other people are nervous about labour right?

[Ladypug]

Hate not knowing what to expect or when it will happen. Seem to hear lots of horror stories! Any advice for getting through it very welcome :-)

Stupid autocorrect.

My hypnobirthing cd stopped me being nervous. I also told myself to go with the flow and if I needed pain relief to ask for it and not be a hero. I expected to really struggle with any pain.

I surprised myself by breathing through my contractions, attempting gas and air for two of them and deciding it wasn't for me. From my waters starting to go and my DD arriving it was just six hours. I went from 5-10cm in two hours with no pain relief othet than the two puffs of G&A.

Agreed, mummyagain - this time I'm scared because I know how bad it could be.

First time round I believed all that stuff about it being "sensations" rather than pain, and childbirth bring manageable. I was curious, not nervous. So when the birth wasn't manageable pain-wise in any way, it was more of a shock than if I'd been fully prepared.

This time I'm nervous but am keeping calm by taking a completely different approach - ie ask for drugs as soon as I need them, hope its over quickly, and don't rely on breathing exercises or active birth positions to do much!

I think nerves are so normal! I'm a doctor who'd seen lots of awful births so did hypnobirthing to try and offset that and whilst there is a fair bit of luck involved (babies position etc) it really helped me. I felt calm and in control most of the time. Maybe it's because I knew the worst but it was so much better than I expected...dare I say I almost enjoyed the experience! I found reading lots of positive birth stories really helped me relax. Though I think it's a personal balance how informed you want to be vs how much that info will scare you. Hope it goes really well for you OP

You will be fine OP
I was nervous as hell when I was pregnant with DD. But when it actually happened, I realised that yeah it hurts, but it's really mind over matter. the way I looked at it, each contraction was a step closer to it being over. So instead of thinking about the million more contractions it would take to get my baby out, I thought about the last one being one less contraction to getting my baby out

Get to reading loads of positive birth stories. There's a site called tell me a good birth story or something, and lots of others. Plant the seeds of optimism! Birth can be SO wonderful. I had a doula who worked on my positivity from early on and so I wasn't nervous for either birth and had a frickin great time. Sometimes medical problems get in the way but those aside, I really believe positivity can help (based on the fact that fear causes our muscles and nerves to translate labour sensations into pain).. Get all lovey dovey with your oh and watch positive births on YouTube. Good luck, enjoy it!

I was very nervous up until a week or so before. I watched OBEM on loop, not sure how good an Idea that was, but I needed to know what happens and I had no clue other than the fluffy NCT stuff. In the end I just thought this is going to hurt, if I panic or get tense it's going to hurt or more, it's not going to last forever and will eventually be over and done with. I mean carrying DC1 for 9 months was long enough and I was soooo ready to give birth.

I tried to stay upright and in control of myself throughout in order to stay calm. I think it worked. Not having DH in the room winding me up with his nervous energy really helped (he was outside with DSS in the waiting room). I think if someone is going to be just as nervous as you (if not more so) then they are not going to be the best birth partner. They will make you tense too.

Actually it was not that bad an experience, the worst bit was the stitches.

I'm 40 week's today and very nervous first baby its the unknown that frightens me the most and how I'm going to react to the pain but trying not to think about it too much until it happens.

Shitting bricks. It doesn't help that I'm not an Earth Mother type, so I don't really share the whole 'want it to be so natural and no painkillers" stuff. I think it's fantastic that one in three women don't die in childbirth any more, that permanent horrendous injuries are so much less common and that you can have painkillers if you want them. I love it when other mums to be tell me how much they're going to eschew any type of drug. All the more for me.