another transition thread

[dinny]

some thoughts that helped you through it....

have been reading Ina May Gaskin and some of the things she says seem really helpful, wondered if there was anything that helped you in labour...?

can´t help but just wanted to say I was really disappointed when I had no noticeable transition.. after all these mystic accounts of how weird it is followed by ´you´ll see´ and then.. i didn´t!

Maybe cos no one pointed it out to me.. did you know when you were in transition or did the midwife tell you that you were?

oh God, knew without a doubt...well, it was the point where it was overwhelming, intense, unbearable, started mooing, puking and was really really mentally confused....in a nutshell

although I only realised it was transition (the first time) afterwards, second time I sort of knew that's what it was

maybe I won't get it this time (3rd)

Don't remember a significant one with my first labour, but my second - my god! One minute I was standing at the end of my bed thinking, hmm, this is getting going nicely, the next I was telling the midwife I needed to get downstairs and into the water asap. She said that I shouldn't get in too early and wanted to check how far gone I was, and I said that there was no time and the baby was going to fall out. And 20 minutes later, he did, under water as well, and it was fabulous!

I didn't really have time for any thinking, it went from "tra la la" to "shit - it's falling out!" with no time for anything. I think I may have gone into a bit of a world of my own with my head in my fireplace. I love Ina May Gaskin though. Good luck - hope you have a brilliant labour!

With my homebirth I knew I was in transition I had the feeling of not wanting to do it anymore also the contractions just stopped and I felt really tired and anxious. I told myself this meant that i'd meet my baby soon got up and had a square of chocolate for energy, tweaked my nipples to start the contractions again and not long after started pushing. I've read since about a totally different subject that mentioned the symptoms of shock and that we give people sweet tea to counteract the adrenalain. The symptoms sounded alot like transisition so perhaps that's why the chocolate helped me.

ooh, good idea, Ledogy - though I always seem to be sick, so would have to force it down between pukes

bohemianbint, IMG is amazing, isn't she?

thanks!

I always have a little nap!

Leodgy, I have just put some Chocolate Buttons in my hosp bag

Just to add my two pennies worth, I don't recall being in transition my first labour but think this was due to be totally unprepared and scared therefore being in a lot of pain.

Second time I did a lot of reading and prepared myself and my labour was an amazing calm experience. I definately went through transition but all I can say is that it was like an out of body experience, I could hear everything around me but it was all so distant and I felt like I was in my own little world.

Labour doesn't have to be painful you just need to truly believe your body can do it, it's what we're designed for! Ina May books were great, I'd also suggest Childbirth Without Fear, it's pretty wordy but makes so much sense and really helped me have a brilliant labour that I'm still buzzing off nearly 9wks later!

wow, that's positive, BSS - thanks for posting

I have Childbirth Without Fear sitting on my shelf, have read a bit but maybe should pick it up again.....

thanks...

Oh. I thought it was the gas and air. I honestly thought I was dying each time I was getting ready to push. I don't mean I was in so much pain I wanted to die, I mean I believed I was dying and accepted it.

nooooo, that's transition stage

oh God, am 37 weeks today - this baby isn't going to be in my tummy for much longer is it?

Ah, I love Ina May. There's a bit in there about a woman whose mantra was 'I'm going to get huge' or somesuch and when I was in labour with ds it was a really positive thought that I kept coming back to, though it sounds wierd now My labour was so quick that I honestly didn't recognise transition. My birth partners said that my breathing got more rapid and I maybe did start to panic a bit but I don't remember it really- I do remember the single contraction that started out normally and ended with a massive grunt as I started to push so I suppose it must have been somewhere arouns that time. Good luck, I think Ina May will serve you well. COmpared to my labour with dd, ds was a lovely birth that I would do again in a heartbeat and I really do think it's because I spent my pregnancy reading lovley positive things rather than that bloody Stoppard woman.

I didn't have transition, or at least if I did it wasn't anything like people seem to describe.

No. 1 I was completely out of control and thinking the walls were eating me at 2cm, by the time I got to 8cm I'd been screaming for 6 hours and begging for an epidural, I think the baby repositioned and everything became a lot calmer. The contractions slowed and the whole thing became manageable.

No. 2 was lovely and calm. Just before the second stage I felt I was nearing the end so asked my mum to make me a cup of tea with sugar, which she did . I got a bit scared because the contractions were nearing the intensity of the 2cms stage with no.1 and I was feeling to push. I was frightend that I would rip in two if I was no further along than 2cm. But it was all over before I knew it and I sipped the freshly made sweet tea with a baby in my arms.

Transition with DS1 was when the MW said he'd be hours and I started howling for an epidural. He arrived 20 min later!

With DS2 I have it written in my birthplan that NO ONE is to tell me how long labour will take as that's what makes me panic (not good with long-term pain).

DH has been briefed to keep telling me the epidural is on its way til the baby is born!

laumiere I refused all internals for that very reason. Plus I wanted to define when I was in established labour myself but the level of intensity, not by someones fingers up my fanjo.

Transition for me was totally missed. My midwife said I had a long way to go, at which point I said to her I felt I might need to get out of the water and have an epidural... she checked to see if I was dilated enough to have one, and realised I was 10 cms!

Obviously it hurt enough for me to want to sack the water birth, but I stayed so polite and calm she didn't have a clue. I thought it was weird because everyone told me that's the time women shout/scream/swear/threaten their husbands .
I now think that's the reason I felt I was losing it a bit and feeling inwardly panicky, because I ws told I was at the bottom of the hill when in actual fact I was at the top... if only he'd not been in a posterior position with such a large cranium it could have been the birth I dreamed of , but forceps got him out in the end.

I think your mental state makes such a difference and 2nd time around I'd be making sure my midwife checked me more to know exactly where along I was, instead of scribbling at her notes all the time (she was freelance).

Burping, and begging to go into hospital for an epidural! . Also overwhelming fear. All sorted out with some homeopathy and rescue remedy and, 4th time round, with the knowledge that those feelings meant baby will be here in minutes

what homeopathy is good for labour?

here's a guide: Homeopathy for labour and childbirth

I took arnica throughout labour to keep sweling down as well as after, and caullophyllum before because I was overdue. It's supposed to give you strong, productive contractions in the first stage, although I'd be careful - I dilated in 3 hours 50 mins and in hindsight it was a bit fast and my son didn't turn out of OP position, I wonder if he might have had time to if I hadn't meddled, but you never can say...

thanks, Lotster

think aconite is meant to be good for fear of transition...will give it a try!