Impending Labor

With the birth of my second child getting closer every day, I'm finding myself thinking about labor and birth all the time. Here is Ryan's birth story, if you're curious. While the circumstances weren't ideal in the beginning, (I was sent to the hospital to be induced, but ended up not needing it), overall his birth was pretty quick.

People say that you forget the pain as soon as the baby is born, but I have to say that was not the case for me. Despite getting an epidural, I still felt some of the pain, and I will never forget that horrible feeling of having my insides twisted and stabbed prior to having the epidural. With all that being said, I am actually getting excited about labor the 2nd time around.

Why, you ask? Well Adam and I attended a sort of a refresher course this week on labor. It was a good reminder of what all is involved, and what signs to watch for as the time gets closer. I have often heard that subsequent labors go faster than the first, and I am hoping that is the case with me. With Ryan, I delivered 10 hours after arriving at the hospital and only pushed for 25 minutes.

In terms of getting an epidural this time....I am hoping that my labor goes so fast that I am not able to get one. I know, I know, that sounds kind of crazy. But I would love to see if I can deliver without pain medication this time around. Especially if labor goes faster than my first time, I believe I can do it. If given the choice of an epidural, I know I will waver and probably break down and get one. But if things are progressing too quickly to get one, that takes the decision out of my hands. Call me crazy, but that's how I feel.

I have been experiencing lots of braxton hicks contractions, which makes things even more real for me. I feel them every day, often multiple times in an hour. They seem to occur towards the end of the day, when I'm tired, or after I've been up walking a lot. Hopefully this is just a sign that my body knows exactly what to do when real labor begins.