Any happy lovely childbirth stories out there?

[HolyGuacamole]

OK, long story short. Planning children in the near-ish future, I am completely and irrationaly terrified of any type of medical procedure and the thought of childbirth is like "whoa, ultra mega scary" and that's an understatement.

So does anyone have any really positive birth stories where things went really smoothly and to plan, (preferably with as little gory detail as possible)?

Mine was short, intense, and I got exactly what I wanted: home waterbirth with just gas and air and alot of mooing.

My experience of contractions was definitely not of the "cup of tea in-between" variety. I woke at 5am with a huge contraction, got in pool and closed eyes and mooed for 6 hours until DS arrived.

It was amazing really. Whenever I said "I can't do this" my midwife would say that my body was doing it regardless. You just have to give in to it all.

Doing it again in 5 months time and am looking forward to it.

I had an irrational fear of childbirth, in part due to reading an article in Readers Digest in a dentist's waiting room, that probably wasn't best read by a 12year old.

My recommendations would be these:

EXERCISE IS GOOD - I would suggest you get fit before you get pregnant and keep exercising during birth. Cycling, jogging, yoga & pilates are all good.

EDUCATION IS POWER - Go to the NCT/NHS classes (earlier rather than later) and read a few books on all subjects you are particularly interested in. The idea is that in any given situation you will understand what is going on, you will be more in charge and feel strong.

GET A DOULA - They help get the best outcome for you in every eventuality, have lots of experience and are 100% on your side.

Also, once you get pregnant find ways not to get stressed about it - keep busy, do counselling if you feel you need it, talk to others. Remember, there may well be some challenging times during pregnancy and/or childbirth but many good things in life you have to fight for a bit.

That is just my thoughts - my biggest regret about my first pregnancy is being terrified about the birth.

...oh and I had a great birth too by the way. Very quick - only TENS & gas/air. One push for the head, one push for the body.

Hi! I gave birth to ds (my first) 5 weeks ago and my labour and birth experience was much more positive than I had imagined it could be. I was pretty scared beforehand becoz I have a fairly poor pain tolerance and a phobia of needles.

I see several other people have mentioned hypnobirthing - I got the book and found it nice to read becoz it is very positive about women's ability to give birth etc, but didn't really manage to grasp all the imagery and breathing stuff and found it all a bit of an effort. Instead, I got a natal hypnotherapy cd (apparently not the same as hypnobirthing..) from www.natalhypnotherapy.com which was much less harde work - it lasts about 40 mins and you just listen to it 2 or 3 times a week in the later weeks of pregnancy. It is really calming and relaxing and I kept falling asleep during it (apparently that is ok, it still goes into your subconscious!) It is meant to make you feel calm and positive about your ability to give birth easily and safely.

I had a 12 and a half hour labour, initially just with a TENS machine then using gas and air later on. The gas and air made me a bit nauseous so I had an epidural later, but not until I was 8cm dilated. The pain was always maneagable but it was night-time and I hadn't slept and was getting very tired. The epidural was wonderful, it took away all my tummy pain which meant I could concentrate easily on pushing. My midwife said that I was incredibly calm throughout and she couldn't believe I was chatting and laughing inbetween contractions. I even sent a text message to my friends when I was 8cm! I am certain that the dvd helped, as at no point did I feel that I wasn't in control or couldn't manage. I was so happy afterwards that it wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected. I had a tear and some stitches, but they used local anaesthetic and I couldn't feel the stitches being put in. I definitely want another 1 or 2 children and will be much less scared next time!

Hope this helps and good luck with everything
Loluv x

my dd2 was born almost 7 months ago.

At 7.45 in the morning I was buying Grazia in the newsagents
At 9.45 I had her in my arms.
It was a c/s.
I had an excellent recovery
Breastfed well and easily
Baby was a sweet little dink that settled easily into a routine

Don't ask about dd1 though............