They dont always happen, my very close friend had her baby boy a few months back and didnt have any tears or anything!

Just think that it will be a very positive and good experience, think positive hun XXX

I dread the thought of a c-section tbh :/ The thought of not being able to do much for 6 weeks and being almost house-bound puts me off altogether, plus that your stomach has an even lesser chance of going back to normal as well!

I might be in pain but goddamit, I need a natural birth!

I do pregnancy yoga and try to practise my breathing every night. They show us this thing called the golden thread and its supposed to help a LOT with pain relief and working your way through contractions.

I think I'm actually looking forward to the birth!!

Aaaaaaw it's just one of those things that is inexplainable to other people really! You just don't know what to expect and you can't imagine what it's like.

This is my 3rd I'm due in December. I had an epidural with my first because I was a bit of a wimp....great no pain at all, but it did drag on for a while. I assumed I was going to have an epidural with my 2nd but she wasn't hanging about and it was too late for me. I had gas and air aswell as morphine, and I'll tell you this it was absolutely fine! I felt so much better for it afterwards as well (the epi left me feeling a bit groggy)

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that labour isn't as bad as you think it will be. Your head's off somewhere else and you're not really there at the time and the drugs they can give you are great. I went from 2cms to fully dilated in 20 minutes and remember in that time having 3 of the most dreadful contractions but once you're ready to go it's fine. Everything is so stretchy down there once you're all open that the crowning isn't actually that bad either, it's just a bit uncomfortable.

I'm confident enough to have the gas and air this time and to be perfectly honest with you (and I know everyone tells you this but it's true!!) as soon as you see baby you immediately forget the whole thing!

I am petrified too, I wanted a water birth because i feel more relaxed in water but then found out i cant have pain relief if i do that, OR is it just an Epi i cant have, either way i think ill be okay, My best friend is staying in the country over xmas so she can come up to visit me and my mum will be there, she did it 3 times, my gran did it 3 times and my great gran did it 13 times, so im sure i can do it once, wimp or not! eeeek xxx

i am pregnant with my 3rd & i have to say that labour isnt that bad, i had no pain relief both times & its bearable. It does hurt but its builds up so its not constantly painful. I think if you relax about the pain then its easier!!

Hiya,

Maybe you could try a hypnotherapist? Your anxieties about the pain you think you'll experience may well turn out to be gretaer than the pain you do experience if you get me, and you could help combat this by talking through your concerns with ladies who have been through it or, a hypnotherapist.

I know the birth will be painful but women have been doing it for millenia and they have had a huge variety of pain thresholds to get through, you too will be able to endure it, you just may have an epidural planned or a TENs machine or plain gas and air throughout.

Try not to think of it as the most immense pain etc, that negative approach may only serve to make you more anxious and tense, and the best way to deal with labour is to be relaxed and in control of your pain.

I hope you're able to get some help and rethink how the pain is actually such a rewarding experience. Or, you could always opt for a voluntray/elective cesarian, choose not to give birth naturally, although that is quite an extreme approach too

Good luck!

I was like this until i talked to my mom about labor with me. She said i pretty much shot out lol so im hoping its about the same. I was going to get an epidural but after talking to her i think i might not. She said ya its gonna hurt but after baby comes out you litterally forget the pain and its all about baby. I figure i shouldnt worry myself about something i have to do because i cant control it or stop it haha. I say talk to friends or family who have had babys i found it helped me understand things alot like contractions and how long you actually push for both my mom and bestfriends water broke at 11am and babys didnt come until evenining. My gfs best advice is to sleep until you get the pain because youll be dead tired if you walk around all day which makes pushing very tiresome on you.

Dont be scared!!!
its one of the most natural things for a woman too do i think the more up tight and worryed about it you are the harder it will be!
For me i found it really easy and i cant wait to do it again!!! i cant even rember the pain!!! it did hurt i know that but its not mentaly scaring or anything i mean once the babys out thats it all pain is gone!!
Not every one tears and as i said the more relaxed about it you are the easyer it will be!
I'm a pretty petiite 5'2 was a size 8 when i got pregnant now im a 12, and i managed to have an 8lb 10.5oz baby with no stiches no tears nothing! took 20 mins to push him out it was a really enjoyable experiance just dont worry everything will be fine!! im soooooo looking forward to doing it again!!

I must be odd as I'm quite looking forward to it It seems like such an amazing thing to go through and that final push must be the most exhilarating feeling ever

My big sister has had 4 now and says she enjoys the whole thing - my little sister has had 2 (both c-section) and says she didn't enjoy it but would do it 1000 more times

I just think if it really were THAT bad then you wouldn't have all these ladies coming back for 2nd, 3rd, 4th and more babies I'm going to keep telling myself this all the way

I've already decided that I want to get pregnant again asap after having this one as want two babies close together (me and little sister have less than a year between us and we love how close we are). See I've not even been through it once yet and I'm already saying we won't use any contraception afterwards and hopefully go through it all again pretty quickly

Though I also like throwing myself out of planes attached to parachutes so maybe I am just a little bit on the odd side rofl:

blondie i couldnt recomend just diving straight back in to ttc enuff!!!
i soooo wish i was about to have my 2nd baby now! and charlies only just gone 1! i feel like i could really handle it well now im just worrying in another 6 months will it be as easy when he wants even more attention and mummy time!!