Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Stages of Labor III: Transition Phase

The transition phase is where mommy will dialate from 7cm to 10 (the amount needed for delivery). This is a much shorter process than the last two stages (30 minutes to an hour). At this point her contractions will be 1-2 minutes apart and they will last for about 60-90 seconds a piece. The discomfort level raises during this phase. She will have increased rectal pressure, possible nausea, vomiting, feeling flushed, chilled or sweating. Also, her muscles may begin to cramp up. The best advice for this phase is to take it one contraction at a time. If she has not already squeezed the life out of your hand, remind her to focus each breath on each individual contraction. In this case it is good for mommy to anticipate the contraction so that she may relax as it comes. Tension= Pain. Each breath will be nudging the baby that much closer to her arms. That is the first place the baby will go (everything permitting of course). Our hospital reccomends giving mommy and baby skin time immediately following the birth. This will help strengthen that initial bond between the two.

It is important for you (partner) to use your positive reinforcement skills during the transition phase of labor. Your words should be uplifting, encouraging, strong and caring. This is not time to relate child birth to something you once saw on National Geographic. Words of encouragement from the one she loves could mean the difference in a wonderful experience or an upsetting one. Here is a website I found containing a list of encouraging words. Make good use of them.

Hopefully these labor posts are informative as well as thought provoking. I hope they possibly raise some questions that you can bring to your doctor for answers. Knowledge is power!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Tuesday and don't forget to comment, like, share, digg, or pin.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Stages of Labor II: Active Phase

A lot happens during the active phase of labor. The most noticable difference will be contractions happening every 3-4 minutes that last for about a minute. Again, these contractions will begin in your lower back and work their way around into your pelvis. Your cervix will now dialate from 3 centimeters to 8 over the span of about 4 hours. Wow! That is a lot of dialation.

Obviously mommy won't be the most comfortable person in the world. Here are some helpful techniques for coping with this discomfort.
  1. When contractions become uncomfortable, try changing positions.
  2. Try to get movement in sync with music and breathing. In other words use music to help relax your breathing and putting some small body movements along with smooth rythmatic breathing will help relax your body and mind.
  3. You may use verbal affirmations to reinforce a determined well being. Use smooth, even breathing to say "I can have this baby. I am relaxed."
Much of the discomfort will begin in the active phase and for good reason. Your body is stretching and squeezing in order to prepare to squeeze your 9lb baby out... Okay hopefully your baby is not 9lb but i'm sure it does happen. Look at this! Baby Chun Chun was born at 15lbs. I would not envy that woman.

It is a fact that child birth is painful. There is no getting around that. There are tools however, that may help alleviate this pain and discomfort. Whether it is an epidural, breathing techniques, body positioning etc... Talk about these options you have with your partner and come up with a birthing plan unique to what you want during this wonderful time.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Stages of Labor I: Early Phase

If your are like my wife then you have to always be prepared. Whether you are planning dinner, or expecting a baby. It seems only natural for Kayla to have complete knowledge of labor before hand (she plans out our trips to walmart in such detail it is mind boggling). After being educated on labor I feel comfortable sharing some of the knowledge I retained. Knowledge is power!

Labor is divided into 3 stages, stage one has three phases. These phases are early, active, and trasition. Early labor is where the cervix begins to dialate. This phase usually lasts for about 8-10 hours and is when contractions will begin. These contractions will be anywhere from 20 minutes to 5 minutes apart and will last for about 30-45 seconds a piece. There are some things that mommy will want to start doing when these begin.

1. Start drinking only clear liquids (any liquid that you can see through). No! Vodka doesn't count, so put that Grey Goose away. Also, you may eat popsicles or jello.

2. Try to get as much rest as possible.

3. It may help to think of contractions not as bad and painful. But, necessary to squeeze your little one out. Think of it as a reoccurring bear hug, gently nudging your baby into this world.

4. At this point you will want to begin timing your contractions so you will better understand when you need to go to the hospital.

What will these contractions feel like? Well, they will more than likely start in your lower back and work themselves around your hips and down to your pelvis. If your contractions don't have a constant interval then it is likely it is false labor. When in doubt, check it out!

This will be a multiple post subject. I will continue this daily through the week.

Monday, May 14, 2012

First Lamaze Class

Kayla and I attended our first lamaze class last week. It was a neat experience I must say. Our instructor has been teaching these educational classes for over 30 years. I really reccomend you men to go. There was a few women there that were either alone or brought there sister. If you are planning on being an active participant in your childs life, does it not make sense to learn everything you can to help him/her enter this world? There were six other couples at the class, each with there own story. For this post I will describe how this first class went.

We started the class with an introductory about ourselves (name, age, gender of baby, etc...). After this we moved on to the meat of the class. Our teacher held a large circular sign up that said "pain" on it. Then she proceeded to add pizza shape sections onto the board as she described that each of these pieces (medication, breathing, comfort etc...) are your tools to reducing the amount of pain mommy will experience during birth. When she finished there was just one section about 1/8th of the original circle that now said pain. She described how much of a role the "supporter" (me) plays during the actual child birth. No matter what she stressed that it is important to do everything within our realm of control to ensure this expirence will be a pleasent one for both mommy and me.

Obviously some women want to have medication (epidural) and some may wish not too. Chosing against this will only increase the pain another 1/8th of the chart. Now this is a general chart that does nothing more than describe how these "tools" can help you during birth. I must say it was a very effective approach for me as a visual learner. Though she should have added a chart that demonstrated how much pain discomfort her damn uncomfortable chairs were causing me.

The rest of the class we talked about the basics of breathing, fears associated with child birth and basic warning signs of labor. Also, she described the differences of true labor vs. false labor, and how they can mimick one another.

Since I have more than likely bored you to death I will save the rest for my Wednesday post. I will highlight these differences and shed some light on the beginning stages of labor.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Getting Stoked For Baby

Last night a couple that we are friends with had their first baby. Needless to say, she is beautiful. Kayla and I went to visit them at the hospital and it was a great experience for me. I have never been around a newborn baby or the hospital environment after the baby was born. I told my wife, "It's a good thing you are already pregnant, because I'd probably want to have one now." After seeing the joy in their eyes I can only imagine how it will feel when our own baby is born.

My whole life there has always been those people who want to bring you down. "you're too young to get engaged."

"you're not even 21 yet, why would you get married. Everything changes when you turn 21."

Sound familiar? If it does then hopefully you stuck to your guns and either told them to worry about themselves, or simply express that your situation is different. I am far happier that my life has taken this path. I still go out with friends, drink too much, play golf, softball, fish and play xbox. I am sure that some things will take a back seat to my baby boy, but you know what? I hope it does. There is so much more to life than drinking away every weekend. Don't get me wrong, I like to "tie one on" as much as the next guy, but it doesn't have to be every night that you don't have to be up early.

If you are a soon to be dad, and know someone who is having a baby. I encourage you to visit them in the hospital if possible. It will help you get a feel of what is going to be happening after your little miracle is born. Also, it may get you hyped up for what is soon to become your life.

For the record, not a lot has changed since I turned 21. Other than I can now buy my own alcohol. I'd trade one hundred drunk nights for any one of the hundreds of memories I have already created with my family in a heartbeat.