thinking about the labor and delivery gets me going into panic attack

edited February 2011 in Giving birth
Does anyone else have this problem? I'm definitley excited for my boy to be here but when i think about how it might or could go and about the moment i will see him for the first time is scaring the hell out of me and in even more panicky about thinking what if i have to have a c session... i would panick myself into a coma :( help!
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  • Well this is my 2nd so the labor and delivery doesn't freak me out but I do get really anxious thinking about what to do with my 2 year old when I go in. My bf has no patience with her and I don't trust anyone else with her, I wish I didn't have to leave her for a night...
  • I can totally understand. I'm really excited to meet my lil boy but I've been having nightmares about the labor and delivery process. I just keep telling myself its a natural process for us women and reminding myself that holding my lil angel for the first time will definitely be worth it.
  • Omg! I feel the same way. I only have 9 weeks left and 6 days. And I've even been going to birthing classes. But the instructor has her way of freaking me out! Lol. I'm so nervous about so many things. Especially the pain. Like... What If I go from 4cm to 7 cm so fast, that I don't even get a chance to get an epidural..or if my labor goes so long.. and then in the end I have to get a C section. Its so bittersweet, and feeling more and more real. I'm even more afraid that I'm not gonna know when to go in... And the most scary thing.. Is that my doctor decided to move.. So his last day in practice is April 1st. My due date is April 27th ):
  • I'm so glad to hear I'm not alone in this at all! Last night it hit me that I will be in labor, giving birth, recovering, nursing, balancing a newborn, 2yr old, 6yr old, 8yr old, 11yr old& 13yr old, marriage, household duties, etc. I just got overwhelmed& cried. Sometimes I think I need a time out :-?
  • This is my 3rd. Not so much freaking out...just don't like part of getting the epidural. Once, it's in, I'm cool....I just relax and go to sleep until it's time for me to push. lol Just relax, it will all work out okay!
  • @MSC does actually getting the epidural hurt n do they really do it while your having a contraction?

    I've been having nightmares about things going wrong all kinds of things but i think my biggest hugeest fear is having to do an emergency c session or even being told before labor because I'm too small he's too big or what if he's breech and there's no choice omg there's a lot that could go wrong its overhelming i feel stupid worrying about every little thing
  • MSCMSC
    edited February 2011
    I have been fortunate to have REALLY good doctors where it only felt like a pinch to me, it's just the thought of them sticking that needle in my back that has me scared. But YES they do it while you're in active labor. I don't really remember if it was actually during a contraction, but you have to get it done by 4cm or they won't let you have an epidural. And those contractions are kick ass!!!!! And when they start coming closer and longer it makes you wonder what in the world where you thinking!!!! lol Once the epidural is in...you feel NOTHING! After you have the baby they turn the meds off and eventually you start to get the feeling back in your lower half.

    All your fears will fade away once you see your baby.
  • After having my girls i had my son drug free. I honestly thought it was better. I hated the epidural. I felt helpless. This time i am gpingbdrug free again. Dont stress. Its worth everytging!
  • C sections are nothing to be scared of. I had one with my first kid. I did have the long labor which ended in the c section, but it wasn't that bad. Best of luck ladies and congrats!!
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  • I can def relate to you ladies I once the process and the nine months I'm just really terrified of pushing a baby out. this will be my first and last if it hurts to much
  • I saw my sister give birth vaginally and after seeing that, I'm so glad I had a c section. That's just me tho. And I will for sure have a c section with my next
  • Sorry enjoy not once lol
  • MSCMSC
    edited February 2011
    You'll heal quicker if you have the baby vaginally. I was up and about within hours of having both of my daughters. I was also able to hold my babies within seconds of them being born. They stayed in the room with me for about 30 minutes before they were led off to the nursery. Then they came back to me in about a couple of hours after I moved from Labor & Delivery to a regular room. They stay in the room with me. I was out of the hospital between 24 to 48 hours.

    A c-section is major surgery. Stitches and all kinds of other stuff. And you don't hold the baby after...you're in the operating room. You can see the baby, but the environment must remain sterile, while they stitch you up.....etc....
  • That is very true!! While I didn't choose to have a c section, in the end I'm glad I did. MSC is right...you don't get to hold your baby right away. I was up a few hours later going to see my baby(special care nursery) but it would have been great to hold him right away
  • Epidural isn't bad just make sure that the anthesiologist is experienced Dr so they will do a good job w/ minmum pinch and it happens after a contraction.
    Vaginal is better cause you will have quicker recovery & your milk seems to come better qty but a c-section is longer recovery & my milk didn't come as much even though I pumped freq & feed freq.
    Much pain you may feel or not . . . You forget it quickly after you hold your newborn.
  • I know how you feel. This is my first and I'm due in a week with a 9 pound baby!!! I don't know how I'm going to get him out! And the hospital I'm going to can't garantee me a epideral if I need one. To make it worse I'm 3cm dilated and was told it will be anyday but my doctors on holidays. I'm worried what if I can't get him out.what if I rip or have to get cut. I don't know what to expect. I'm so nervous.
  • I was nervous cuz I had an almost 9 lb baby. My Dr told me from the beginning if he was 8 lb or bigger I'd have to have a c section cuz I wasn't wide enough to fit him thru. 23 hours of labor later, they ended up doing a c section. My recovery was very easy...however my sister had an emergency c section and her recovery was tough.
  • Wow...my oldest daughter was 6lbs, youngest 5lbs, I hope this one falls in line! lol
  • Hi babyboyontheway! I'm only at the very beginning of my pregnancy but I haven't given birth in over 14 years. I have been scaring and making myself anxious about it as well. The best thing for me seems to be distracting myself with things I enjoy rather than focussing on the things that worry me. Also gentle relaxing exercise as well as breathing exercise helps.
  • @TechGirlPa yeah anxious is a good word.

    if i think about it all for too long that's how i start feeling its knowing u are going to go thru the most painful thing in your own life
    and there's nothing u can do to get out of it or get a pass for this time
    but that's not all that panics me i also get anxious when i think about looking at him the second he comes out
    what will he look like me or my ex
    Will everything be ok with him
    what if he isn't crying or if he's like me i was born a blue baby not breathing with the cord wrapped around the neck.
    What if they take him to another room right away because of a problem and i don't have that initial bond and i don't feel attached to him? Would that be my fault and make me a bad Mom?

    Omg i have to tell u ladies about this episode of a baby story i watched yesterday. This woman having her second baby a boy and everything was going perfect she was induced had a scheduled delivery went textbook and he comes out and the nurses and daddy are all looking down at him on the weighing table looking concerned and confused she saw them over there and heard them say "well let's tell her now" and brought him over he didn't have any fingers on his right hand and nobody saw it on any of the ultrasounds and said it was caused by him being smosshed up against the placenta and that caused growth restriction because his hand was up against her and left no room for fingers to form.
    And this worries me because idk how many if u read my post Everytime i go in for an ultrasound... but for the last 3 visits we haven't even gotten good measurements because hes always smashed up against my placenta and what if he's going to have facial deformaties because that's what he's always hiding is his face and his hands it just really worries me espicially since i saw that poor womans face when they where showing her sons hand for the first time.
    And OF COURSE just like her no matter what he looks like I'm going to love him and be happy he is here but the shock and numbness on her face made me cry so hard lol like a big baby!
    I think no matter what I'm just going to be worried until its all over and I'm holding him but it helps to express what's in my mind and just get it out and hearing everybodys responses and similar worries and stories.
    Sorry this was so long! My conversation are actually numb and tingly now! Only experienced that since being pregnant how weird
  • I'm actually very nervous too. This is my first baby and I only have 9 weeks left! I want to try to have a natural birth but I know its going to be so painful. I've heard too many bad stories about epidurals and I already had minor back pains before I was preg and I have a feeling the epidural will just make it worse. I'm not taking any classes cause we really don't have the extra money and I'm soo scared. I just know I have to keep relaxed and focused. :-S
  • I was really nervous, and I guess I still am to an extent, but you can't get out of it, and you can't really change how they come out.
    @babyboyontheway I can completely understand your fear, every mom, and mom-to-be worries about that stuff. Just remember that her story was on TV because it is a rare (and shocking) experience. TV stories can often scare us, but the truth is, they're being played, or told because most people would never have to deal with that!! <3
  • Of course worry is part of it all but we wouldn't do it all if we didn't love em so much. Had my daughter naturally best, most empowering experience of my life. Best advice my mom gave me WORK WITH A DOULA, she was incredible. Best advice my doula gave me was think about your biggest fear and deal with it as a possibility. It's the only way to put it to rest. Also, I believe its a woman's responsibility to educate herself and work towards her own personal ideal birth experience. Informed choice, all the way. Great book, Creating your birth plan by Marsden Wagner. I am planning a home birth with my midwife so my daughter can be with us.
  • Ok its kind of funny but with my first I was so busy and enjoying being pregnant that it came down to the week I was due and then I was like oh my gosh I have to push this baby out of me lol! Anyways once I actually went into labor I just told myself I'm going to be calm and just do it. It's only one day and you get such a gift. That's what I was saying in my head :) and wow just like that I was holding my son! Now I'm having baby number two and hoping and that positive the second time lol :)
  • I meant hoping to be that positive the second time
  • Some days I'm not scared much n some days its like omg i can't do it but i know it will be like that until d day so like everything else in my life the only solution is to take it one day at a time :)
  • Personally I would love a c section. I have no interest in being ripped to pieces pushing a baby out and I don't feel any less of a woman for wanting that. Now, obviouly that's not my choice so I will definitely be having an epidural.
  • It's my first baby, and everyone tells me labor pains are awful, I must admit its scary but u have to think about everyone labor pains are different so dont panic,
  • @suziq at first the thought of c section scared me thinking about being cut open but the more i hear about itand learn, its not looking so bad to me either. Most appealing is knowinf u will be numb for sure and no pain like vag births. But i also really want to give it a shot AS LONG AS i have a kick ass epidural and that scares me too what if i don't get to the hospital in time and have to do it med free or I've heard of the epidural not working for some women or having back pain for years to follow.
    There's pros n cons for every choice i guess. I realize i just have to wait and see how it plays out. Something may happen and its out of my hands how i deliver u never know
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