things your partner should (or should not say) while in labor...

I remember my DH saying he was so uncomfortable sleeping in the chair they had in the room. Yeah, buddy YOU'RE the uncomfortable one!

Re: things your partner should (or should not say) while in labor...

I agree with PP - relax is not a good thing to hear! I got "Are you ok" a lot too and yes, that was annoying.

Here was my experience:
- Less words spoken the better while I was in active labor before the epi. Be prepared to do whatever I say - get me ice, get me the barf bucket, etc. and I reserved the right not to say please.
-Once I got the epi, we were good, talking (almost normally, but I was kind of drugged), laughing, etc.
-Once pushing started, he was helping me count to 10 and reminding me to hold my breath, etc. It was helpful and also he was telling me - we are almost there, etc.
-After delivery, the phrase "What can I do for you" - "let me hold the baby so you can rest" were basically the only things I wanted to hear.

One word of caution on the back rubbing - when I was in active labor, my back hurt so bad, I didn't want anyone near me. So just prepare your DH that you reserve the right to change your instructions at any time

Good luck, it actually wasn't as bad as I expected.

things your partner should (or should not say) while in labor...

I did tell my DH to shut up once as I was pushing. He told me to sit my head up to breathe instead of letting me have it to the side to breathe n push the baby out.

I don't like to be bothered when I'm in pain with words of comfort. Just hold my hand. Maybe tell me I'm doing a good job. N then zip it. Lol.

Re: things your partner should (or should not say) while in labor...

things your partner should (or should not say) while in labor...

I remember DH asking me 'what's wrong' when I was having an intense contraction. I almost murdered him.

Re: things your partner should (or should not say) while in labor...

my DH was my support the whole time. I think if he didn't keep it together I would not have kept it together as I opted not to get an epi. He helped me through each contraction 1 at a time and even through pushing he was encouraging. It was a great birthing experience all the way around

Message edited 1/29/2013 12:23:27 PM.

Re: things your partner should (or should not say) while in labor...

DH had his heart in the right place butttttttt the dummy kept repeating what the doc and nurses were saying. When it came to break time from pushing I told him "STOP FCUKIN REPEATING THEM. I CAN HEAR!!! Anything else that came out of his mouth was awesome. Thank god I only needed to push for 20mins.

Re: things your partner should (or should not say) while in labor...

I think he was shell shocked. Because during pushing and crowing I was in soooo much pain that I was screaming like they do in the horror movies.
Blood curdling screams.
He just stood there helpless.
He tried putting a cold rag on my head at one point and I flung it off and onto the floor and yelled- get this SHYT off of me!
I also ripped the oxygen mask off and yelled the same thing at the nurse

I was also yelling at my Dr. Telling him he was a liar, that I couldn't do this, that she wasn't close, taht I wasn't making any progress and please go in there and take her out NOW!

Yeah I was a mess.
I'm not proud of how I acted, but hey, whatever it takes to get the baby out

They all forgave me!

things your partner should (or should not say) while in labor...

I was in labor for 30 hours from start to finish. If my DH told me how tired he was one more time DS was going to be a fatherless child!