7 Things Every Laboring Woman Thinks When She's Getting That Damn Catheter
When you picture going to the hospital to have a baby, all kinds of anxiety-inducing things come to mind: a flurry of doctors and nurses hovering over you in the wake of an emergency, being rushed to surgery, and the fear of the epidural needle, to name a few. No no one seems to think about that damn post-epidural catheter, though, and it's kind of the worst. In fact, I bet there are things every laboring woman thinks when she's getting a catheter, and most of them are of the "hell no" variety. At a time when the whole point is to get something out of your body (the baby), inserting something into your body (the catheter) just doesn't seem right.
I was ill-prepared for the catheter-insertion part of my labor. I already was feeling beyond uncomfortable, even with the epidural having been inserted. I mean, yeah, I felt floaty and drunk from the drugs, but I also was very aware of the fact that from here on out I was a prisoner in my hospital bed. First, the epidural made my legs feel like cement blocks, rendering me unable to walk even if I had been willing. And if by some miracle I had been able to overcome the powerful epidural, and had forgotten about the catheter being attached, boy would I be in for a painful reminder the minute I tried to wander from my hospital bed.
Image from Fotolia via Romper.
