natural birth newbie!

kevin-justina10

i've decided (still convincing my husband...he's still skeptical) to switch from the big women's hospital to my local midwife center! i'm very excited about the shift, but i'm also feeling a little apprehensive. any major advice that i should definitely have? i'm probably most concerned about the pain.

Jason&Erin82507

I think the best advice i can give is to keep an open mind. I too used a midwife and unlike you, i really wanted an epidural pre-labor, but ended up hanging in there and doing it 100% natural. Dont beat yourself up if your plans suddenly change mid-labor. It happens. Personally, I just kept testing myself and saying "I've made it this far, how much further can I go?" then the next thing I knew, I was fully dilated and ready to push :-) I'm not going to say it didn't hurt, becaUse it sure as hell does, but remind yourself that this is only one day of your life. You won't be experiencing this pain tomorrow. The outcome far outweighs the pain. Good luck!

sschwege

Have you considered taking a class?  A lot of girls on here found Bradley to be effective and I did Hypnobirthing and LOVED it!  

A good book to check out is "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth."  The first half of the book is filled with inspirational birth stories and the second half is practical advice.  Reading these stories gets me excited to give birth and I'm not even pregnant with number two yet!  You might also want to sit down with your husband and watch, "The Business of Being Born." (it's live-streaming on Netflix).  It's all about how childbirth has gone in the wrong direction in this country.  Watching it really strengthened my resolve and helped to educate my husband in an area that he knew very little about.

As far as contractions go it's different for every women.  I can honestly say that while labor was definitely intense and took all my focus it was not as bad as I expected.  I think the key is to relax with every contraction.  Start with your jaw and just work your way down your whole body making every part of you limp and loose.  Part of the reason labor can be so painful is because we tense up, if you can just learn to let go, your body will work that much more effectively.  The other thing I would do was slow my breathing and during transition I would hum as I was breathing out.

Keep reading and asking questions.  Surround yourself with positive stories and people.  Remember your body was made to do this!