Labor and Delivery

Women expecting their first child may have a lot of questions about labor and delivery. While we do recognize that this is a perfectly natural event that many women have experienced throughout history, we still are a little leery about stepping into the maternity ward. The more you know about labor and delivery, the better you are able to handle the situation. That’s what I originally thought. When I discovered that I was going to have a baby, I had mixed feelings.

It wasn’t the right time as far as my career was concerned and my husband and I were only married for six months. I was kind-of hoping to be a couple for at least two years before starting a family. I also wasn’t looking forward to labor and delivery.

Of course, I got over some of my apprehension pretty quickly. Work would always be there and I had a great maternity leave plan. My husband was really excited about the new arrival and I truly began to think that I was ready. That was, until I started thinking about labor and delivery.

Part of the problem with this whole journey is the mystery. Becoming a mother for the first time is wonderfully scary, almost like riding a rollercoaster. Actually, it’s exactly like riding a roller coaster that makes you feel really, really nauseous. At the end of the journey is labor and delivery. Somehow that didn’t seem like such a great prize.

This is not to say that I wasn’t thrilled to know that the baby was coming. I couldn’t wait to hold my baby and I often dreamed of the day that I could. I just wasn’t crazy about the whole labor and delivery thing. However, nature has a way of getting us to cope no matter how difficult the experience may seem.

My little one was 5 day past his due date. By the time I was having real contractions, I couldn’t care less about labor and delivery. I was really ready to be done being pregnant. Sure, pregnancy is a magnificent experience but after 10 months, labor and delivery seem almost like a treat.

Here are some things that you can expect during labor and delivery. Yes, there is some pain, actually lots of pain but it is manageable, especially after you get an epidural. The whole labor and delivery process is pretty messy, too but you’ll be surprised by how little that matters when you’re there. The whole thing comes down to the new little arrival. Once you are finished with labor and delivery you really won’t care about anything else.