Scared!

[Littlehet]

I have a 3 year old girl, and well i only had gas & air for pain relief last time, i was hooked up to a heart rate monitor so couldn't really move either , the midwife couldn't believe i was having contractions as i wasn't in pain she only knew because of my stomach tightening and the monitor. i tried the hypnosis making babies cd last time and oh my it helped i listened to the soothing music all the way through my labour.

I am now 35+2 weeks pregnant with a baby boy, i am so scared, is it because i know what's coming? i was not this scared last time i feel like i may tense up and expect the pain if anyone has any advice i would appreciate it :)

Let me check I understand you: you had a really easy birth first time round? And you're scared it won't be so easy this time?

Has anything happened to make you more anxious, or is there any reason to think things will be worse this time? It sounds as though your hypnosis really helped; are you doing it again now? How about some other relaxation techniques to help keep you relaxed now and at the birth?

yes it was easy, and i am scared this time round im thinking its maybe because i know what's coming , i am doing the hypnosis cd when i can, it does help i just feel anxious maybe from the fact that i know what happens when your in labour and what the nurses have to do etc, i haven't really thought of any relaxation techniques, have you any good ideas that i could possibly try?

I'm not an expert by a very long stretch, but you can get special relaxation CDs that might help. Meditation is good - you can get a book from the library, or look up on google, how to do it. When I am really anxious I try to find somewhere quiet and get myself really relaxed - I focus on each part of my body in turn and imagine it's very warm and heavy and soft - then I go in my head to somewhere nice - a Caribbean beach, or swimming around icebergs, or soaring through the sky like an eagle.

In labour I found it very helpful to dive into the pain. Rather than trying to distract myself from it, I visualised it as different colours, and stepped into it. That was very effective for, ooh, a good three hours!