I wish i'd put the really important-to-us bits of the birth plan, like PLEASE DON"T CUT THE CORD on a sign and stuck it on the wall - my labour was so fast the midwife didn't have time to read it. She was there longer AFTER the birth than before it (was at home).

I also wish i hadn't read so much about the "stages of labour". My first stage was mainly prelabour, my 2nd stage i didn't know about until she was crowning. I wanted to push BEFORE transition, and i was seriously holding her on my tummy wondering when the pushing stage would begin.

I wish something could have given me a glimpse of the awe, joy, pride and love i felt when i held my baby. I wish i'd had some of that knowledge during the painful bits to carry me on and let me know how worth it it is to stay in tune with your body and try to avoid the drugs (i used gas and air, which was great for me because 2 breaths and i was normal again, no wearing-off time). I wish i had known more fully the feeling i would have, in the days and weeks following the birth, that i had made a transition inside, to WOMAN, that i am a powerful sexual creature who can bring foth life. I had heard about it, but it defies description. I went into labour a girl, i came out a lioness.

Bx