Pregnancy is such a joy and for most a very spiritual experience. There are so many great things that we get to have the joy of feeling both physically and emotionally. However, there are many things that most of us are not told about and only learn once we go through it. For me, there were several things that I wish someone would have told me, a friend, my midwife, family, someone. Here’s the top five on my list of what no one told me, but I wish they would have.

1. To give birth means to lose all sense of embarrassment. Not only during the birthing process are you on display (and is expected) but the aftercare still requires you to forget all modesty.

2. The majority of women who give birth vaginally will have a bowel movement in the process. Now there is several ways around this. First, you can simply tell your family and friends in the delivery room that you don’t want to know about it or you can ask your midwife for a laxative upon being admitted to the hospital if you aren’t too far into labor.

3. You know that it’s time to start pushing when you feel the urge to…um…use the bathroom in a big bad way (to put it nicely). If you choose to go to the bathroom without telling anyone, make sure the call button is within reach so when baby starts making his way down the birth canal you’ll have help on the way.

4. Having your cervix checked for dilation progression, it is not comfortable in any way, shape or form. Hard contractions in combination with a nurse reaching far into your hoo-ha, does not feel okay at all. If you let your midwife do a stretch and sweep to help get things going then you already have a general idea of what it’s going to feel like. Luckily, you can request to have them minimize the frequency of how often they check you.

5. If you have an epidural it is solely up to you to push the administer button. No matter how much you beg and plead for another dose, medical staff and family cannot push that button for you so make sure that whatever position you are in, the button is in reach.

If this is your second go at pregnancy, share with us your experiences. What do you wish someone had told you about before experiencing it first hand?