06-05-2010, 06:13 PM
I knew giving birth would be quite painful - I chose natural birth for both my kids, so no drugs whatsoever - but I've had RA since my late teens, so pain is something I simply live with. (That's not to say the birth process wasn't *more* painful. Of course it was; felt like someone was ripping my back wide open, but I knew that was temporary pain and worth the "cost" so I accepted it for what it was.)
So, no, I wasn't afraid of the pain.
As for the well-being of my kids: I'm a Christian. I prayed frequently while pregnant with both my children and I went into their deliveries feeling quite peaceful. I knew everything would be all right, and it was. My daughter was actually rushed off to ICU with fluid in her lungs, but I still wasn't afraid. She was a healthy weight and size and I knew she was going to come out okay. (Which she did, 24-hours later.) Also, I had the peace of knowing I had many friends and family members praying for me and my babies at the time, and that, of course, helps as well.
And as for some of the other things people mentioned - I think my issue is, along with almost never feeling afraid, I have pretty much NO shame. Heh. I was so unconcerned with people seeing me give birth, my husband, mother, and mother-in-law were all in the room with me for my first born, and I signed paperwork saying that I was perfectly all right with a class of med students observing the birth of my second. That didn't actually happen. She was born so quickly, at an odd hour - dinner time - that there were no med students about. But, yes, I would've been fine with it. More than fine, actually. If they somehow could've learned something from it, that would've been great.
Oh, and I didn't yell at all, but even if I had, that wouldn't have embarrassed me, so I wasn't afraid I would. Again - NO shame. Had I yelled and someone said something to me after, I probably would've laughed at them. I can't imagine any already-gave-birth-at-least-once mother calling out another mother for screaming/yelling/cursing during childbirth, and so that only leaves people who have never actually been through the process - and what the heck do they know?
So, no, I wasn't afraid of the pain.
As for the well-being of my kids: I'm a Christian. I prayed frequently while pregnant with both my children and I went into their deliveries feeling quite peaceful. I knew everything would be all right, and it was. My daughter was actually rushed off to ICU with fluid in her lungs, but I still wasn't afraid. She was a healthy weight and size and I knew she was going to come out okay. (Which she did, 24-hours later.) Also, I had the peace of knowing I had many friends and family members praying for me and my babies at the time, and that, of course, helps as well.
And as for some of the other things people mentioned - I think my issue is, along with almost never feeling afraid, I have pretty much NO shame. Heh. I was so unconcerned with people seeing me give birth, my husband, mother, and mother-in-law were all in the room with me for my first born, and I signed paperwork saying that I was perfectly all right with a class of med students observing the birth of my second. That didn't actually happen. She was born so quickly, at an odd hour - dinner time - that there were no med students about. But, yes, I would've been fine with it. More than fine, actually. If they somehow could've learned something from it, that would've been great.
Oh, and I didn't yell at all, but even if I had, that wouldn't have embarrassed me, so I wasn't afraid I would. Again - NO shame. Had I yelled and someone said something to me after, I probably would've laughed at them. I can't imagine any already-gave-birth-at-least-once mother calling out another mother for screaming/yelling/cursing during childbirth, and so that only leaves people who have never actually been through the process - and what the heck do they know?
![[-]](https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/images/collapse.png)