of almost passing out everytime I had to go to the toilet (because, ya see... my urine was terribly concentrated because I wouldn't drink. The trick is to drink LOTS so that it dilutes, and therefore doesn't sting as much), I caught onto the tricks of the trade, and was a right as rain within a couple of days. I wish someone had told me!!

What "milk coming in" really means.
When my body produces milk, it produces it in abundance. Like, I could single-handedly keep a dairy farm in business. On my second night in the hospital, I woke up completely drenched. My sheets were drenched, I was soaking wet, and I had NO idea what had happened. I remember feeling completely embarrassed and ashamed of myself. Jimmy was very fussy that night (and no small wonder! But I had no idea why...) so I took him to the nurses, to see if maybe bathing him would help. (We weren't allowed to bath our babies by ourselves, until they had shown us "how". Infaaact, they even had "bathing babies" sessions during the day!!) She asked me at some point if my milk had come in yet. I went all red (still not sure why I was so embarrassed about it!) and showed her the front of my gown. She merely clicked her tongue, and sent me back to bed. She kept Jimmy with her for a few hours, so I could catch some shut eye. There was no educating me, no helping me, no showing me what in the world a breast pad was, no helping me get some dry clothes, or dry sheets. I went back to the cold and damp bed, and slept restlessly. I ended up walking Jimmy up and down the hallways, after she couldn't get him to settle either. Poor baby just had a sore tummy. :-( It took me quite a few days to figure out how to manage this milk business. I wish someone had told me.

That it's ok to breastfeed and be pregnant at the same time.
When I got pregnant with Olivia, Jimmy was just 5 months old. We'd gotten over the first few rough days of nursing, and had established a wonderful relationship together. He loved breastfeeding, and I loved feeding him. But, with the well-meaning advice (and it was well-meaning! It just wasn't right...) of friends and family, I was told that my body just couldn't cope with both feeding and pregnancy. So I (still not confident enough in my Mummyness to know that I was doing the right thing) force weaned the little fella. He screamed and screamed for days. It breaks my heart to think about it!! My little sister came to stay with us, and tried to help. We thought it was a great plan to get HER to feed him during the nights with a bottle, and that way he wouldn't smell the milk and just want me. (How ridiculous is that!!). So, after having 5 months of me attending his needs and the comfort of my milk, he was thrust into a new routine of someone else coming to him in the dark of the night and trying to shove this plastic THING into his mouth. He cried and cried, and I cried and cried. It was awful!! I wish I had kept nourishing him from my own body, instead of putting formula into his little body. I missed those close breastfeeding times, and have regretted that decision often. It is possible to breastfeed and be pregnant, and quite frankly... God designed our bodies to be able to cope with it. Infact, I wouldn't be surprised if it was good for the pregnancy! It took about 3 days (or was it 5?? It felt like eternity!!) before he would feed from a bottle. There's a part of me that still aches about that decision, and I wish someone had told me.

That it's GOOD to pick up your baby and just snuggle them and breathe in their sweetness.
Need I say more? Their baby moments are fleeting, and a hug never hurt no-one. I wish someone had told me.

...And I could probably go on forever about this, but the night is getting late and the battery on the lap-top is getting low. :-) I hope I haven't offended anyone with my posts. My intention is not to offend. In a way, it's a cleansing path that I feel I need to take with this pregnancy... I need to say it, and then let go of the baggage that's been weighing me down. And then again, I hope that something I say can be either a help or a warning to other young mums, who may also not have someone around to tell them the nitty-gritties about birth. Next post should be about Livvy's birth, all going well. ;-)