Scared to give birth

NicoleAnne416

This is my third and I am still nervous. It's the unknown. I've done the pain, I've had back labor, I've been induced, but I am still just nervous for the unknown and I am dreading recovery. But hey, it'll all be over sooner than later. My DH shall be by my head until they SEE the head, then he is allowed to look. I hope if I poop on the table it's before that. lol. If not, gross and he has never mentioned it so I'll pretend it has never happened, at least not when he was down at that end lol.

Holljade

Labor scared the living hell out of me. I don't remember feeling so scared about doing something before. I was like what if I am not strong enough to push? DH didn't help bc he didn't think I could do it either  (don't even get me started)

but I did it. I pushed her out in under an hour.

now thinking about labor again really freaks me out. I try not to read too many labor stories because it just adds stress thinking about everything that can go wrong! I'm sure I will feel scared again but I try not to think about it.  I'm one of those people that likes to wing it and hope for the best... and make sure I have drugs, lol.

Cecilbear

So, I just keep reading and watching videos to calm myself down. This interview with four new mothers was really helpful to me. Particularly this quote: 

"Julia: When I was pregnant with Ella, I hadn’t realized that our birth culture is based on fear and disempowering the woman I suppose. I guess, advice to my younger self would be to figure out what you’re afraid of and find ways to flip that perspective and believe in yourself. Find [practitioners] who believe that women are amazing and that we can give birth any way that we want to—and that it’s not scary, it’s beautiful. I think if you don’t figure out how to flip those initial perspectives, a lot can be taken away from you as a woman."

You can read the whole thing here: https://theurbaness.com/feature.php?title=a_new_adventure_motherhood  They all talk about how their fears of labor and delivery were far worse than their experience turned out to be. 

Here's another quote: 

"Maggie: By the way, you really build up the idea of labor in your head. Movies and TV shows make it seem like it’s the most terrible experience that you’ll ever have. So, I think for me, I was really afraid before I went into labor and I was actually surprised, in the end, at how comfortable I was emotionally. I started to realize through that experience that oh, I could do this!"

alysemci

Ahh I loved reading through these!! Thanks so much everyone. I'll definitely take the advice and I appreciate all your answers and stories !