Pep talk from someone who has been there

jll1881 · July 2011

I read the post below where a lot of the ladies expressed fear/anxiety about being pregnant and giving birth. For me, a total Type A personality, the hardest part of pregnancy, L and D was not being able to control everything. I think that is part of the reason I had a completely natural delivery - I didn't want to be constricted to a bed b/c of the epidural. I wanted to be able to labor and deliver in whatever position I wanted to be in. I thought my L&D experience was absolutely amazing. It hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. I never cried. I broke my foot when pregnant, and that hurt much worse. Bottom line - our bodies are made to do this. And while I know that of course that doesn't take the fear away, do your best to trust your body and mother nature. You are all strong women and can get through pregnancy, L & D!

When you get pregnant, try to enjoy your pregnancy. Become informed so you can make decisions about your L&D that are right for you. That's the best advice I can offer. Smile

amanda079 · July 2011

jll1881:
I read the post below where a lot of the ladies expressed fear/anxiety about being pregnant and giving birth. For me, a total Type A personality, the hardest part of pregnancy, L and D was not being able to control everything. I think that is part of the reason I had a completely natural delivery - I didn't want to be constricted to a bed b/c of the epidural. I wanted to be able to labor and deliver in whatever position I wanted to be in. I thought my L&D experience was absolutely amazing. It hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. I never cried. I broke my foot when pregnant, and that hurt much worse. Bottom line - our bodies are made to do this. And while I know that of course that doesn't take the fear away, do your best to trust your body and mother nature. You are all strong women and can get through pregnancy, L & D!

When you get pregnant, try to enjoy your pregnancy. Become informed so you can make decisions about your L&D that are right for you. That's the best advice I can offer.

Well put.

Patches08 · July 2011

Haha. My body was totally not meant to give birth, at least not at the age of 18. I was 15 days past my due date, hospitalized for 3 days and finally induced. Lol... I was pushing for 14 hours, sick to no end, fever, chills, throwing up, had her half delivered when she became stuck because my pelvic bone was too small, had to have an emergency c section and of course no pain medicine would stick to me because I had been on them for the last 24 hours so they had to put me under full general anesthesia. Lol.. it was a nightmare... but of course it goes without saying I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat!!

Mrs.Teddy · July 2011

I agree with this to some degree. It sounds like you had a wonderful experience and go exactly what you want fro It and that's great. The reality us this is not always the case; pregnancy and delivery are two of the greatest uncontrollable and unknowns there are. With or without an epidural. It's an intimidating, scary and wonderful process. I was extremely sick my entire pregnancy ended up with a PICC LINE and eventually on magnesium sulfate and an induction I has to get an epidural (whether or not I wanted to) because my blood pressure was so high they were concerned that pain would elevate it and cause me to seizure. In the end I was healthy and so was my son. And that's all that mattered. Keeping an open mind and remembering what your goal is is important!

lewis0611 · July 2011

I know what you mean about the whole epidural thing. My whole pregnancy I swore I was going as med free as possible so I could be up and moving around trying to get through contractions. Well thanks to the hospital I was at and a faulty monitor they thought my daughter might have had an arrhythmia (sp?) so I had to have internal monitors put on. I was so upset I couldn't get out of the bed and after they broke my water to attach the monitors I made the decision to get an epidural. I had no issues from it or anything but I wasn't a fan of trying to push while I was essentially paralyzed from the waist down. I was terrified I wasn't pushing enough cause I couldn't tell how much I was pushing. Plus, IMO the recovery pain probably would have been better unmedicated (or not as medicated) because I went from numb to fresh episiotomy pain plus my vag being pissed at me. Getting her out in 4 contractions is probably a huge part of my resolve to once again plan for a natural birth with any other babies I have.

Moose2000 · July 2011

Thank you for the pep talk! It is encouraging to hear stories from people who have been through it already Smile

Patches08 · July 2011

For any future pregnancies/deliveries I want to go all natural, no meds, but I'm open minded and will do whatever is needed to deliver a healthy baby.

jll1881 · July 2011

When you have some free time, check out the documentary The Business of Being Born. Definitely a bit one-sided, but the data and research presented is accurate. I show it when I teach the prenatal unit in my human development class, and my students love it. Many of my students who are parents say they wished they had seen it before having their kids.

AngieL444 · July 2011

I am a self-diagnosed hypochondriac, and the worst part of being pregnant was worrying about everything that could go wrong. Like someone else said, people always want to tell your their worst pregnancy/L&D stories, and if you're like me, you end of thinking, "that's going to happen to me too."

While I did have a few issues (kidney stones at 24 weeks, which probably would have happened had I been pregnant or not), I wouldn't trade anything for the world.

I LOVED being pregnant, and can't wait for it to happen again. Knowing this will be our last pregnancy, makes me realize how I'm going to make a real effort to enjoy every moment of it when it happens.

annabelleev · July 2011

jll1881:
I read the post below where a lot of the ladies expressed fear/anxiety about being pregnant and giving birth. For me, a total Type A personality, the hardest part of pregnancy, L and D was not being able to control everything. I think that is part of the reason I had a completely natural delivery - I didn't want to be constricted to a bed b/c of the epidural. I wanted to be able to labor and deliver in whatever position I wanted to be in. I thought my L&D experience was absolutely amazing. It hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. I never cried. I broke my foot when pregnant, and that hurt much worse. Bottom line - our bodies are made to do this. And while I know that of course that doesn't take the fear away, do your best to trust your body and mother nature. You are all strong women and can get through pregnancy, L & D!

When you get pregnant, try to enjoy your pregnancy. Become informed so you can make decisions about your L&D that are right for you. That's the best advice I can offer.

Thank you for this post. I am set on a natural/med free delivery and having someone say "it hurt but it wasn't unbearable" is extremely calming and encouraging.

I have anxiety and my biggest fears are out of control and embarrassing situations. I have moments where I freak out about L & D and think "omg! You're screaming, crying, bleeding and pooping!"

Lilleybug · July 2011

annabelleev:
jll1881:
I read the post below where a lot of the ladies expressed fear/anxiety about being pregnant and giving birth. For me, a total Type A personality, the hardest part of pregnancy, L and D was not being able to control everything. I think that is part of the reason I had a completely natural delivery - I didn't want to be constricted to a bed b/c of the epidural. I wanted to be able to labor and deliver in whatever position I wanted to be in. I thought my L&D experience was absolutely amazing. It hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. I never cried. I broke my foot when pregnant, and that hurt much worse. Bottom line - our bodies are made to do this. And while I know that of course that doesn't take the fear away, do your best to trust your body and mother nature. You are all strong women and can get through pregnancy, L & D!

When you get pregnant, try to enjoy your pregnancy. Become informed so you can make decisions about your L&D that are right for you. That's the best advice I can offer.
Thank you for this post. I am set on a natural/med free delivery and having someone say "it hurt but it wasn't unbearable" is extremely calming and encouraging.
I have anxiety and my biggest fears are out of control and embarrassing situations. I have moments where I freak out about L & D and think "omg! You're screaming, crying, bleeding and pooping!"

Add throwing up too if you are allergic to the pitocin. I will not share my birth story because it was traumatic and long (almost 30 hours) and I had complications, but every one is different and what one person went through or experienced isn't the same as someone else. Some people can have med free births and have it not be painful and others it doesn't work out that way. The only thing I can suggest is have an open mind. I didn't have my heart set on anything (not saying you shouldn't be informed). However, I went with the flow and did whatever I needed to do to deliver a happy healthy baby.

sydsmom04 · July 2011

I have had 2 inductions, 2 epidurals and 2 healthy babies. I think it is nice that you posted this for those who are contemplating natural delivery but I think we can all agree that a healthy baby in the end is the best outcome!

cbee817 · July 2011

Just wanted to say that I love this post! I think that trusting your body and having supportive people around you can help get you through anything. The entire time I was in labor I just kept thinking- this is only temporary... it was the best thing (along with a birthing ball... love it!) I could do to get through the contractions. And as soon as DD arrived all of the physical pain was gone.. it was unbelievable.

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