Any mothers willing to help me?

Question

I'm 25 years old, and my baby girl is due on September 30th. This is my first child, and my husband won't be able to be with me because of his job, he is away on a business trip. He feels really bad. But I am extremely scared because my sister is the one who will take me to the hospital, but she's never had kids. I know that labour is painful (according to what I have heard) so I was wondering if you could give me advice about how to deal with the pain. Like any breathing techniques or distractions. Thanks so much for your reply!

Answer 1

I am 39 and have 5 children. We always tease that the first one was just practice because we had twins the next two times. With the first child I had one pain shot. With the first set of twins I had absolutely nothing. With the last set I had an epidural because we were afraid that we were going to have to do an emergency c-section.

Anyone that tells you that childbirth is not painful is 1) lying, 2) has an extremely high threshold for pain, 3) had pain management during labour or 4) found a magic way to painfree childbirth.

There are several breathing and focus techniques that help during labour. Lamaz is one of them. Bring a CD player and listen to music that relaxes you. Labour pains do not last for very long at one time, until the end when they are 1 min or shorter apart.

When a labour pain starts, take a deep cleansing breathe and slowly blow it out. In early labour you can do these breathes over and over until the contraction has ended. When these don't seem to be enough anymore then you will do a choo choo breathing technique. Deep cleansing breathe on the onset of the contraction then you will breathe in and then expell with three short bursts of air then after the third short burst you will end with one long exhalation.

The nurses will give you suggestions and actually when it comes down to it, your body will help you through this and let you know what to do. Don't be afraid to get help with the pain. It doesn't make you weak or a bad mother.

Labour does not have to be painful. If you don't hurt during labour you are still as much of a mother then someone that had nothing at all during their labour. You can bet that if I had my first two labours (actually 3 since It cheated on 1) I would do then like the last one. The whole labour was a pleasure because I felt no pain.
Also keep in mind that there is a point when labour has progressed to far for pain aides to be administered, so don't wait too long if you need something.

In close, no matter how badly it hurts or doesn't, when they lay your child on your chest all the bad things that you felt during labour will be forgotten. I think that is God's way of making sure that we procreate.

Good luck, enjoy it and get ready for the rollercoaster ride of parenthood!

Answer 2

I find this a very hard question to answer. I have had three children and am due again in December. I have had different experiences with each one.

I had an epidural with my first one and it was wonderful. I was able to actually ENJOY labor because there was no pain. With my second, I had a bad epidural and it didn't work. I felt every contraction. With my third, I had a natural labor. I think I would like to try an epidural with this one again. There is no need to have to experience the pain of childbirth. But, this is a very personal decision. No matter what you decide, I have realized that it doesn't make you any better or any worse, any stronger or any weaker. You do what you have to do to get through it.

I never took a birthing class, but the nurses were always great. They had great advice about breathing. Breathe in DEEPLY through your nose then purse your lips and exhale FORCEFULLY and SLOWLY threw your mouth. Shallow breathing is not effective. If I slipped into shallow breathing (which is easy to do when you are in pain) or holding my breath (which I always do when I hurt myself) they reminded me to breathe deeply. It did help.

I also tried to focus on one particular object in the room while the contraction was occurring. It helps a lot to have someone (like your sister) to talk to between contractions to take your mind off the next one that is coming.

The good news though is that I have ALWAYS found is once the baby is born, the pain that you just went through becomes extremely unimportant. It is no longer an issue. You actually forget the extent of it (until the next time and you think - oh yeah, this is what it feels like!!!)

I wish you the best of luck in your decisions regarding your labor. You will get through it - you have to one way or another. And the prize that you get at the end makes it worth EVERY effort.

Answer 3

I am not going to lie to you having a baby is painful however, there are certain things that you can do to relieve the pain. I had my daughter 3 yrs ago and I asked for the epidural because I could not take the pain. When I got that shot, it was a relieve.. I am pregnant now 31 weeks pregnant and I am planning on having the baby naturally, no epidural. However, if the pain is too intensed I will asks for it.

You do have a choice, there are other things that you can use also but I am not really familiar with the other things. Do not worry, everything is going to be alright... (Good Luck)!!!!

Answer 4

I would recommend an epideral. I've had 3 kids 2 with an epideral and 1 without. I thought I was going to die when I had my baby without the epideral. Though it goes by very quickly (most of the time) it was extremely painful and I will never forget. With the epideral, I was able to concentrate on looking at the mirror and watching my baby come out. I wasn't screaming and I was actually laughing. If you don't want to go with the epideral, just breathe and try not to scream because the doctor said it wastes a lot of your energy. Good luck and God Bless you!

Answer 5

Don't panic. Your doctor can give you a sheet of instructions of what labour will be like. A little assurance is that first born comes after a few hours of the onset of labor. That will give you enough time to get safely to the hospital and comfy in a delivery room.

Answer 6

You`ll be wondering why you were so nervous afterwards. The pain really is manageable until you are 7 or 8 centimetres dilated. You can always ask for an epidural (spinal block) then there is no pain. When you see that wee babys` face believe me you will forget any pain that you had . Be brave, it`s well worth it. God bless.

Answer 7

Have a focus point. Like a good time somewhere.
Take a deep breath in count to 7 then hold it and finish counting to 10. Let a breath out to 7 then hold it to 10.
Sleep between contractions.
Let your body do the work.
Yes you are going to be scared and yes it is going to hurt but do not fight it.

Answer 8

That's really too bad that your husband is away. The nurse will be there to support you with your breathing techniques, it's painful, yes, but the more you worry, the more painful it will be. Good luck!

Answer 9

When I was getting ready to have my first baby I was 21 years old & my husband had left me so I was "alone". I prepared myself to endure the worst pain I could ever imagine. Then when I actually was in labor it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did have an epidural, which helped me tremendously. I think if you prepare yourself for the absolute worst it won't be as bad as you thought it would. Good luck to you! Here's wishing for a speedy & painfree delivery.

Answer 10

Wow, that is SOON! Congrats.

Have you taken any lamaze classes or the like?
Well, it is a bit late now..
but check out some websites.

Here is a website that will tell you about breathing techniques.
http://babies.sutterhealth.org/laboranddelivery/labor/ld_breathe.html

And there is also all different info on giving birth there. Hope it helps..

Good luck with everything. :)