Giving birth | My biggest fears

Since having a sit down and thinking a bit more in depth about my hopes and expectations when it comes to labour and giving birth naturally a couple of concerns and fears have popped up that I think (I'm hoping) may be therapeutic to write about in a bit more depth and get it out of my head, off of my chest...and maybe even ask some of you lovely mummy's out there to ease my mind?

Not getting to the hospital on time

Given I don't live out in the sticks this might be an unrealistic, reasonably far fetched fear of mine - however as a first timer and newbie to pregnancy, labour, birth and everything in between I'm a little worried I won't exactly know when to leave my house to get to the hospital to give birth and recognise the signs on time. Plus I've now seen that video of that very brave lady giving birth in her car and quite Wonder Womanly pulling a baby from her person and I don't want to be that person!

Tearing, having an episiotomy and...extensive damage

Shamefully the above are my main reasons for wanting as little intervention, drugs and as a natural a labour and birth as possible. I am aware having an episiotomy is quite common and tearing happens more so than we at first realise and the pain at the time isn't something I'm too worried about, it's the after pain and living with the damage left behind from this sort of intervention.

Breech baby

The thought of someone going in and having to physically turn her around turns my stomach, plus I would hate to think this could lead to....

An emergency c section

I've heard many women felt they were a 'failure' because of having a c section - this is definitely not something I would feel, however I would hate to first of all have my partner worry about me consistently and of course face giving up my independence (though temporarily) during the healing process. Of course if anything were to go wrong in my labour I certainly would not protest having a surgery but it's of course not something you want if it's not 'in the plan'

Distressed baby

There aren't many things that would scare a parent more than hearing their baby is in distress. Currently whenever I go for a routine check up with my midwife or have a scan booked I get this horrible, horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach and a niggling thought in the back of my mind saying, 'what if something is wrong?' I will happily go through ALL of the above to avoid having a baby in distress!

Hopefully in a few months time all of these fears will be nothing but distant memories...fingers crossed not distant experiences! Be sure to leave your thoughts, comments and birth experiences in the comments below, I always find reading other peoples experiences and perspectives to be really, genuinely helpful in situations like this so be sure to leave links to your posts below too. Otherwise you can catch me on the usual channels....freaking out... you know like Twitter, Instagram and Bloglovin.

Until next time,

H.Elizabeth x

Giving birth | My hopes & expectations

Now that I'm over halfway through my pregnancy I've been turning my attention to giving birth. Don't get me wrong, obviously I knew what I was getting myself in for when we decided to have a baby, I knew of course I would have to squeeze a human out of my person and I of course expect it to hurt.... a lot. However before the day arrives I thought it might be some torturous form of fun to write down what my hopes and expectations for the birth currently are and see how it actually compares to the birth when it does come.

To get through the experience with minimal pain relief

Many of these area actually linked, for example as I hope to stay on my feet for most of my labour that means I'm hoping not to have things like an epidural or drugs that'll keep me confined to a bed and a catheter. In an ideal world I'm hoping to get through the 'labour' stage using just gas and air.

For it to be over quickly

I've read all of the stories, labours that have gone on for days and labours that have gone on for just a couple of hours. Though I of course hope not to be giving birth on my living room floor, in my car or on the street outside the hospital I'm hoping the labour is quite quick (as I'm sure EVERYONE does) and to be in and out of hospital as quickly as I can be.

To have as little intervention as possible

Nobody wants to have intervention methods used in birth, forceps, emergency c sections, episiotomy (this is, has and remains to be one of my biggest fears about giving birth) and I'm hoping to do all that I physically can to avoid doctors having to intervene during my delivery.

To give birth in water

I feel given my maternity hospital has only one birthing pool that I may be reaching for the stars however I'd love to give birth using the birth pool alongside my gas and air (that's the plan at least!) I feel most relaxed in water and I've read and heard that the warmth of the water can help relax the muscles and assist in your delivery; ANYTHING for an easy time guys, anything. All I really know at this stage is that I do not intend on giving birth lying down in a bed.

To be as active as possible during labour

Being active, walking around, bouncing on my birth ball and making sure I'm as active as I possibly can be during labour is one of my goals - apparently this is something else that can help speed the labour process along (prior to the pushing stage just in case anyone was wondering)

Some day we undoubtedly will look back on this and laugh - a very big, very hearty laugh I'll bet but for now these are my hopes and dreams for pushing a 'tiny' person from my tiny person in a few months time. 

If you have pushed a person from your person I'd love to hear from you - my new obsession has been reading everyone else labour and birth blogs and experiences and if you've given birth in Aberdeen...even better. Be sure to leave me your experiences, comments, your hilarity at my hopes and dreams in the comments below, alongside any links to your own birth experiences. You can as always catch me on the basic channels, Twitter, Instagram, Bloglovin etc, and as always thank you for the read!

Until next time,

H.Elizabeth x