Rainbowzz, you are gonna do great. Women have been doing this for years.

I've had two big babies, close to 9 pounds each, and did not have meds or epidural for either one. I guess one thing that helped me was knowing all the options and that even though I wanted to try to have the baby without meds, I could always fall back on them if the pain got to be too much.

I knew I was in labor when the contractions were really regular. For both labors, I had some bleeding the day of, called "the bloody show" and this is a good giveaway you are going into labor. I was about 6 cm dilated for both babies when I arrived at the hospital. It was indeed a lot of pain but I am glad I did not have epidurals as this can slow down labor. Women who have epidurals have a higher rate of Caesarians, especially when the epi is given too soon. So if you are going to get one, hold out until you are well into labor. So many women have epidurals that they will know when the time is right to give one. You should keep in mind that I had my first baby in the land of natural childbirth, Berkeley, California, so maybe you shouldn't listen to me!

One of the most bothersome things for me was the fetal monitor, which they wanted to strap around my belly. This puts a lot of pressure on your tummy and whereas contractions without the monitor were very tolerable for me, they became painful with the monitor on, so I wanted the monitor off my belly as much as possible. This was not a problem in Berkeley, as the nurses there were trained to listen for the heartbeat with a special fetal stethoscope, but my second was born in another state and the nurses were not so accommodating. At my doctor's direction, they made me wear the monitor for about 10-15 minutes out of every hour. Not fun, but I managed.

For baby #2, they had a jacuzzi that I went in to relax in the early stages of labor. This really helped me deal with the contractions. It was very pleasant and soothing, and they gave me a big glass of lemonade. I remember not wanting to get out but the doctor insisted so he could check me. He told me I could go back in, but that never happened as baby was too close to being born.

One thing that made my labors go from OK to much more intense and painful in seconds it seemed was when the doctor broke my water. Both times the doctor did this instead of waiting for it to happen naturally, and I think if there is one thing I would have changed about my labors, it would be to go longer into labor and let the water break naturally. I think maybe this wouldn't lead to such a huge jump in pain--I would have gotten there more gradually.

The body does funny things when you get to transition so beware. I got the shakes both times and also was sick to my stomach. The medical staff had seen it all before, though, so were reassuring.

During labor, I had "back labor" and it helped to have my husband apply pressure to my lower back with his fists. He got worn out doing this, but it really helped with the pain.

The thing I was most scared of was having an episiotomy. For baby #1, they said it looked good and I wouldn't need one, but I had trouble pushing the baby out and ended up tearing and had to have stitches. For baby #2, I did not need an episiotomy, no tearing at all. Recovery was so much easier with no stitches! So try to work with your doctor to push very slowly and gently when the baby is coming out so you don't tear or need an episiotomy, which also requires stitches. You can tell your doctor in advance that this is what you are aiming for so he/she is prepared with advice when the time comes. They say that if it is clear you are going to tear without an episiotomy, that it is better to have the episiotomy as it is easier to stitch up a straight cut. Hope that is not TMI.

The best thing for anxiety is to do your breathing. Take a childbirth class and learn breathing techniques for transition, pushing, relaxation, etc. And have someone with you during labor to coach you with the breathing.

Yes, there was burning when the baby's head crowned. Just push through it. You'll be OK!

My labors were about 6 hours each or less. The biggest difference between the two births was for the first one I pushed for close to 2 hours, but for the second baby, I only pushed for 15 minutes and she was born. Listen to your coaches during pushing as there are effective ways to do this and ineffective. I was a really slow learner with baby #1 and just could not get the technique down. For baby #2, it was, "oh yeah, I remember how to do this."

Even though childbirth hurts a lot, it is amazing how you forget the pain after a few days or weeks.

Childbirth is really a peak experience of one's life. When your baby comes out and you see another human being, that grew inside of you--it's incredible!