Haemorrhoids...

are one of those horrible things that newly pregnant mums are not told about...

now that i have your attention is there any other yuck pregnant stuff we should warn our first time mums about?

Leg cramps!! They are not fun! Oh and probably heartburn though that is a reasonably well known prob!

um, just how "marshmellowy" your tummy feels post-birth, seriously you touch it and think "eeeewwww that's just weird" lol

ooh also, for me, and a few other people i have talked to, getting up to have a shower and having that moment when your insides realise there's nothing pushing them up under your ribcage any more, so you suddenly just feel like everything is being pulled down inside you. ew, again, ew.

Just how darn huge your breasts get once milk starts coming in - definately not good to let baby sleep through the night or sleep longer 4 hours on that night.. otherwise, OW OW OW OW OW OW!

For constipation, which ultimately causes haemorroids (been there myself in the last few weeks) - a great remedy for these is Benefibre. It has completely stopped my constipation which has therefore stopped the haemorroids!

Definately recommend Benefibre, its available from the chemist. My m/w recommended it and it is perfectly safe in pregnancy!

radom pains in your bum when walking that almost put you on the ground not nice

I never got told about the clots that you pass the day after the birth. I freaked out in the bathroom at the hospital thinking I was hemorrhaging (after losing a bit of blood after the birth) and rang the bell so all the nurses came running - they weren't very impressed when I told them what it was. Felt really stink, but man it was scary when I had no idea what it was!
So yeah - blod clots will be passed the day after the birth, they are fairly large but don't freak out. You may have to keep them in a paper bag or something for the nurses/mw to examine. Sounds so odd now, but made sense at the time!

What about random, must-have, mid-night cravings???

I had no idea about the heartburn & the fact that you can have it regardless of what you've eaten. Mine even appears ages after I've eaten something. I'd never had it in my life until getting pregnant

I too got a funny taste in my mouth in the early stages, mine was more of a metallic taste & put me off lots of my favourite foods.

The cravings thing is funny too. I haven't had many but the ones I have had have been so unusual e.g. sultana scones & taties (remember those things they used to sell at Cobb & Co - cobb crunchies).

haemorroids....hate them...

and bleeding post birth...and then for sooo long - and then just when it is calming your haemorroids kick in and you bleed *from there* too!

oh and the back pain post birth - six months now and it is FINALLY settling down and the Epi shock that shoots up and down when you bend....Ive talked to women who had an epi years ago who even now still get epi shock from time to time....never was warned about that one!

and NOONE warned me about having a bicornuate uterus and having the fear of god put into me for the whole of my pregnancy! glad I didnt know that one til it was too late!

Bazilb wrote: No one told me that after the birth the nurse would be showering me, and for the first few times also come into the toilet with me (to make sure that I didnt pass out) and I wouldnt be peeing in private! (Epi block made me wobbly on my legs for a couple of days).

I didn't have that. They helped me have a wash the night of the c/s but that was it, didn't have to pee with an audience at all. (had a catheter till the next morning though). I was too wobbly to go in the shower, so had a strip wash at the sink