Pregnant and panicking...advice please! x

[xsx]

Hi

I've just found out i'm 5 weeks pregnant and I'm panicking as I am petrified of child birth, so much so that I'm not sure if i'll be able to continue.

I've never planned to have kids, however I'm now 30 so for me it's now or never. Part of me still doesn't want kids, but if I don't i don't know if i will later regret it.

I'm not sure what to do :/

Has anyone else dealt with extreme fear of pregnancy / childbirth?

I've been looking at natural vs c section and was wondering if it was possible to be put under to have a c section and what the pain is like after? If it would be worse than natural.

Natural scares me cause the pain and tears. I already have digestive problems so don't want to tear and end up with more.

My husband is in the army and is away so I don't have anyone to talk this through with :/

Any help would be appreciated. I'm worried that my fear is going to end what I want to be a successful pregnancy.

Thanks xx

 

[Princess81]

What you describe is tocophobia and people can elect to have Caesarean sections to help manage this. There are also very good perinatal mental health teams who could help you with this. Csections are most certainly harder to recover from than the majority of vaginal deliveries. Sending hugs x

 

[MissKW]

Honestly, for me and many others the Labour, birth and healing afterwards was a breeze compared to pregnancy, particularly the first trimester! So if you can get through that, you can definitely cope with birth!
I hated pregnancy, sometimes I would sit in tears wishing I was no longer pregnant even though I wanted my baby so badly, and it dragged. Labour? A day or 2 of pain and the most wonderful reward afterwards. I had a natural birth with no pain relief (other than gas at the very end). Yes it was painful in a way you don't understand until you go through it, but it's a good pain there for a reason and we are made to cope with it. We CAN and DO cope with it. And it's all over in a flash. I would do it all 1000x over for my little boy!! It really is sooo soooo worth it, I can't even describe how amazing life is now that we have our son. And it's so true that when you have your baby in your arms, all the pain of pregnancy and birth is long gone and forgotten. I'm 12weeks postpartum and cant remember what all the fuss was about lol. Plus I was completely back to normal after around 4weeks (of course varies person to person).
My hubby wants a second, I never wanted a second but the experience has been so amazing so far that I'm highly considering it.
The thought of having to be pregnant again puts me off, but the birth doesn't bother me in the slightest. And remember straight away afterwards healing can begin and you are on your way to feeling like yourself again.
Babies are far easier than people made them out to be, I love being a mum and I get far more sleep now he's here than I ever did during pregnancy. My life hasn't changed much, I still do everything I did before, I just have this amazing little bundle to share life with and he's fitted in perfectly.
Congratulations on your pregnancy, you have soooo much to look forward to, your life is changing for the better, you have nothing to worry about (your in good hands!) so just try to relax and enjoy the experience as much as you can whilst you have this amazing opportunity
I promise it will all be worth it in the end!!