The Yiling Laozu’s New Development, Courtesy of Hanguang-Jun
Some words to use when writing things:
winking
clenching
pulsing
fluttering
contracting
twitching
sucking
quivering
pulsating
throbbing
beating
thumping
thudding
pounding
humming
palpitate
vibrate
grinding
crushing
hammering
lashing
knocking
driving
thrusting
pushing
force
injecting
filling
dilate
stretching
lingering
expanding
bouncing
reaming
elongate
enlarge
unfolding
yielding
sternly
firmly
tightly
harshly
thoroughly
consistently
precision
accuracy
carefully
demanding
strictly
restriction
meticulously
scrupulously
rigorously
rim
edge
lip
circle
band
encircling
enclosing
surrounding
piercing
curl
lock
twist
coil
spiral
whorl
dip
wet
soak
madly
wildly
noisily
rowdily
rambunctiously
decadent
degenerate
immoral
indulgent
accept
take
invite
nook
indentation
niche
depression
indent
depress
delay
tossing
writhing
flailing
squirming
rolling
wriggling
wiggling
thrashing
struggling
grappling
striving
straining
(from someone who’s been to more than a hundred of them)
1. labor is not nonstop pain from start to finish. It comes in waves. For most of active labor, your character will have a one minute long contraction followed by a 3-5 minute break
2. people very rarely scream their way through labor. labor sounds are typically what you might think of as ‘work’ sounds: moaning, groaning, grunting.
3. birth looks absolutely nothing like it does in tv and movies. nothing.
4. labor starts with water breaking in only about 10 percent of pregnancies. contractions usually come first, and most people’s water doesn’t break until they’re pushing.
5. there are three phases of labor. 1st stage: onset of labor until 10cm dilated, 2nd stage: pushing until baby’s born, 3rd stage: from the birth of the baby to the birth of the placenta.
6. for a first timer (or a ‘primigravida’), labor is on average about 12-16 hours long
7. labor typically starts with weak contractions 10-20 minutes apart from each other, that may not be in a regular pattern. they will grow closer together and stronger until they’re coming every three minutes or so, and then will stay about that time apart right up until the very end.
8. if your character is having an unmedicated birth then they will have a strong spontaneous urge to push. they will not need a room full of doctors and support people shouting ‘push’ at them
9. typically, people most prefer warm, dim, comfortable environments for their birth
10. people feel almost instantaneous relief after birth. although after a few minutes they will start to feel some milder cramping as the placenta is born.
11. before the forties and fifties, hospital births were pretty rare, and most births were attended by midwives or ‘yarb doctors’
12. your character will call their midwife or head to the hospital when they’re having minute long contractions that are regularly five minutes apart.
13. when given the option, most people prefer to labor on all fours, walking, forward leaning, or side lying.
14. people are perfectly capable of walking during labor. once or twice ive even seen a person walking with their baby’s head already hanging out of their bodies. they do not need to be carried everywhere.
15. light bleeding during active labor is not uncommon, nor is it a cause for concern (light = a couple of drops running down the legs)
16. if you want your character to have a true birth emergency, might i recommend a placental abruption or a cord prolapse?
17. tearing is not uncommon, but in the absence of “purple pushing”* it’s not as common as you may believe. there are four degrees of tears. First degree tears are typically left unsutured or given just one of two stitches to hold them together (think: biting the inside of your cheek really hard). Second degree tears almost always require suturing. If your character had an epidural, then this will be done in the immediate postpartum. If they have not, then the midwife or doctor will use a numbing medication, likely lidocaine, to numb the area first. a third or fourth degree tear is more complicated, and involves the rectum. in these cases, a doctor may choose to take your character to an OR for a surgical repair, or they may evaluate the situation and continue with a typical minor surgery repair.
18. people are perfectly capable of eating during labor, although mostly people don’t have huge appetites, and many hospitals have policies preventing this in the case of an emergent caesarian. if someone is having a particularly long labor and their energy is flagging, you might give them tea with honey, juice, or broth to give them a bit of a boost.
19. a simplified overview of the process of labor is that during the first stage, the cervix will dilate from completely closed to a hole 10cm in diameter. during the second stage, the contractions of the uterus put pressure on the baby, moving it down through the open cervix and into the birth canal. this typically happens pretty slowly (especially for a first timer) and it is not unusual for someone to push for an hour or two with their first baby. the third stage follows the birth of the baby, and usually consists of a bit of a break and then some very mild contractions as the placenta is separated from the uterine wall and then is pushed out.
20. ‘crowning’ is not when the head becomes visible, but rather when the widest diameter of the head emerges from the birth canal (just about at the level of the eyebrows)
21. typically a baby is born head first, with its face looking back towards your character’s spine. however, babies can be born feet first or butt first (breech), or have wonky things like a hand next to their head.
22. if you want to give your character an extra painful labor, make their baby ‘sunny side up’, which is when the baby is facing towards your character’s stomach, rather than their spine. this causes lots of back pain that persists even in between contractions.
23. most (although definitely not all) people find it relieves the pain to have someone push very hard on their sacrum during contractions, or to squeeze their hips. Water is also a massive pain reliever during births
24. if your character has an epidural, they will be bed bound, and will not feel much of anything from about the ribs down. this can make things very chill for them. lots of people take naps, watch tv or read, or hang out with their families while in active labor with an epidural
25. even though they might not feel the pain, someone with an epidural will still be working very hard while pushing (think: sweating, grunting, etc.) and will usually feel a lot of pressure as the baby’s born.
26) it is not uncommon for the baby’s cord to be wrapped around its neck. the doctor or midwife will feel around the baby’s neck after the baby’s head is born to see if there’s a cord there, and will quickly pull it over the head to relieve any pressure if there is a wrap.
27) newborn babies are covered in amniotic fluid, vaginal discharge, vernix (a thick natural moisturizer with a cheesy texture), and sometimes blood.
28) newborn babies are adorable, don’t get me wrong, but they also look like little aliens
Okay, there’s a lot of stuff i didn’t include on here, but this post is already getting out of hand. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about birth, or if you’re looking for someone to beta your birth scene, i would be delighted to help!
*purple pushing is the practice of a care provider telling someone to push when they have no urge to. should not be practiced except in cases of a true emergency where the baby needs to be born right this minute, although it is still frequently practiced in many hospitals.
john and the harvester again! this time it's the off season, tho, so the harvester is like. in the Other World. conveniently, mirrors are doors and windows into Other Places!
[CW] nbpreg / mpreg Two cuties being cute. That was the winner of one of my weekly polls! You can find one more pic & more on my ρατrεοn. Find hundreds of more pics on my 🟠 P★treon! Commission/Livestream Info 💰📺 here.
they will not leave my brain what did you feed them (bug convo based on me and my brother..... he is so mean 2 me </3)
(and.. sorry for the spam this was my cooldown doodle topic sobs)
AAAAAAAAA YOU SPOIL ME SO MUUCH
This is SOOOO how the twins would act, lil weirdos 💖 I LOVE how you drew them ;O;
lil rapid preg/progress drawing of an OC, bout to have a litter of cute monster babies
Pregnant Charles Week Day 3: Historical/Medieval au (ABO)
what happens is that Charles’ pup arrives early and he has to give birth alone while his husband is at war, he’s inconsolable at first but everything is fine after Erik rushes from the battle and arrives right after the birth to be with his mate and meet their pup <3