please put my mind at ease

Ok girls not ttc yet but will be in the next year. Anyways i am petrified of labour & i mean petrified, actually now that i think about it the whole pregnancy thing is terrifying me. Dont know how i would cope with it, please tell me this normal, Cant tell all this to hubbie cos he will just saw ah you'll be grand, easy for him to say he wont have to go through it. I keep thinking if i am this bad now i would spend the full 9 months petrified!!!

hey corkcuu - i just keep telling myself, that if billions of other women can do it, then so can i!! plus there's so many extra things u can do these days to prepare urself physically and mentally - yoga, hyponotherapy, we're spoiled really! i think it's perfectly natural to be a bit worried about the whole thing, it's a big deal - try not to worry too much, u'll be grand.

Hi, I had a baby four months ago and for my whole pregnancy I just avoided talking about the labour. I thought if I didn't think about it I would be grand. Don't listen to stories that others say as every labour will be different. The way I saw it was not to think about it until it happened and at that stage you couldn't stop it so you just wanted it over with. I got the epidural but it only worked on one side so I had gas and air too as it was too late for a top up and I had a great labour. H2B kept asking me would I not let out a scream or something. I was lucky as my baby was only 7lbs and had a small head but believe me once its over its all forgotten about. I didn't believe anyone when they told me that but its true. There is so much pain relief out there now that you will be fine. Best of luck with it, It will be the best thing you have every done.

I have a one year old and have to say would give birth again in the morning it was not a negative experience, had epidural so no pain and for most of it was sitting chatting to hubbie, all of my friends would say the same giving birth was not the hard part but we all had one thing in common...epidural!!

I have had 2 babies and am due my 3dr in a few months. On the first I thought it would be terrible. But it was fine. I too had the epidural on both. I had no pain, and it did not slow labour down. Plus I had no side effects after having the epidural. Like jenny0305 I spent most of the time chatting to DH. We were so excited. When it happens for you, Im sure it will all go well. Best wishes Jen2

Hey Girls, I had a fairly traumatic birth 9 months ago but just got my BFP again yesterday (and feeling quite hopeful as spotting stopped!!). My point is, yes, it was bad, but not THAT bad, as it is only TEMPORARY and that thought kept me going throughout. For someone like you who is feeling anxious, I would go to the hospital as soon as you feel the first twinges of labour, so as to ensure that you can get the epidural on time etc. I had no pain relief, no epidural, no gas and air - NOTHING - and my labour lasted 28 hours, and I got through it. And the pain of labour is absolutely cancelled out by the HAPPINESS you feel very soon after the pain! For most people, labour is a fairly straighforward experience and you only hear the horror stories. Try to educate yourself on pain relief, breathing, get yourself a gym ball for bouncing on in the first stages, you could try TENS (haven't tired it myself). I think to arm yourself with as much ammunition as possible (including educating yourself) is your best bet as you will feel more in control. Best of luck to you! It will not be easy but it might not even be half as bad as you had imagined. Don't talk to DH about it - they are clueless!!!

Try not to worry Corkcuu. I am the biggest wimp in the world when it comes to pain and I got through it okay. I remember a week before I gave birth I had to have a membrane sweep done and I found that actually worse than giving birth!! It really is a good pain if you know what I mean and because the pain gradually builds up you find that you can manage it. I had my DH on my right hand side for the 13 hours of labour and it really spurred me on knowing that he was proud of me. The gas and air is fantastic and it makes the time wizz by. I would love to have taken it home with me! You honestly will be grand.

I'm scared stiff of labour!! I don't talk to other friends about their experiences because I simply just don't want to know!! I don't read the birth stories on here because I did once and I nearly shat myself with fear!! Thing is, you always hear the bad stories rather than the good stories!! My friends now know not to go into detail about the birth in front of me!! I just can't handle it!! I'm being completely ignorant about the whole labour but hey it's working for me!!!

PS: I keep telling myself too that epidural, gas and other means of helps to relieve pain only came about in the last 30 years or so!! So if everyone else on the planet was able to give birth, well hell, so can I and so can you!!! Also, I'm loving being pregnant so don't worry about that either!!

Ok girls feeling a bit better after hearing that - might feel a bit better about ttc now! So basically the summary is epidural all the way