Reposting from my personal blog!
The clock is ticking! The countdown is on.... we are roughly two months out from baby's arrival, give or take a few weeks. And as that unknown date approaches, I find myself - once again! - intimidated by the thought of going through childbirth again.
Really, I thought I'd gotten past all of that. After all, I've had two unmedicated homebirths. While they were tough and extremely challenging, they were also empowering, transformational, and life-changing. I'm very happy with them.
But.... they were also hard. And the thought of doing it again is quite intimidating.
Of course, it doesn't help that - aside from the usual Bradley exercises - I haven't really done any preparation for this birth. We briefly considered taking childbirth classes, but the astronomical cost (class + babysitting = big bucks) was a bit off-putting. And my free time seems to have dwindled to near-zero, so the thought of listening to a 30-40 minute Hypnobirthing or Hypnobabies tape every night - when I am dead tired and just wanting SLEEP - is less than motivating.
So there it is! I find myself fearing this upcoming birth. Which I shouldn't, of course. My body was made to do this, I can trust God to get me through it, and I have an amazing birth team to support me - DH, one of our doulas from last time, and a great valley midwife.
And I know I'll get through it. It's just the challenge of doing so!
One thing that I know will help is the fact that we have a great doula. The difference between my first and second births, doula-wise, was amazing. With our first birth, we had a lovely woman as doula, but she was just too hands-off for what I needed. I'm the wimpy kind who needs coaching and hand-holding through each and every contraction (though I didn't know that at the time). With my second birth, my two doulas were absolutely awesome (they're the hand-holding type!), and it was so much better. I had no idea what a difference a doula could make!! Absolutely phenomenal.
And of course, it always helps to have done it before. At least there's no fear of the unknown.
So... Does anyone out there have any suggestions for labor prep? Advice, suggestions, stern lectures, etc.? If so, bring it on!
In the meantime, I'll just get back to my chanting - "I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!" (Or maybe not, since I can't stand that children's book. Must find new mantra.)
Not just me thinking in the wee small hours then? I can just say what I tell myself, that I got through it last time and this time I've got much more strength as the HG hasn't been as bad - you're in the same boat. Besides, babies can't stay in there forever. I'm reading hypnobirthing and will be trying to fit in preparations too but maybe since you've done it before you'll not need to do it all from scratch. Tell you what, I'll go first ;-) Everyone gets the jitters but you are one of the best prepared women I know.
ReplyDeleteSleepwalker - Thanks for the encouragement, my friend!! I'll definitely get through it one way or the other - need to start listening to Hypnobabies CDs!! We are almost there! :)
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