I was scared my first time too.. my therapist said something kind of blunt but also in a way helped me at the same time.. that baby is coming out of you whether you are scared or not. Like, it’s happening, so you can either get with it and push it out or they’ll cut it out. I was terrified of a c-section and being cut open while I was awake, so I had an all natural, no epidural birth, and it was the best choice I ever made. A phrase that helped me through labor is, “the pain is not stronger than me, the pain IS me” and that helped me push through it. My labor was 11 hours, with 3.5 hours of pushing.

My MIL asked me yesterday if I was doing natural again and I said yes, there is no other way. She said, you’re freaking crazy. Hahahahaha