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Childbirth

Terrified of what I'll say in labour

81 replies

thisismyfirst · 13/09/2008 22:55

I am 38 weeks, and have had lovely healthy pregnancy (physically) but very upsetting (emotionally).

I am absolutely terrified of childbirth - the pain - the 'transition stage' - all of it, and I'm most worried about what I'll say in labour. I'm worried I'll say things I don't mean. I'm worried I'll blame my DH; I'm worried I'll say I didn't want the baby in the first place; or say things that aren't true.

Does G&A, or just the pain itself, really make you say things you don't mean or that aren't true; or worse that ARE true but you wouldn't want to admit them in a million years? Please help me. I can't sleep for worrying about labour.

OP posts:

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cyteen · 16/09/2008 13:48

lol savetheplanet, i've now got a vision of you pushing, surrounded by midwives going "ah go on, go on go on go on go on go on"

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onepieceoflollipop · 16/09/2008 13:55

I insisted that the midwife and the health care assistant look at and admire my toenails. I had somehow managed to do a mini pedicure and paint my nails the night before I went into labour. They both seemed surprised at my insistence but made suitably complimentary responses.

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carrieon · 16/09/2008 20:53

I found g&a made me feel 'in the room but not of the room' iyswim, as in, I could hear and understand what was going on, but struggled to respond to/interact with it.
Classic was when the midwife was telling me very sternly to listen and I was replying 'I am listening' and this went on several times and in my head I was thinking 'stupid woman, I'm listening, just tell me what you need to say!' but dh reliably informed me later that I was slurring and shouting 'IIIII AAAAAMMMM LISSSSENNNNNIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG' which they took to mean that I really wasn't. Shortly after this I was moved from the pool to a bed and the midwife said 'you're doing really well' and in a rare moment of clarity I turned to her and said 'that's utter codswollop and we both know it.' And then I got on with the next contraction. She didn't argue, it was the most honest thing anyone said all labour. But seriously, where did I find a word like codswallop?!
I'm about to go through it again in a couple of weeks and I've been telling dh to say to me 'you do the contracting, I'll do the talking' to remind me that I'm talking jibberish!

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melaswa · 19/09/2008 12:21

I had pethedine and was really nice to my dp but i did ask the midwife what happens if i poo in the birthing pool and she said they will just fish it out, so then i asked if it was ok to wee in there so i didnt have to get out for the toilet! how embarressing!

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sparklefrog · 19/09/2008 13:00

Hi everyone. I'm new here, and this is my first post.

I had my dd 6 weeks ago, and during the labour, I knew exactly what I was saying.
During the transitional stage, I told my dp I hated him, that it was all his fault.
I told the midwife I wanted to go home to bed, and that I didn't want to give birth, and I was not going to give birth, I was going to go home to bed.
The nasty me went on for about 15 minutes before my dd was born. It wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be, and I'd be happy to do it again.

I warned my dp beforehand to ignore anything I said because labour pain might make me angry and I might say things I didn't mean.
He was fine about it.

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katerocks · 20/09/2008 10:57

Hey there

Not had time to read all the other posts - who knows you might have had your LO by now!
All I know is that I was so exhausted that I could hardly talk and all I kept saying was that I couldn't do it any more and I wanted to go home. I could barely even inhale the gas and air (but what wonderful stuff that is). Apparently I said f* at one point but I don't remember. But what is funny is that I seemed to have enough energy to scream louder than I ever thought I or anyone else could. My dp and the midwife kept telling me not to as I was wasting energy, but you know what, even though I think I could have toned it down a bit - when else are you going to be able to scream like that and it be accepted!!!
My advice is just relax and say what you like and scream and cry as much as you want to - it will all be forgotten about as soon as that little bundle is in your arms x