Thank you for asking.
Yes, I meant to do a proper birth announcement thread but it didn't really happen. I think that I'm now fine with the process of birth, having had a good experience. I think that I'm lucky that I can deal well with the contractions and I have contractions that are manageable with breathing and relaxation techniques. The midwife wasn't around much (actually, she wasn't around at all for the first stage, the student came in occasionally to check the foetal heartbeat and my blood pressure) but DH was a fantastic birth partner. I think that he was shocked at how ill-prepared he was last time, he had so many false preconceptions, despite the antenatal classes and was determined to make up for it this time.
It was a bit hairy in the second stage, as DD2 was failing to descend, which is of course where it all went pear-shaped last time. I came very close to a transfer, and DH was very worried about how I would deal emotionally with that. Luckily I was able to get her out eventually. And also luckily the midwife had fudged the time of the start of the second stage, so that I had enough time to push her out without bringing up any official red flags. She had called the senior midwife in by the end though as DD2 had taken such a long time to descend. Afterwards DH told me that unlike last time, he had worried about me (rather than all the focus being on the baby) and he told me how well I'd done and how proud of me he was - another good outcome that I didn't have with DD1.
The problem that I have now, having dealt with the process, is to deal with the physical aftermath. I am not in the degree of pain that I was with DD1 at this stage, which is great, but I do have some very hard taught tissue on my perineum. I know that the midwife had a hard time with some of the stitches as the tissue was in a bad way from the last time. So I'm hoping that things will heal well, but I'm not too optimistic right now. DH is determined that we will get things sorted though.
I had a final counselling session after the delivery and the counsellor said that she was impressed at how far I'd come emotionally since I first saw her and that I seemed much stronger. She did ask whether I was OK with the OB from DD1's delivery though, and the answer is "no". This is probably a bit melodramatic, but the closest analogy that I can think of is that it would be like being OK with someone who raped me. He sliced through my vagina without my permission, lied to me about it, destroyed my G-spot, and ruined my sex life for at least two year (hopefully not forever...). How could I be OK about that? But at least it doesn't dominate my life like it used to.
Sorry, very long post.