Nervous

beckybeth123

Hi Ladies,

This is my first baby and is due in March. I haven't totally committed either way as far as medication during labor. What were your experiences? Any thing that made labor easier/more manageable? I want to be as informed as possible when I make the decision.  

sschwege

I think it's great that you are going into labor with an open mind.  I went into labor with the mindset that I was preparing for a med-free birth, but tried to remain realistic in the sense that plans can change.

Have you watched, "The Business of Being Born"?  For my DH and I it was kind of our starting point.  It kind of gives you an idea of what med-free births are all about and information about the wrong turn our country has made in its treatment of pregnant women.  Have you considered taking a class?  My DH and I did Hypnobirthing and I found it to be extremely effective.   Also a lot of girls on here speak highly of Bradley.  Might be worth looking into.  A good book that is both inspiring and informative is "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth".  I didn't read this until after my DD was born, but it really got me pumped up to have another baby.

As far as helpful tips, I would say that the best thing to do is read about different forms of natural pain relief and make sure your birth partner does this as well.  Here's the thing, you will not know what will help you until you are actually in labor, so it's best to come with a big bag of tricks and then figure out what works and what doesn't.  Here's what helped me: 1) listening to my Hypnobirthing music on my IPOD 2) sitting on an exercise ball 3) having DH use tennis balls on my lower back as counter pressure 4) warm rice sock 5) sitting in a warm bath while my DH poured water over my stomach.

Good luck on your journey!