Any Advice Or Tips 4 A Ftm☺ . What do I expect in labour? The after pains? Bonding with baby after?…

After you deliver you can do skin on skin

The after pains, not gonna lie if you have stitches or anything it'll hurt but will heal.

Bonding with baby you can have skin to skin.

Xx

Labour is different for all of us, be open to pain relief if you feel you might need it, with your first you don’t know any different so my advice is to listen to your body and go with it, when it comes to the pushing stage listen to the midwife she will tell you to pause and pant to reduce the risk of tearing.

The after pains- stock up on paracetamol, have lots of pads big ones and also a hot water bottle.

Bonding with baby- when baby comes out they will put the baby on your chest also you can do this many times through the day up until whenever you like. It’s called skin to skin contact and it’s also nice for dad to to it to for the same bonding reasons.

Feeding - if your breast feeding then straight on the boob after birth there are many breast feeders here if you like more advice on that. If you wish to formula feed then take a starter pack to hospital with you , sma aptamil and cow and gate are the most common ones to get.

Change baby before every feed and if they poo then change after they have done lol.

I was told not to bath baby until six weeks so I boil some water put it in a bowl with cotton wall balls and wash the baby from head to toe without any soaps , coconut oil for moisturiser xxxx

P.S if you do tear and need stitches when you wee it can be very painful so have a jug of water to pour onto yourself while weeing it will dilute it so less of a sting ! Any more questions or help you need I’m all ears lol xxx

Thank u so much ladies!!! I plan to do skin to skin as soon as baby is born. @erincharliebubba, I can’t believe how much I need to learn😊 and there was me thinking i had researched everything lol. I know what pain relief I will be having... if I need it, Ive been advised to have an epidural because I have a heart condition so they think it’ll help with the pain of the contractions so less stress for my body. I guess I just had this image in my head that labour was going to be wonderful and peaceful lol. I have quite a high pain threshold so I’m hoping this will help although I doubt it lol xx

If you tear, try and have a bath at least once a day but put a bit of milk(about 100mls) and some tea tree oil in, this will help with the healing. If you want partner/birthing partner to cut the cord then make them aware, you can also wait until the cord has stopped pulsating to cut it, this allows extra blood to flow from the placenta to the baby, which is found to lower the risk of newborn anemia and iron deficiency in infancy. ... Delayed clamping may be particularly beneficial for premature infants. Take lip balm in your hospital bag as your lips get very dry, also a mini fan because you will be sweaty throughout labour.

Nappies - if your having a boy then put a wipe over his bits, if he wee's this will stop you getting showered as the wipe will absorb it. If your breastfeeding the colostrum will be all you produce for the first few days, when your milk comes through you will feel very tender and look like Dolly Parton, it may take a couple of times to get the hang of feeding or for baby to latch right, DON'T be afraid to ask for help from the midwives, they have the most experience going. If you don't plan on breastfeeding putting cabbage leaves in your bra will help your milk dry up, I'd also get some breast pads because you may leak until it does dry up Xx

@jodie1809, thank you so much!! Which milk will I need to use just ordinary lol. I can’t imagine walking round with cabbage leaves tucked in my bra but if needs must lol. I plan to bottle feed so I will definitely keep the cabbage in mind. I have stocked up on breast pads already. X

@nikki90xx just normal milk that you use for cereal etc. It does sound weird, butt apparently works. Xx

@jodie1809, lol I’ll make sure we’re stocked up then xx