Many women choose to have their mother with them when they go into labor and birth another human and I, personally, am so very jealous of those women. I wanted to have my mother with me when my son was born, but because she lives in a different state than I do (and labor is very unpredictable) we decided having her around after the baby was born would be more helpful. That means I sent her the texts every woman sends her mom during labor, because there was no way I was going to go through it without her, and there was no way I was going to be able to actually speak words when I was contracting.
If I could do it all over again, I can't say that I would have spent the money or risked not going into labor while my mother was around, just to have her in the room with me when my son was born. In a way, I did have her there. Technology is just the cat's meow these days, and we were able to FaceTime before the contractions were too bad, and when I couldn't even hold a phone anymore, my mother was still able to get play-by-play updates via my best friend. Texting kept my mom right there, alongside me, coaching me and supporting me, and to be able to have her there via my phone, and then have her in person when my son was actually with us and I was exhausted and scared and sore, was the perfect way to get the support I needed.
Of course, so many of the texts I sent, especially looking back at them now that my son is a toddler, are just damn hilarious. Which is, arguably, another great plus to just texting your mom while you're in labor: I will have a forever keepsake of the day (and night and day) my son was working his way into the world. So, with that in mind, here are a few texts so many laboring women (probably) send their own mothers.
If you're a first-time mom (or even a seasoned mom, because Braxton-Hicks is no joke) you may experienced a false alarm or two (or five) before you were really in active labor. I know I made a few phone calls to my mother claiming the baby was coming, before the baby was really coming.
Not every woman's water will break all on its own. In fact, plenty of women will have their water broken for them. I was not one of those women, though, and my water broke while I was at home. I knew I was having contractions, and timing then accordingly, only to feel this weird internal "pop." I thought something was wrong so I started walking towards my phone to call my doctor, and all of a sudden there was a puddle on the ground and my pants were soaked.
What they don't tell you about your water breaking is that, unlike the movies, it will continue to break. Like, it isn't just broken and then no longer an issue. I continued to leak all the way to the hospital; in my car and from the car to the hospital door and from the hospital door to the labor and delivery wing. The man waxing the newly-cleaned hospital floor was not amused.
Oh silly, silly me. I told my mother the contractions "weren't that bad," and I was totally going to rock the drug-free labor and delivery thing. She was kind enough not to burst my bubble.
I know hospital gowns aren't everyone's thing, but I find them to be so comfortable. Like, they're nice and baggy and open in the back so you're always feeling a nice breeze. I'd wear them everywhere if it was socially acceptable to do so.
Yeah, I pooped. So many women poop when they're having a baby. I didn't notice that I had pooped in front of a room full of medical strangers (as I was focused on other activities) and most women don't notice, either. In fact, there's a person whose entire job is to clean up your poop, so you won't notice.
Yep, good feeling gone.
I specifically remember telling my mother, through contractions, that I was so sorry. I was so sorry I ever put her body through what my body was experiencing; so sorry that I was ever a jerk to her (especially in high school) because after labor, she definitely didn't deserve it. There were a lot of heartfelt apologies shared that day.
This is, obviously, a little specific. I had plans of going through labor and delivery without the use of pain-relieving drugs. That plan went out the window after 10 hours of labor, where nothing (not a birthing ball or a bath or walking the halls) helped ease my pain. Obviously, not every woman makes changes to her birthing plan but, hey, if you did? Yeah, you're not alone and that's completely OK.
Again, a tad specific. If you're birthing at home and sans drugs, you may not be afforded the ability to take a nap. After I had my epidural, I was able to sleep for the first time in over 24 hours, and I can't tell you how helpful that was.
There's going to be a bit of a time gap between when you start to push and when your baby is born. The length of active pushing obviously varies depending on the woman and the pregnancy, and perhaps pushing ended with a c-section. Either way, you'll be too focused to send text message. Yes, even to your mother. So, when you finally do, you get to announce that your baby has arrived and, at least for me, that was one of the best damn things ever.
Of course I'm not going to miss out on an opportunity to call my mother a grandmother. Did she like it, no? Did it make her cry because she was so happy? Um, yes. Was it worth it? Obviously.
Leading up to labor and delivery, and throughout a pregnancy I honestly didn't enjoy at all, my mother would keep telling me, "It's wort it." She told me that every time I was sick or constipated or afraid or couldn't sleep or exhausted. She told me that when the contractions were horrific. She told me that when it was time to push. She was right.
