Labour - my experience!

SaleemaRex · Jan 11, 2013

Thought I will share my experience here in the hope that someone will find it useful. For my older daughter I was naive and went with what was advised by others rather than making my own decisions about what I wanted. So in the end felt everything was totally out of my control. Of course when it comes to c-section things are not definitely not in our control but for natural birth I think we do have some control over it. We can be informed about how we want to give birth, what type of pain medication we prefer, etc but without forgetting to keep an open mind when things don't go according to plan.

So for the first baby, my pain started in the evening and was in regular frequency during late night so was given Morphine injection. It didn't work well for me due to my personality. Even though I managed to give birth to a beautiful baby girl in the morning the whole experience was not something I wanted to repeat for a long while.

After 5 years it was time for the second child, this time I was well prepared. Went for pre-natal classes, read about pros and cons of different options, etc. I didn't want to go for epidural for various reasons..... read about alternative pain reliefs.

This time pain started in the morning, went to hospital but was told that I hadn't dilated much, so decided to walk around the hospital with my husband. I would stop and hold his hands whenever the pain hits and then continue the walk. This went on for few hours. Midwife had a look again later and said I have dilated more and labour would be soon.

At that point pain was more frequent and more intense, so went on to try birthing pool. Stayed in the water for some time (it did take the edge off the pain) but I didn't want a water birth so got out and tried gas and air. Not sure how effective it is as a pain killer but it was a brilliant distraction. We had a good rhythm going, my husband would be looking at the monitor and when he knows the contraction is starting he would give me the gas and air to breathe. It was really a joint experience. Shortly afterwards my second princess arrived

I really think knowledge with an open mind helps get through the one of the toughest challenge a woman faces.... child birth.

Wish you all a positive birthing experience and a beautiful healthy baby/babies!

PS: Morphine works for many women so don't discount it without reading more about it.

mercyagin · Jan 11, 2013

Even though I managed to give birth to a beautiful baby girl in the morning the whole experience was not something I wanted to repeat for a long while.

After 5 years it was time for the second child,

How did you convince yourself for the second child? Was it planned?

SaleemaRex · Jan 11, 2013

mercyagin said: ↑

How did you convince yourself for the second child? Was it planned?
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We wanted a second child but I kept postponing due to the first experience but eventually we got careless with contraception. Second pregnancy was not planned..... it was a good surprise for us

lochu · Jan 11, 2013

wow natural birth without epidural .You should really strong will to take that amount of pain .after 5 cms I was like get me the epidutal now ...........I wanted to walk and do all the things that you wrote but about 5 cm I was like super miserable and morphine was hopeless and I said epidural is the way to go

SaleemaRex · Jan 13, 2013

lochu said: ↑

wow natural birth without epidural .You should really strong will to take that amount of pain .after 5 cms I was like get me the epidutal now ...........I wanted to walk and do all the things that you wrote but about 5 cm I was like super miserable and morphine was hopeless and I said epidural is the way to go
Click to expand...

There is no right or wrong way in giving birth. Hope epidural worked well for you

riyagan · Jan 13, 2013

i love this thread:thumbsup..i wud like more experiences shared here.. this month end due for me. pretty scared of labor...but i hav full trust in my doc. i strongly believe that she wud do the right thing for me when the time comes. :coffee lets see!! i will come up with my experience soon ladies!! wish me luck:bowdown

abathy · Jan 14, 2013

hey riyagan,
the best way to go through labour is not to be scared of it. try keeping a positive attitude and learn about various pain relief options offered in the hospital where you will be delivering. this will reduce your fear.

all the best!

lochu · Jan 14, 2013

Hi Riyagan

Good luck and stop thinking about labor .When I was in Pain I was like juts thinking within a few hours I will get to see my LO .Infact during the active pushing I was like getting tired of it as I was throwing up every hour and pushing for 30 mins .so the Nurse took my hand and she made me feel my babies soft head as he was almost out then that moment I pushed really hard with all the energy in the world he was out in 1 minute .Ni matter how well you plan the labor will make you into a totally differenet person and its not in our hands .So just relax and think about the baby not the pain .

riyagan · Jan 15, 2013

thank you so much abathy and lochu for sharing ur experience and encouraging words!!!! ivnt feared and was pretty much confident until i came to know that my baby is in posterior position :hide:
baby hasnt engaged fully yet..dont know whether baby will turn into favorable position during delivery.

but as u guys said i should stop worrying about all that and face the labor with confidence thinking about my LO:coffee

riyagan · Jan 15, 2013

by the way lochu how the epidural worked for u.. i read mixed experiences and side effects of it on web... did u experience any after effects? mainly ppl complain of permanent numbness of various parts.. kinda make me hesitate to opt for it.