Birth - So was it as bad as you expected?

Have a good read of the birth stories thread. There are so many different stories there.

Both mine were fine and not horror stories.

I thought labour was going to be crazy hard painful but it was manageable. Not easy or painless but nowhere as bad as I had in my head it was going to be. Can't comment on actual delivery as I had a c-section.

I really enjoyed my labour.. Sick I know.. LOL
I don't want to sound like a Super Woman but it wasn't as bad as I had invisaged (sp?). I decided to stay as calm as possible so my baby didn't feel unloved or stressed when born. (I don't practice scientology but thought along those lines after reading Katie Holmes birth story)

My contractions were strong but I used my breath to get through them, sounds odd but just gently sighed and breathed deeply.

At the hospital, it was the same deal, my MW was very impressed. Had no pain relief as didn't think necessary. The whole pushing thing was odd and felt like I was getting no where but just remember your contractions are what also help to push the baby out. I don't think I was quite ready to push - a friend said you just get this overwhelming desire to push. So think I did some damage to self without realising.

All in all, it was great. I did have some help in the end in the way of forceps but to be honest it didn't hurt at all and I wasn't scared.
You have to have a very open mind and just be totally relaxed and confident in the fact you CAN do this - it's natural and a beautiful process.

And trust me - as soon as you see that baby you just worked so hard to get out, you'll never remember the pain.. Look at me, I'm going back for more..!! LOL

Good Luck and Congratulations... Brings a tear to my eye to think another mum to be is gonna become a whole new woman.. It's awesome..!!

It hurt WAY MORE than I could have imagined lol

and also , its not just that its painful, but that it can be scary giving up all control of your body, without any choice , unless you've been in some situation where you don't call the shots with your body, its a whole new, and can be frightening , experience .
Those contraction, once they start, will come whether you have finished recovering from the last one or not

Mrs B my birth experience was so much easier than I expected (I shocked the mw at how quick it was). I didn't even know I was in labor until I had my show and by then I was 7cm dilated. We thought something was wrong and ended up at the hospital to get checked out and weren't allowed to leave as the hospital mw told me that we would have a baby within 3 hours    So ended up birthing with nothing and then when Alex arrived DH had to rush home to get stuff for us (poor man had to find it all first as we weren't packed cos EDD was still a month away). I think I surprised everyone (esp Mum) as I am a bit of a softie and because I ended up having to go the natural way cos it was too late for anything I took it rather well.

It hurt.....
With Janaya I had an epidural, I pushed a bit and out she came. I was shocked at how easy it was, especially since I spent the entire 9 months worrying about the birth.

Second time around was a different story! I had read that the pushing part was the easy part so when I arrived at the hospital 8 cm dilated, I thought I was almost through the worst of it (I do remember asking DH at one point whether I was dead though) Then when it was time to push, I was argueing with the midwife that I was not ready as I could not feel the "urge". Next thing she broke the rest of my waters and my GOD it was the worst pain in my life, it really felt like Jacksons head fell about 10cm down to my burning nether regions. I just pushed and pushed yelling in agony for what felt like forever, without stopping, just to get him out! (Turns out it was about 3 mins) Pushing in my opinion is NOT very nice at all!

Then when you think its all over with, they give you a bottle of gas that is NOT working, and then stitch you up!

There is no getting away from it, it is sooooo painful!!
For me it was how I approached the pain, and even tho it sounds really cheesy, its how you talk to yourself during labor. For me, they way my thought process went, it was like having that little devil on one shoulder and the little angel on the other! Everytime the little devil said "its too much", "i can't do it" the little angel would then say "don't be silly of course you can do it", "don't worry your baby will be here soon", "its not going to last there will be a break soon, you can do it". To which the rational part of my brain would respond "not like I have a (insert very bad word!) choice".
Both my labors were uncomplicated though and very fast. Dom took 3.5hrs and Isobelle took 1.5hrs.
I had no intervention and no drugs (no time for drugs!). The only thing I really needed was my DH to hold me up as I gave birth standing up both times. It hurt so much more to be lying down.
My midwife didn't have to do anything, easy day for her! Although she did try to help with Isobelle but apparently I smacked her hand away!
As soon as my babies were out the pain was completely gone, yay for endorphins and adrenaline! Those first moments are so amazing and beautiful. I'd go through it all a million times over just to have that again.
My advice would be to trust your body, don't be talked into a position or anything else that doesn't feel right, be positive (sounds like you have a great attitude anyway) and hold on to the fact that it won't last forever, thank god!

Most of it was pretty much what I expected. I worked through the contractions on gas (it gave me something to concentrate on and laugh about when I sucked too much in and started feeling high lol)... but the pushing part was way harder than I thought it would be. I was pushing for an hour 40mins which was way longer than I expected to be, that exhausted me and I didn't appreciate an episotomy but overall it was fine.

It wasn't as bad as I'd expected. I'd talked myself into thinking it was going to be absolutely horrible horrible pain & that I'd end up crying out for an epi. While it was still really painful, it was manageable & I only ended up using a bit of gas. And the pain I did have was forgotten pretty damn quickly when my midwife put my new little baby on my chest & I was gazing at him & just amazed that we'd created something so perfect!!!