I thought I would write a few notes on my thoughts about birth.

Giving birth is first and foremost painful!!! But there is so much more to it.
I was the kind of person who once I fell pregnant I read heaps of books and blogs about giving birth. I watched heaps of TV shows and watched a friends own personal birth DVD. My advice is don't listen to bad birth stories. I don't usually tell my story in any detail (although I don't class mine as a bad story), because it might worry a pregnant person. I wanted to be as informed as possible, which meant I analysed everything and had a detailed birth plan. As most women do, I of course wanted no pain relief, a completely natural birth; I felt that would be best for both my baby and me.

My first birth was nothing like I planned. I had almost every procedure you can have during birth like being overdue and having to be induced, then needing an epidural, to having a clip on the baby's head to monitor how they were going, as it was distressed and I was not doing too well myself. And it all ended in a caesarean section..... but my baby was born healthy: ))

I think we lose sight of this sometime.... well I know I did. I spent the next four weeks going over what I could of done differently. I really beat myself up emotionally (as if you're not already emotional after having your first baby). When I stopped and look at it objectively, I couldn't have done anything different and both my baby and I where healthy and if not for medical intervention, we wouldn't of been. That is what mattered, and I needed to realise how lucky I was and how thankful I should be. I did produce quite a little princess, even if I do say so myself.

The second time around I was a bit more flexible with my birth plan, knowing I may not get the natural birth I was looking for, but I stayed positive. I was lucky, everything fell into place and worked out and I did have my second child naturally. I found I recovered very quickly and was back to normal activity after a couple of weeks.

I think the main things to remember about birth are:

1. ‘it is one day out of your life'. 24hours.
2. Many women have been there before and it doesn't matter how your child makes it in to the world. It's about how healthy you and your baby are emotionally and physically.
3. You need to have some kind of a plan, but remember things don't always go to plan.
4. It is an emotional and (cliché, but true)the most wonderful experience.

Just enjoy the entire journey of being pregnant and giving birth..... it's just the beginning of something so incredibly special and fulfilling.