well, I have done the whole thing before - completely natural, not through choice but rather lack of time. my whole labour last time was just a little over 4 hours.

now the thing is the closer i get to the end of my pregnancy the more nervous/anxious i get about the whole labour thing again. now I know I can handle the first part ( you know the long borring waiting to dialate part); that pain doesn't phase me. what i am petrified of is the actual pushing stage - I have realised that unless i request drugs before then I will not ge any, but don't want to request any until i actually need some.

the worst thing is when i mention my fears about the birth to anyone, i just get brushed off with the whole 'you had such a quick easy labour last time, you don't have anything to worry about' (it may have seemed like that to them, but it was still a hell of alot of pain for me!). I wish people would just show acknowledgement that even if you have a quick 'easy' labour it is still hard work and can be extremely painful - it wasn't a walk in the park you know.

anyway, I'm not sure what i'm asking for here...maybe just a little reaasurance that it will be alright, and mayby some tips for handling the pain in the pushing stage?