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58 Things About Giving Birth And New Motherhood That Nobody Seems To Talk About
It’s impossible to know exactly how being a parent feels until you become one. Everyone in your life will give you countless pieces of advice (some of which you will definitely want to ignore), but it’s ultimately up to you and your partner to decide how you want to raise your children.
The whole experience of becoming a parent can be daunting from the start, especially the idea of giving birth for moms. And while it’s expected for this to be intense and painful, there are still some things that moms wish they had been warned about beforehand. To help others feel more prepared and less alone, mothers on Threads have been discussing all of the unexpected experiences and side effects that occurred after giving birth. We’ve compiled a list of their replies below, so be sure to upvote the ones that nobody prepared you for either!
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#1
That the second the baby latches on to eat you get so incredibly thirsty that you feel like you just crossed the Sahara.
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#2
It doesn’t matter if you have a v**inal birth or a c-section, there is still an open wound the size of a dinner plate inside your uterus that needs to heal.
#4
That 19 years after the fact, you still remember telling the anesthesiologist that you love him.
#5
How loud babies are in their sleep and how tough it is to be the only one awake in the middle of the night.
#7
How hard the first two months are. You are completely, utterly exhausted!!!! All you wanna do is sleep take a good shower and have some peace and lots of quiet! Beware you’re not getting that!
#8
Postpartum blues. Standing in the bedroom sobbing uncontrollably saying to my husband, “what have we DONE!!!!” I was so overwhelmed.
#9
Standing in the shower in my hospital room with blood clots the size of a small animal escaping my body, pretty sure no one mentioned that part.
#10
The shaking/shivering afterward was absolutely WILD.
#11
Not childbirth but pregnancy in general, that you could lose teeth during pregnancy! I lost a tooth during each of my pregnancies.
#12
The postpartum body odor, that no amount of showering can tame.
StrangeOne 1 hour ago
I don't recall body odor. I do remember scrubbing off brown, d**d skin off my body and clumps of hair falling out. (It's not about race, if that's where you're mind was going.)
#13
How pushy doctors are and how they don’t care at all about birth plans.
StrangeOne 1 hour ago
Mine just said to show up to the hospital when contractions start. I found I had very little bodily autonomy.
#15
When they talked about the "urge to push," I had no idea they meant you'd feel like you were p**ping out a watermelon.
#16
Your mortality matters more all of a sudden. I used to do alllll the crazy things and now I freak out over turbulence.
#17
No one tells you how terrifying it is to take a newborn baby home without any instructions or supervision. And the fear of going to sleep. I was terrified to go to sleep, for fear that something would happen to the baby while I was sleeping.
Daisydaisy 48 minutes ago
Leaving the hospital: "Wait! I've got this BABY here! Are you just going to let me walk out without any supervision, like I know what I'm doing?!!"
#18
That one week after having twins and you are stealing a moment alone, sitting on your front porch, the old man nextdoor will ask you, "When are you gonna have that baby?"
#19
The phantom baby movements in your empty bump.
cauldrons & cupcakes 27 minutes ago
This....I experienced this with each pregnancy, and I never spoke of it, much less realised others would have felt this as well. And to think, I used to work OB/GYN and L&D.
#20
Breastfeeding is painful in those first few weeks (I’m on baby 4), the afterbirth cramps hurt worse the more kids you’ve had, the sweats/chills post partum because of hormone drop off, how lonely you can feel in the overnight hours, it’s ok to ask for help, trust your instincts and go for the second opinion.
Daisydaisy 46 minutes ago
Baby latching on those first few times after the birth: excruciating!!
#21
No one warned me that Hyperemesis Gravidarum was a thing I was MISERABLE my entire pregnancy, literally starving and dehydrated and yet people were telling me how “lucky” I was that I was losing weight instead of gaining it.
Panda Kicki 1 hour ago
Yes. I have been pregnant a dozen times, four live born kids. Throwing up until birth. Tge worst part was going through all that when it didnt end well. Also, despite what many doctors think, severe hyperemesis damage the baby and can even be fatal for them.
#22
nobody told me how lonely it gets after having a baby, and how much it actually hurts.
StrangeOne 1 hour ago
Everyone tells you they let you be to bond with your baby. There is actually a lot of bonding going on with or without company.
#23
We’ve all heard about the v****a tearing but nobody and I mean nobody told me your a*s hole could tear.
#24
How they make you get up and walk to the bathroom like immediately after. I’m sorry, you want me to do WHAT?
StrangeOne 1 hour ago
Nobody told me how physically weak I would feel. I could barely walk. My infant felt heavy. My arms felt like spaghetti. My whole upper torso felt like a deflated bouncy house. I about collapsed when they got me to stand up. AND they wanted me to do that while holding a newborn. Pretty sure they were setting me up because they didn't want me to have my baby.
#25
Nobody told me that during labor I wouldn't be allowed to go to the toilet and every once in a while a nurse would come to stick a tube into my pee hole and DRAIN my bladder. It's been 6 months and I still can't fully hold my pee completely like before.
#26
That when you let your baby latch the sucking starts to contract your uterus, which is extremely painful the same day you just had labor contractions. It’s the same pain.
Daisydaisy 41 minutes ago
Nobody told me it would hurt that much. Nor did they tell me it would (thank god) stop hurting after the first few times
#28
If you have a c section the most painful thing is the trapped wind for 3 days after. I needed morphine for that alone.
#29
The contractions AFTER birth when your uterus is shrinking back to normal size. And how nursing INCREASES these cramps. WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME. I thought after the placenta was out I was home free.
#30
That all of my hair would fall out and then grow back in making me look bald and then insane.
#34
How chapped and painful your n**ples get from breastfeeding. Like w*f why are my n**ples bleeding and feeling like their gonna fall off but I still have to feed a baby with them.
#36
Nobody told me that the first time you pee is like the fire of the gates of hell between your legs.
Panda Kicki 1 hour ago
Pee in the showers, witv warm water flowing it dilutes and dont hurt as much
#37
Mastitis, finding time and a place to pump at work is a joke, c-section recovery is no joke, get the epidural.
#38
It hurts when your organs start rearranging back into place it’s like a weird, hollow, dull ache.
#40
That Post Partum can come with horrific catastrophizing OCD level intrusive thoughts. Traumatized my d**n self.
#41
Jumping, running, sneezing, etc. is a whole other experience postpartum. Also, the U.S. s***s at providing adequate postpartum care and recovery.
#44
The postpartum night sweats that start 1-2 weeks after delivery! You wake up in the middle of the night soaked in cold sweat. It is brutal!
#45
No one told me about postpartum hair shedding. My hair was everywhere. Me and the baby was crying.
#46
My sister wanted me about the pain of breastfeeding. My mum warned me about the uterus contraction pains. But nobody told me about peeing your pants while absolutely not knowing you are peeing. It would’ve been nice to be warned.
#47
That they use a crochet needle to break my water. I saw the doctor coming at me with it and I freaked out.
#48
No one tells you it’s gonna be a lifetime for you get a proper shower.
#49
When your b***s are too full and the letdown is aggressive, your baby will pull off and a fine mist of milk will spray out.
It’s crazy weird.
#50
When you have a c/s, the nurses strap you down on a table shaped like a cross. And you're not medicated enough yet to not be fully aware. It's terrifying.
Even when numb, you can still feel the doctor shuffling your organs and heaving your body back and forth.
#51
hemorrhoids. nobody warned me about hemorrhoids. do you know how painful a thrombosed bleeping hemorroid is?
#52
No one told me I could seperate my pubic bone and need to use a walker for a bit while caring for a newborn!!!!
#53
The injection in my spine that was supposed to stop the pain, but didn't – the pain I wanted to get rid of was the contractions.
#55
I wasn’t expecting to feel kind of like I got sucker punched in the gut the first time sat up.
#56
Nobody told me that when they give you an epidural, the needle can move and hit a nerve that numbs the entire side of your body…and can continue to move when you keep trying.
#57
I had an emergency c-section and ended up throwing up. When I told my mom after she was like “oh I got that too, sorry should’ve told you”
And then the shakes afterwards?! That wouldn’t been nice to know.
#58
The insane amount of times a nurse comes in your room and pushes the f**k out of your stomach after birth.
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