Know your availabilities. Have a birth plan. Do you want drugs? a video recording? Steve Perry playing in the background? Would you like to watch your baby being born with a mirror? cut the umbilical cord? your momma in the room with you?
Once baby has made his/her debut, there are items of immediate concern which may interest you.
What to do with your placenta, for instance. Most women, by way of default, toss it. Not literally, the medical staff will do that, I mean that most women have no plan for it and so it is delivered and taken care of. You do have options though.
Did you know that the blood located inside of your placenta, and the tissue that is your placenta, are donatable? It costs you nothing but can help save a life. The only catch is you MUST speak with your doctor prior to delivery. MUST.
To be fair, there are other options for your placenta as well. You can take it home and bury it/freeze it/eat it, if you want. It that fancies you, educate yourself.
Another instant item is cord blood. This is additional blood that you can donate or have frozen in the event your baby ever needs blood. -This is called Cord Blood Banking. The price to freeze it is hefty but can ultimately save your child's life.
Back to that umbilical cord. If you (or daddy) would like to cut it, many hospitals make allowance for this. Here is something else of great interest: you can request to not cut the umbilical cord immediately. By keeping it attached to your baby for approximately five minutes after birth, additional benefits continue to be delivered to baby.
Alright Momma, you made it through delivery, now onto breastfeeding. If you choose to breastfeed (and the positives of doing so are through the roof for mommy and baby) you will have to get used to a few things.
1)About 3 dozen staff members will touch/squeeze/ and examine your nipples on a daily basis. (Good-bye modesty!)
2)Breastfeeding HURTS!!!!!!! Yes, it does. The Lactation Consultant will lie TO YOUR FACE and swear it doesn't, but it does. Good news, the pain subsides...just don't give up.
3)Some babies have a difficult time latching on. Try desperately not to be discouraged...and don't give up!
Congratulations, you have a son! Well, son, let's take a look down there.... Circumcision is optional and a serious surgery. Educate yourself on the pros and cons before you deliver.
Another thing, speak with your doctor, midwife, and insurance. In our case, Tricare (Military insurance) cost HALF PRICE if we did the surgery outpatient with our OB-GYN but it would have cost us full price to have had the surgery take place at the hospital.
Vaccines. Yes, these dreaded things. There is so much controversy when it comes to vaccines. You will have to consent or chose not to consent to have your baby receive his/her first round of vaccinations before you leave the hospital. Educate yourself.
While you are adjusting to mommyhood (or your newest addition) you will probably be greeted with a warm knock on your hospital door. The photographer is calling. In my experience, you will see these beautiful pictures of Lovey sleeping and then feel like a horrible parent when you realize they cost a small fortune to purchase. It is new-baby manipulation at its strongest. Be prepared. The first two times I was asked to fill out a form requesting or denying the presence of a hospital photographer. I declined both times. The third time I had my baby, a photographer snuck in and laid such a guilt trip on me- I would have taken another round of contractions over that nonsense. Have your arsenal ready- consider asking a friend to take some beautiful shots or have an appointment with an outside photographer who doesn't do the guilt trippy thing.
After you leave the safe place which is the hospital, you will be adjusting to life as a new person. You left for the hospital as a mommy/baby attachment and are returning as two separate people. It's ludicrous! Educate yourself about what to expect...read that book...um..What to Expect When You're Expecting...or watch the movie...but no, really, read the book.
Here are some additional items worth your time and attention:
-co-sleeping
-cloth diapers
-baby wearing
-stay awake strategies (I strongly recommend Netflix)
-nipple confusion (to pacify or not)
-"baby safe" products (detergents/soaps/body products)
-What is Crying It Out? (And why does it sound like child abuse?)
-What is The Purple Period?
-Shaken Baby Syndrome
-Postpartum Depression (You can read more about my experience here: Love Letter to Second Time Mommies)
-You will bleed and likely feel yucky (don't schedule a girls night out right away). Stock up on maxi pads and sweat pants. (This has been my experience. Please keep in mind that I have had three Cesarean-sections. A vaginal birth may have little or no bleeding.)
-Speaking about c-sections, know that a LARGE % of women will need an emergency c-section- even against all their hopes.
In my experience, I had a 17 page birth plan (no lie) which included natural birth. When I arrived at the hospital, it took the medical staff all of 20 minutes to realize baby needed to be out NOW and I was wheeled away for an emergency c-section. In that moment (the one where baby is in distress) you can be told that your left arm needs to be chopped off, your head shaved, and you need to learn Latin for this baby to be safe and you will not think twice about it.
-SIDS
-Understanding what S.A.H.M.s and W.A.H.M.s are...do you know? If not, scroll down...
...keep scrolling.....
once again.....
S.A.H.M.= stay at home mom
W.A.H.M.=work at home mom
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