4. Loss Of Bodily Control
You may thing, isn’t that what the last three items we just talked about are? Well, if you get an epidural, you will experience a loss of bodily control that transcends ALL of these things. Epidurals do their job of reducing contraction pains by usually numbing you from the waist down. People are affected differently by epidurals and they can seem stronger than others, or take to one leg more than the other (like my case, where I had a dead, right leg). Not only are you physically reliant on someone else to help you turn over, you also can’t feel when you may need to go to the bathroom or pass gas. Just accept that everyone’s focusing on the baby, and not your breaking wind.
5. Placenta
Just when you thought your contractions and pushing are done, there’s the placenta. Once your baby is safely in the world, the doctors and nurses will make sure your placenta is delivered by any means necessary. This may include pushing and shoving on your belly until it comes out, or even going in by hand to remove a retained placenta. Once it does exit, do you self a favor and don’t look at it. It’s not pretty.