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“So Incredibly Thirsty”: 58 Things Nobody Told Moms About Before They Gave Birth
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
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.
KatWitch57 6 hours ago
Go to ante natal classes and pay attention. If the father won't come with you, make sure you repeat all the information so that he knows you will be 'out of order' for a long time. Preferably 2 years. The new mother has just reorganised all of her internal organs to grow a new human. Let her recover.
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#2
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.
KatWitch57 6 hours ago
First wash really should be in a bath with some salt, finish off with a shower.
#3
That the second the baby latches on to eat you get so incredibly thirsty that you feel like you just crossed the Sahara.
KatWitch57 6 hours ago
For anyone experiencing difficulties, it's 'bre*st feeding' not 'n*pple feeding'. Baby needs to feel the n*pple against the roof of its mouth to stimulate suckling, put a little more in!
#4
How loud babies are in their sleep and how tough it is to be the only one awake in the middle of the night.
Crystalwitch60 13 hours ago (edited)
Night feeds are amazing I loved them just you baby peace bonding cuddles ,enjoy them they grow up so so quickly ,last time I looked like my 22-25 yr old were babies it flies past ,when you don’t sleep more than 4 hours as the norm it makes nights easy ,and enjoyable ,
#5
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.
#6
Postpartum blues. Standing in the bedroom sobbing uncontrollably saying to my husband, “what have we DONE!!!!” I was so overwhelmed.
#7
The shaking/shivering afterward was absolutely WILD.
#8
Your mortality matters more all of a sudden. I used to do alllll the crazy things and now I freak out over turbulence.
#9
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 19 hours 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.
#10
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 18 hours 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
#11
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.
#12
When you stand up for the first time and all your organs slosh back into place.
#13
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.
Becky Samuel 10 hours ago
It is absolutely criminal that new mums are sent home with baby to sit on their own in an isolated house. No society in human history has expected people to be able to cope like that. Societies obviously differed, but the average was to have a woman attended bybher closest relatives for a week or two, and then either the whole village or her extended family would be closely involved from then on. Our current system is cruel and I strongky suspect that it is a major contributor to the rates of PPD.
#14
The phantom baby movements in your empty bump.
cauldrons & cupcakes 18 hours 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.
#15
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.
#16
How they make you get up and walk to the bathroom like immediately after. I’m sorry, you want me to do WHAT?
StrangeOne 18 hours 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.
#17
Nobody told me that the first time you pee is like the fire of the gates of hell between your legs.
Panda Kicki 19 hours ago
Pee in the showers, witv warm water flowing it dilutes and dont hurt as much
#18
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!
#20
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?"
#22
That Post Partum can come with horrific catastrophizing OCD level intrusive thoughts. Traumatized my d**n self.
#23
We’ve all heard about the v****a tearing but nobody and I mean nobody told me your a*s hole could tear.
Kristiina Männiste 9 hours ago
I knew that! Thanks to my boss who was too lazy to watch the "rectal complications after childbirth and their surgical repair" class, that had a test at the end. The IT guy who was forced to watch it with me was pretty pale by the time it ended.😂 I hope he went home and kissed the feet of his petite wife who birthed TWO chubby babies for him
#24
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.
#25
The postpartum body odor, that no amount of showering can tame.
StrangeOne 19 hours 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.)
#26
That 19 years after the fact, you still remember telling the anesthesiologist that you love him.
#27
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.
#28
nobody told me how lonely it gets after having a baby, and how much it actually hurts.
StrangeOne 18 hours 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.
#29
Probably an unpopular opinion but: actual birth being easier than contractions.
#30
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!
#31
Not childbirth but pregnancy in general, that you could lose teeth during pregnancy! I lost a tooth during each of my pregnancies.
#32
That all of my hair would fall out and then grow back in making me look bald and then insane.
#33
hemorrhoids. nobody warned me about hemorrhoids. do you know how painful a thrombosed bleeping hemorroid is?
#34
Shoe size going up.
Barking Squirrel 22 minutes ago
And bra size. My friend had been flat her whole life and after having a baby and running to cross the street she was in tears because they jiggled.
#35
How pushy doctors are and how they don’t care at all about birth plans.
StrangeOne 19 hours ago
Mine just said to show up to the hospital when contractions start. I found I had very little bodily autonomy.
#36
Jumping, running, sneezing, etc. is a whole other experience postpartum. Also, the U.S. s***s at providing adequate postpartum care and recovery.
#37
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.
#38
No one told me that breaking your tailbone during birth can happen.
Kirsten Kerkhof 16 hours ago
My mother broke her tailbone when she gave birth to me and it healed kind of wrong. So for all three consequent births she had to have it broken again.
#40
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.
#41
If you have a c section the most painful thing is the trapped wind for 3 days after. I needed morphine for that alone.
#42
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.
#44
Mastitis, finding time and a place to pump at work is a joke, c-section recovery is no joke, get the epidural.
#45
It hurts when your organs start rearranging back into place it’s like a weird, hollow, dull ache.
#47
That my v****a, that had been mine for 37 years, was never going to look the same. Ever.
#48
How horrible your periods are after.
Francesca Annoni 10 hours ago
I had two kid.. i breastfed each one for 18 months and i had my period about 1 or 2 months after stopping breastfeeding ,i actually forgot how was a period 😅😂 best time of my life....
#49
That they use a crochet needle to break my water. I saw the doctor coming at me with it and I freaked out.
#51
No one told me about postpartum hair shedding. My hair was everywhere. Me and the baby was crying.
#52
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.
#53
No one told me I could seperate my pubic bone and need to use a walker for a bit while caring for a newborn!!!!
#54
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.
#55
The insane amount of times a nurse comes in your room and pushes the f**k out of your stomach after birth.
#57
I wasn’t expecting to feel kind of like I got sucker punched in the gut the first time sat up.
#58
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.
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What do you think ?
lenka 15 hours ago
And some do :'-( I think that's the one no one talks about the most. Everytime you give birth you risk d***h.
Load More Replies...
Zatetic 6 hours ago
In USA, maternal healthcare has long lagged behind other high income nations. Since the overturning of Roe by the Supreme Court, women in states with abortion bans are twice as likely to d*e during pregnancy compared to women in other states; three times as likely if black.
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Load More Replies... Kristiina Männiste 9 hours ago
Strange... I did know most of these things. Even tho I have never even touched a baby (those things scare me). I guess there are either some very naive women or some very negligent educators/midwives out there.
lenka 15 hours ago
And some do :'-( I think that's the one no one talks about the most. Everytime you give birth you risk d***h.
Load More Replies... Zatetic 6 hours ago
In USA, maternal healthcare has long lagged behind other high income nations. Since the overturning of Roe by the Supreme Court, women in states with abortion bans are twice as likely to d*e during pregnancy compared to women in other states; three times as likely if black.
clairemyers 52 minutes ago
Everybody can earn 500$+ daily... Start now making every month extra $26000-$35000 or more by just doing an easy online job from home. Last month i have earned and received $27,800 from this job by giving this only 3 hrs a a day.Every person can now get this job and start earning online by follow this site_______________JOB40.COM
Load More Replies... Kristiina Männiste 9 hours ago
Strange... I did know most of these things. Even tho I have never even touched a baby (those things scare me). I guess there are either some very naive women or some very negligent educators/midwives out there.
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