Im 13 weeks and a 'wimp' but want as natural as poss. birth...

[Star7890]

Im 13 weeks, and have always been classed as family and friends as a wimp when it comes to pain, this almost makes me want to deal with this more seeing as people dont have faith in me that I can do it.
Ive been looking at water births and natural birth videos for the past few weeks and want a natural as possible birth.
It WILL be in the hospital/birth centre attached to my local hospital, any tips for dealing with pain from other mums?
I love water, and an epidural is a BIG NO NO as the thought of that thing going in my back and being numb for hours is worse for me than the thought of labour, I would literally rather eat my own arm.

I have tried recently when stubbing toe or banging myself to breathe through it instead of wailing like a banshee or crying and its working, any 'proper' breathing techniques?


Thank you in advance xx

 

[lynnikins]

there are hypnobirthing breathing techniques that might help you,
tbh prior to my first baby i was used to back pain and knee pain from injurys but not to any other pain and was a total wimp, labour is not like any other kind of pain its got a purpose as as long as you dont fight it ( or interupt it with chemicals ) then your body naturally produces endorphins to help you manage it.

 

[Pixxie]

I'm a wimp according to everyone else, I had my LO in a birthpool without even gas and air. It's about your frame of mind I think. I told myself that I can do this, my body is designed to do it and it's best for my baby without the drugs. It's not an avoidable pain like when you hurt yourself accidentally, you know you HAVE to get that baby out one way or another and the best way is with you in control The best advice I have is drink raspberry leaf tea when you get to 32 weeks, stay at home for as long as possible after labour started (this really helped me, I only went when I couldn't handle it any more and when I got there was 7cm dilated) and listen to your body. Do what you want to do, if you want to walk, walk if you want to make weird noises go for it! xx

 

[Rhio92]

You don't know how strong you are until you give birth I thought I was a wimp, and everyone said they knew I'd need an epidural But, I survived on gas and air and in the birth pool

 

[Blah11]

the pain of childbirth isnt the same as normal pain hun. Its a very empowering type of pain and if you keep telling yourself every contraction is 1 step closer to meeting your baby it really helps keep things into perspective.

You'll be fine

 

[chuck]

Stop thinking about labour as being painful. It isnt always painful and doesnt have to be.

Try some natal hypnotherapy or hypno birthing courses/CD's.

I only used some NH techniques vaguely but I can honestly say that there was only one bit that really hurt and that was when baby crowned. But that bit was a tiny amount of time. The rest was bloody intense but awesome.

 

[becsparkel]

I second hypnobirthing, I had zero confidence in myself before and now I feel totally empowered and I'm actually looking forward to labour. I went on a course but the CD and book are just as brilliant - lots of breathing/visualisation techniques... oh and light touch massage to release your endorphins

Also, if you can access to a pool, water is v good for pain relief

I think it's important to arm yourself with as much accurate knowledge as possible and don't listen to what other people say - people seem to think not wanting to take drugs during labour is weird, which I find v odd!

 

[madasa]

You want to see a wimp? Look over here! I am the BIGGEST WIMP EVARR!

Birth is REALLY different. I ENJOYED it immensely!

- it has a purpose! You can focus on the fact that each expansion is bringing your baby closer and that DOES make it easier for lots of ladies!

- it usually starts off very mild and builds gradually. Your tolerance and endorphins build with it as the sensations get stronger.

- Each sensation only lasts one minute, maybe a minute and a half max.

- Each one starts off gently, buids to a peak and tapers off. It is not like where you have a blinding headache or you stand on a plug, where it's just flippin' excriciating full stop!

- there are things you can do to minimise the discomfort. Preparing beforehand (gentle exercise and mental prep too), using water, herbs, homeopathy, massage, movement, different positions... maximising your ability to relax and birth easily by setting up your environment (low lights and soft voices etc).

- there are things you can do to cope with any discomfort - focus your breath, use visualisations.

It doesn't HAVE to be really painful. It's like sex. Sex can be agonising and terrifying. Or it can be intimate, fulfilling and pleasurable.

Jedi wisdom: Your focus determines your reality. So think positive. Tell yourself: "My body knows how to birth. My baby knows the best position to birth easily. My baby will come out of my womb smoothly and gently." This kind of self-pep-talk helped me LOTS

 

[Rachiebaby24]

I'm a wimp too! But I did my last one with no pain relief at all. My breathing technique was counting. Breathing in as I said 1, letting out a deep breath, breathing in as a I said 2, breathing out and so on. I loved it because I knew then how long thy would last so in the beggining thy were lasting til 10 and at REIT worst at 6 so once I got past 6 I knew it would start to ease off. Towards the end they were lasting til 16. Helped me concentrate and also explain exactly what was going on to the midwives!

 

[lotusflower]

Ladies, thank you for your comments. I've been moved from the waiting list for a midwife onto the active list (I guess you could call it.) I've been going to a low risk maternity clinic so far for my prenatal care. Anyway I spoke with someone at their clinic yesterday who answered some of my questions, but I had thought that some drugs (if I decided I needed them in the moment) could be available... and they do all natural. So that really scared me.. I really needed to read your positive comments about your experiences to see that it's not as bad as I've made it out to be in my head.