Liz told me last night that our friends (who have most contact with her anyway) called her to make sure they had not offended me in any way and that they apologize if - in their effort to make her feel better - they made me feel sad. She accepted on my behalf (I don't do well with those situations), and then apologized to me for not noticing. I forgave her as she was a bit involved in trying to grasp the idea that labor and childbirth could be anything less than horrific.
She is really, really not looking forward to this. I need to find ways to make her less fearful and stressed about it.
6 comments:
The best thing about labor and delivery is that if you want it, you can have the epidural right away. She never needs to feel any pain at all. I don't know what you two have decided about that, but many women never feel anything, more than their first few contractions. Are you going to be attending any classes? I would avoid traditional lamaze, since they really talk about breathing through the pain, not good for her to hear that.
She's been told that once she has the epidural, she'll be OK, but she doesn't beleive it. I blame it on movies and TLC TV! :)
Seriously, though I would love to get us in a class, but was hesitant about Lamaze for that very reason. Do you know of any that would advocate pain relief, but help her to relax?
I'm all for the epidural idea too. I've seen an article that some hospitals are even doing patient controlled epidural anesthesia. Yippee. Good luck with finding a class. And I'm glad that the friends realized that what they had said would be hurtful to you.
I did the patient controlled. I asked for the lowest dose, in the beginning and was told I could increase it in small increments every 30 minutes without having to ask. I increased it twice. It is a continuous drip medication. I truly felt nothing. I had to look at the monitor to know I was having a contraction. It was my first epi. I had the other 3 naturally. If she has any questions email me, I will be completely honest I promise.
Oh and as far as classes go I would ask at the hospital. You want a class that explains everything that is going to happen, or could happen, but does not necessarily push pain med free birth, that can really make some moms feel bad for choosing meds.
Thanks! YOu've been very helpful. We may have more questions for you.
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