Child birth

[Findingthisdifficult1234]

I'm currently almost 15 weeks pregnant and have been thinking alot about childbirth lately.
Feeling a bit nervous about the whole thing if I'm honest- dont really know what to expect, never seen a birthing video or anything. What did you do to prepare for child birth? Or did you just go with it?

Personally, I don't think anything can prepare you. But by the end you will just want baby out and all of ur dignity goes out the window!!! ????

I prayed that the transporter from star trek would become reality and they'd beam the baby out. sadly this hasn't happened yet (though you might be lucky) and I ended up with a c-sec for each of my dds. not half as bad as I feared.

I screamed my head off in labour. And beforehand I swore I wouldn't be 'that woman'. But I was, it was the only way I could deal with the pain!
I found lots of info helped me while I was pregnant. Whilst it didn't prepare me for how I felt or the pain of contractions, I did feel very well informed about the physical process and my options re pain relief and what role my husband played.

And yes it's scary as hell and people do like to scare you with their stories but every birth is different, just try and focus on what you get at the end says she who actually forgot she was having a baby mid way through labour until DH said 'I can see the head' oh yeah...that's what I'm doing...

My best tips were remember birth is natural, pain killers are free, move around only you know your best birth position and imagine the baby in your home and future life rather than concentrating on the birth itself.
My waters went at home a few hrs later contractions started like waves of period pain but nowhere near as painful, so we went for pizza. The off to hospital and waited a couple of hrs for mobile epidural and gas and air for the 3 pushes to get him out.

I think it helps to accept that you will deal with it in your own way based upon what happens at the time.

But by the end you will just want baby out and all of ur dignity goes out the window!!!

Those two things!! Also I recommend the Bump book someone else mentioned above. I did a lot of reading, but watched no videos - I knew my options, I did all that I could do to minimise risk regards the things I was more anxious about, but I ended up with things I'd definitely not wanted prior to the event, and it didn't matter a squat. I just wanted the baby out and the pain to stop.. both of which happened in a broadly positive way!

Re good youtube vids. the hippy home births are your best bet. Some of those women make it look a piece of piss and seeing women birth over the kitchen table or on the loo really helped me feel it's not a big deal. Fwiw I'm not a hippy home birther but did have a good stoical birth in hospital.

Def get as much info as you can and ask people who have been through it. Clue yourself in on natural and csection (find out just how many people are in the room for a section as my friend was glad she was prepared for a crowd) and research pain relief options and when to go to labour ward.

I wasn't scared of labour at all and I think not dwelling on the inevitable helped me a lot as when it happened I just got on with it.
I ask kept thinking that loads of women are giving birth all the time so it must be achievable.

I had a pretty normal labour. Yes it hurt like a mofo, but I made it with just gas and air (I'm a wimp so if I can make it, anyone can). Water birth, no screams just lots of grunting and pushing like my life depended on it. Third degree tear but didn't notice that at all through my naked pushing.
All ok in the end and my god I'd do it all over again because of what I got at the end of it.