For those who have had a natural birth

[AndiE]

1.) for those that have done it..can I have your story?

2.) Was there a point that you wanted to turn back and what made you change your mind?

3.) Any good books you recommend?

4.) Is the pushing stage so horrible or do you have adrenaline to push past it?
Thanks for all your help guys

5.) In your opinion, which is worse? Transition or pushing?

1) In short, I've had two natural, drug-free births. I did a hypnobirthing class prior to the birth of DS1 and it was worth its weight in gold. It gave me the confidence to birth the way I wanted, and empowered me. Let's just say no one at the hospital bossed me around ... Hypnobirthing also gave me the tools to stay calm, focused and relaxed throughout my birthing experiences.

2) I "knew" I could do whatever I needed to do to birth my beautiful babies. I never doubted myself ... I trusted my body and my ability to birth.

3) Hypnobirthing by Marie Mongan's and Also Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering by Dr Sarah Buckley.

4) I didn't find anything horrible about giving birth. When the pushing stage hits you, just "let go" and don't be self-conscious. Work with your body. Pushing might not be a walk in the park, but you're not losing a limb, you're gaining a baby

5) Same as above ... it's all part of birthing a baby, so I just embraced it and worked with my body. My sons were both born after approx 30 mins of pushing (for the record, pushing is not quite the hypnobirthing way of doing things - you're supposed to "breathe the baby down" ... but I was adaptable and did what I felt was right ... all part of feeling empowered).

Good luck!

ETA: Get your DH on the same page as you, to encourage and support you ... he should be as focused as you ... and make sure he deflects any rudeness or whatever from anyone while you are giving birth. My DH was wonderful (thanks to him going to the hypnobirthing classes too) and he allowed me to focus on me. I should say, with DS2 I had a mw who had also been taught about hypnobirthing ... she was ace. S.he even made sure the Ob didn't give me a shot in the leg to bring the placenta delivery forward. She commented to us afterward how "lovely" it was to see that a natural, drug-free birth could be achieved easily. I got the impression it was not something she saw regularly.