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Haven't really thought about it in depth until recently, but I'm actually quite afraid of a lot of things nearing the end of my pregnancy. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just being silly or if other people are experiencing the same thing, so I thought I'd make this thread for people to discuss their pregnancy fears and hopefully gain some support. I know I need it!

Fears.

Childbirth. I mean, I know he's got to come out somewhere, but why did God make it so that they come out there? And that it's so painful? I've been trying to make my partner realize just how scared I am about the whole thing, but I don't think he can quite imagine it from my perspective.

For those who've already birthed, what did you do to take the pain off of your mind? Did you feel like giving up? How well would you say you were able to deal with the pain? And seriously, because right now I can't even imagine it, you'll know when and how to push, right?

I agree with Luna, the pain is something that you'll likely never forget, but when you see your baby for the first time you can't really focus on anything else.

I personally reccomend an epidural, very highly. I'm a pretty big wimp and I don't know what I would have done without one. Contractions are awful if you're in labor for a long time (I think I was for about six hours) and that's almost instant relief until it's time to push. The pain comes back then, but it's also time to get down to buisness at that point, so it's not so much just waiting around with the worst cramps... evar.

The thing that helped me the very most was when my actual OB doctor walked in and helped out. He basically yelled at me and told me to just do it xd And then I did!

I never took childbirth classes and I wish that I had, just to help me be a little more prepared.

It all depends on individual pain tolerance, honestly. I've always been good about managing my own pain so birth didn't phase me so much. Though I had terrible monster contractions, like the ones of induced infamy...but it was just my personal body's way of doing it. They lasted over 2 minutes each and would be so bad I'd double over and had a hard time remembering to breath. They started off early like this--almost 12 hours before Ethan was actually born. Now my mother on the other hand only had back labor and those contractions are more like menstrual cramps and far less intense.

I was worried about it before--that's only natural...who doesn't get worried about something they've never done?--but when the time came, I only felt pain with my IV and after when I was getting stitched up and didn't have Ethan to distract me. And even then, it was tolerable and I could deal with it.

So I'm going to be that woman everyone rolls their eyes at and makes comments about and say it honestly wasn't that bad. razz Didn't tickle, but wasn't unmanageable either.

xd Heh, when it's time to push, you'll know. Don't worry about it so much. You won't know how you'll do until it's time to do it. But until then, knowledge is power. Learn as much as you can now.

Depending on how slow or fast your labor is going can make a big difference as to whether or not you can get an epidural.

I knew before I ever got pregnant that I would have one, I have a pretty low tolerance for pain. If I hadn't decided that, I was induced and went into labor rather slowly, so when it started to get bad, I started to remind the nurses of my intent to have an epidural. If you go into labor slowly, you will probably have the option of deciding that you want an epidural if you're not sure.

It does go directly into your spine. You have to lean over a table so your back is curved so they can get the needle between the bones. I have a... SERIOUS problem with needles so it was really awful for me. They gave me a shot of novacaine to numb the area first, and then they put it in. It hurt, really really bad... but about five minutes later I couldn't feel it or my contractions, so it was a big plus for me.

I saw the needle on one show and almost threw up.

sweatdrop

I'll have to ask about their pain medicine again, because he said that the hospital I'm attending doesn't do the one directly into the spine because of the type of drug they use and they said they prefer if you can feel when you push whereas the one that goes into the spine doesn't allow for much movement or feeling.

I should have written this down!

xd

The epidural doesn't help like... at all when you have to push. At least it didn't for me, and it's not supposed to. If you can't feel when to push, how can you? It's really just for the contractions you get while you're waiting to dialate.

I remember after about three hours I felt a contraction again, and got really concerned. I watched the moniter and they weren't any stronger than they had been, so I told the nurse and asked if the epidural was running out or something. She said it wasn't, and checked me out and I was dialated to 10 stressed

I definately experienced every painful moment of the actual childbirth, and I could feel the stitches afterwards. The epidural definately helped me calm down while I was waiting though. I think I took a nap too. I'm pretty glad I had it.

I think the worst part of childbirth is different for everyone. I had intense back labor as well as the normal contractions in the front. I could manage each contraction individually, but the hard part was not knowing when all the pain would end.

This is another reason I think God is male, or that he/nature didn't design this very well, is why oh WHY do nipples have SO many nerves centered on them if it's designed for babies to suck on?! gonk OUCH!



This is the most important quote ever, and especially important regarding "plans" or expectations towards childbirth and parenting! It's never how you imagined! If I had known ahead of time I was destined for a month out of town with my baby in the NICU, I would have been so scared! So sometimes it's better to just trust in fate, or in God, or whatever you like to trust in wink , and know things happen as they're supposed to!



OMG I'd totally forgotten my sis-in-law mentioning this after her C-section until it happened after mine! Talk about pain! They didn't do that after my first delivery though, which wasn't by C-section. Froggi, did they knead your stomach after a normal delivery?

I wish I had had an epidural, and I wanted one! The anesthesiologist took his sweet time arriving at the hospital though (2 hours) and then it was too late. I was induced with Pitocin and it made contractions so much stronger, but it all went quicker. The second time around I wanted to try natural without Pitocin and see if I could handle it better, but like Nopenname said, things never go as planned, so I didn't get to do that either and had my emergency C-section 5 weeks early, and under general anesthesia.

During my first delivery I remember the urge to push, and it was SO different from what I'd been feeling before! It almost MADE me push, whether I wanted to or not. The urge to push must have happened right when I hit 10cm, but the nurses hadn't checked me yet, so when THEY checked me and I was 10, and they told me I could push now, I didn't mention I'd already been pushing because my body made me! Your body knows best, in my opinion!

Oh, and I have to mention that I know of 2 people who feel so guilty because their labors were so easy. One of them, a sister-in-law, was glowing and looked like she'd never given birth when we came to see her and the baby, and she said it just felt like bad period cramps, and wasn't bad. Another lady, of whom I'm envious, was at home, said she felt "a little uncomfortable" so she took a bath, and then wound up with a baby between her legs!