How bad is birth really?
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Its painful and there are points you think I cant do this anymore but you do and you just get through it. You have to quickly accept your in it and it will only end once the baby is born. You will be ok, and you certainly wont die!
It's different for everyone. I had an extremely long labour the first time total of 46 hrs. I found the contractions up until the pushing to be the worst. Pushing him out wasn't much of an issue and the ring of fire people say about I didn't even feel (probably all the gas and air though) But from what I remember it wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be
I was anxious to the point I wrote a list of “if I die” and gave it to my mum xx Honestly it is painful but it is really hard to describe the pain, all I can think is like when you get cramp in your leg and you feel it coming in then you get the cramp and literally can’t move then it kind of fades into an ache. This and it grows in intensity xx The actual pushing I found soooo much better than the initial contractions as i focussed in hearing down rather than the pain xx The ring of fire to me felt noticeable but not unbearable and I just took a deep breath and didn’t keep it stop my progress xx Listen to your body x As I walked into the hospital I looked back at the door and mentally left my anxiety at the door x then looked forward and visualised me walking back towards me with the baby xx I did find planning for the worst helped me but it won’t help everyone xx
Have you done any hypnobirthing? My first birth didn’t go as planned but I hypnobirthed through it and it was amazing and I felt so calm despite it not being my plan A x
@Gemma been reading a HB book and have a online course tomorrow - even though I’m due in 3 days so may be a bit late lol
As others have said, I found contractions worse with all three of mine than pushing. Usually you get this overwhelming feeling of oh my god I can’t do this…and it means the end is near pushing feels easier because you have a purpose and you know once it’s done, baby will be here. Birth is so unpredictable, and honestly I have found myself full of anxiety each time even though I’d been through it before. But baby is 9 days old now and it’s already a distant memory, and I’m able to focus on the amazing parts of it rather than the pain etc
Overall I would say I in a strange way really enjoyed the experience and it is true what people say that it melts away once that baby is on your chest xx
Never too late even if it helps you a little bit. You got this, we were designed to birth xx
One thing I found really helpful was knowing about the ‘transition’ phase - that there would come a time that I would start to believe I couldn’t do it, I’d start asking for more pain relief, and generally losing motivation. Having this knowledge meant that when I reached that stage, I had the mental power to know it was temporary and it was just the natural progression of labour, and that it also meant I’d be holding my baby really really soon - and I was! It’s an incredible experience, painful yes but that will all pale into insignificance the moment you are handed that baby 🥰 I’d do it again in a heartbeat. The midwives are incredible. They know what they’re doing, trust them and trust your body and you’ll be fine - it’s really hard to do but it’s important you don’t let the fear and anxiety take hold too much as the more relaxed you can be, the better labour is likely to be - keeping your oxytocin levels high and adrenaline levels low is really important.
@Heather you made it sound amazing lol thank you 🥰
My first time I found it longer than expected, I found that the end contractions were worse than I imagine, but pushing baby out to be pretty easy! It’s honestly different for everyone. It’s not comfortable but most of us go back and do it again! It does end though and I will say it’s very empowering!