Anyone else really calm? Or am I in for a shock!?!?

[Lisamj]

Hi all,

Was talking about the birth to DH last night, and I was telling him ow calm I am feeling about it all....and as well as the excitement of meeting our baby, I'm excited about experiencing birth and how my body will cope with the challenge.

Am I loopy or does anyone else feel like this? I know births don't always go according to plan and that I might eat my words though!

L xx

 

[Ginnymarie]

hello

I was terrified but now I am thinking well I can't change what is going to happen so got to embrace it and go for it, need to have faith in my body, mu mind and my OH and see how things go.
Feel like I am preparing for a marathon and know it will be very hard.
I am scared of being cut and of things like a c-section but putting the scary things out of my mind
x

 

[kalia]

I see labour more as a necessary evil than something I'd love to do. But I am calm about it as it means an end to being pregnant

I think once labour starts and the reality of just how much pain I will have to cope with starts to sink in I will panic a bit. At the moment I'm OK with it though. I had a really sore pain in my stomach for half an hour on Saturday and I started to realise then how difficult it would be to remember coping strategies - I naturally held my breath and it took effort to remember to breath properly and relax my muscles.

 

[ASD123456]

I feel very similar, In fact I'd say I'm looking forward to it as long as things go to plan so to speak. I know it's going to be bloody hard but you get to meet you baby at the end of it and also finally find out if I'm having a boy or girl

Alex xxx

 

[muppetmummy]

I'm really excited about it I was lucky to have a relatively easy and straightforward labour the first time around (it didn't feel easy at the time, but having heard some other birth stories I got off lightly!), so I hope things go as well again
I'll probably panic a bit when things kick off though

 

[Happybunny]

I feel remarkably calm, I have put it down to the hypnobirthing course I did (I wasn't calm before that.)

I have no idea what labour will be like, but there is no use worrying about until it happens.

 

[lfc_sarah]

It changes for me...

Sometimes im calm...

Sometimes im worried..

 

[Sherlock]

I'm quite calm also. I've been preparing myself mentally for it since I became PG. And as time has gone on and I've read up on things, talked to people and become infomed on all aspects of labour, pain relief and procedures etc, I've settled on my choice with the support of my husband and MW and am very content.

Yes I am nervous about giving birth, but the pain side of things does not bother me per se. I know it'll hurt, not much I can do to prepare myself for the possible level of pain as each woman is different. But I can rationalise pain if I know what is causing it, and as labour will be the reason, I am more confident in coping with it than say breaking a leg. For me it will be about focusing on breathing through the contractions rather than focusing on the pain of them. Just makes it harder. Going to go with the flow and try not to tense up and fight it.

Also as my pain relief plan is minimal, I hope if I labour naturally to allow myself to build up a tolerance level to the early stage pain of contractions and not rely on pain relief too soon. So when I do actually start using it I'll feel the benefit more.

 

[Suzie and Faith]

My family think i'm unrealistic because i'm calm - they spent an hour yesterday talking about excruciating pain.

I think they think I think (you follow that!) that it won't hurt because I want a homebirth with minimal pain relief. But that isn't the case, i know it'll hurt a lot!

I'm calm about labour, not so much about bringing up and feeding a baby!

Labour is pain with a purpose! And it will end and you will get a huge reward at the end... so what's not to be calm about...


P.S if i got overdue i may be less calm as i really don't want a hospital birth!

 

[Lisamj]

At least I'm not alone!

The way I'm looking at it is that I am doing everything possible now to try and have as natural and calm birth as possible: Pregnancy Yoga, hypnobirthing, reflexology and visualising an active birth. If things don't work out that way then so be it, but I'm trying my best not to focus on the bad stuff or the unknown in the meantime

xx

 

[bumpmakes3]

I hear ya - I'm excited too in a strange kind of way. The whole labour thing is such a massive event and with all the bag packing, preparation etc, it's almost like planning for a holiday Before you even think it, I'm not expecting it to be an actual holiday as such.....

Having never done it before and maybe never doing it again, it's something I might as well look forward to as dread because it's going to happen anyway

Clearly by this time next week I'll have changed my mind and I'll be bricking it

 

[kalia]

Have I told you my (possibly/probably crazy) theory on coping with pain and pain relief?

The more pain we are in, the less we will remember - our brains will block it and it is impossible to properly remember what pain feels like. So I want a water birth with gas and air, after having used TENS for the first stage, but I don't want anything more because I don't want clear memories of the pain. An epidural seems like a bad plan to me because then I'll remember things more clearly.

I'd rather (while sitting here with mild aches and pains, nothing excruciating ) go through more pain and forget it than slightly less and be traumatised with the memory of it for a long time.

Like I say, a crazy theory, but it might just work!

 

[cinnamon81]

I'm quite calm and really looking forward to birth and meeting my baby.

What scares me is not being allowed to do what I want in labour, I don't want the midwives to interfere too much, I don't want to be induced, I don't want a time limit on how long I'm allowed to labour for.... Maybe I'll change my mind after a few hours of pain though

 

[BeckyJ]

i was ok until i had to go to the delivery suite last week and now im petrified
i just thought it would be so much nicer than what it was

 

[Happybunny]

My family think i'm unrealistic because i'm calm - they spent an hour yesterday talking about excruciating pain.

Why do people always insist on telling us how terrible labour is? It really isn't helpful as everyone has different experiences. It just makes people who are firghtened, more so, which could effect their pain levels (more tense, so hurts more).
I have asked people not to say negative things about birth to me, not because I am niave - just because I think it is incredibly mean and unhelpful.

 

[abcd1234]

I'm too calm about everything too, people in work were saying this weekend how nothing seems to faze me, it does, just not this baby stuff.

I see it as exciting and yeah i'm looking forward to labour cos it means i'll be meeting my little girl soon. I no it'll hurt but it wont hurt forever and she'll be worth it.

I'm also looking forward to my first night getting up and feeding her, after the first i no i'll have had enough tho lol

 

[-Kelly-]

I was very calm about the labour and trusted my body to do what was needed - it's not like I had a choice, he was going to come out whether I liked it or not! I think it made a massive difference to the birth, worrying about it (although I know it can be hard not to) doesn't achieve anything and the more relaxed you can be the better

I kept telling myself that I was being too optimistic and I was in for a shock but in the end the whole birth was fine and I'd have no worries about doing it again.

 

[sarah2807]

I'm really calm too and sort of looking forward to it (only cos it's exciting cos it means Lo is coming)

I know it will hurt like nothing I've experienced but I don't see the point in spending 9 months worrying about it!
I'm pleased that I'm not bothered cos i sometimes worry yoo much about things-I might chage my ming nearer the time tho.