Refresher course?

Hi guys
It will have been 4 years since my last "labour" when I have this next little one, what do you think of doing a refresher course?
Really when it all came down to it, everything from classes/books etc. flew out the window.

for background - I had a shocker experience, beyond saying "Epidural?" (that was the only thing I could think of) I didn't remember anything else. My obst. was the one who asked for gas for me (thank goodness he knew me so well). What I'm saying is I was not in my right mind when I gave birth, as soon as I took the gas I made a mental decision to "leave the building" and it was quite irrelevant whether I had been to classes or not.

so, I'm hoping and planning that this birth will be different, and that I will have a bit more mental control. However, it still seems that you have contractions, and the baby comes kind of thing?

I've been reading up quite a bit on different birth positions etc. but still have some questions.

How do you find the energy to get up onto your knees and not just lie there and give up (as I did last time)?

What sort of things do you think about and focus on while in labour/birthing to keep yourself present? and to keep going? (ifykwim!)

I will have my DH with me, who is a little bit more prepared than last time, so what can he do to help me through this?
(I didn't want him to touch me last time, and then I "left the building", so it didn't matter whether he was there or not(!))

Thanks in advance for all your suggestions.

Oh Wow,
You sound like me! Ive had 6 and felt out of control with all of them, but this time I'm determined to enjoy it (if thats possible 8-[ ) or at least feel in control. Good Luck! You are due before me, so let me know how it goes!

:

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How do you find the energy to get up onto your knees and not just lie there and give up (as I did last time)?

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Hi nickel, one of the tips that the midwife who taught my antenatal class gave us was - don't lie down because its really hard to get back up once you do. If you need to rest try doing it kneeling forward over the end of a bed or birth ball.

I think that doing a refresher class is a great idea or even doing the full class. A couple of people in our class already had children but since it had been a few years they elected to do the whole course not just the refresher.

There are a couple of threads about the courses. You can do a search through google - if you go to the advanced options you can specify to search the bellybelly site only instead of the whole www

I had a 7 year gap and felt teh same as you. Had epidural first time and wanted this experience to be different. i started by going to antenatal class again which I thoroughly enjoyed. I could then focus just on what I wanted to know and let the rest slide by. I found out about TENS machines which I ended up hiring for use in labour. They're really good and I recommend you look into that.
I also knew that I didn't want to be disappointed, so I didn't plan ANYTHING beyond that. I just went to hospital open to whatever happened. I didn't take much with me because I know most of it never gets touched. The hospital also has everything, they supplied drinks, the yoga ball, etc. I just got there, knelt down, felt uncomfortable, so i turned around and sat (supported by Dh) and went from there. Was a much better experience.
Good luck xo