First time mum nerves

Hey mama! I gave birth 6 months ago aged 37 as well and honestly you'll be absolutely fine!!!! I found that hypnobirthing classes really really helped and prepared me for labour so much that on the day I wasn't nervous or anxious at all! Being prepared ahead of time will help you and organising baby's things early will take the pressure off the later weeks when you get bigger and find it harder to go out. There are loads of lists online on what to buy and things like packing your hospital bag etc. Great that you've booked onto classes already so you know what labour feels like and how to manage it all! It's natural to feel nervous about the 20 week scan but just stay positive and enjoy the process. It's the best feeling seeing your little baby on the screen! Ask your friends for advice too if you know ppl who have had babies, speaking to close ppl who have experienced all this will reassure you. Don't worry mama you got this!!! Good luck and I wish you all the best xxxx

@Lemees thank you. What's hypnobirthing classea like? Been curious about it but not sure where to look for genuine info.

I have an anterior placenta too and I definitely did not feel him much before 20 weeks. I thought he was maybe just a more chill baby than his sister. Maybe not though because I feel him all the time now. I think it's definitely normal to feel nervous ahead of your anatomy scan though. It's a big one. I don't think it's weird to want to wait either. You have lots of time too. We get marketed for a lot more that babies need than they actually do, especially at first. Breastfeeding (if you want to) is the topic I would focus on more if I had a chance to go back to my first pregnancy. But again you definitely still have lots of time!

I really enjoyed the hypnobirthing approach and did a couple of online classes for free from different sites I found on Instagram. If you search The Honest Midwife she does a course my sister did and she found her to be amazing. I did a free online labour class through the website. Hypnobirthing is all about techniques to keep you relaxed such as breathing etc it's aim is to help you mentally get through the pain of labour. I honestly love it, I got through my whole labour with no pain relief whatsoever. The more relaxed you are the easier it is, I feel. Keeps your labour hormones working and moves things along. My labour lasted 4 hours from when my waters broke to him coming out! Xx

This is totally normal so don't feel like other moms around you are totally zen. I had a lot of moments of being nervous but echoing what the others are saying, hypno birthing is extremely helpful. It helps you remain focused on what is needed during labor. I had a dual lobed, anterior placenta and my baby also wasn't quite as active as I expected during my pregnancy so we had to do lots of "extra credit" scans. She is extremely active now, she just liked to be snug and sleeping in the womb I guess. Since you're coming up on 20 weeks, you have time to get things slowly organized overtime. Just start on things that are exciting for you, like washing and sorting the baby clothes, getting a cute take home outfit ready, along with the other things that you'll want and need in the diaper bag, etc. you don't need to get it all done in a day. You have time to focus on one or two things at a time. You're going to do great and just know that it's normal. You've got this!

It's normal to be nervous! I was also afraid something might go wrong, especially at the beginning. I didn't buy any baby things before my 20 week scan. I also had an anterior placenta and I started to feel better when the baby was finally kicking hard enough/in the right places to actually feel it! If you're nervous about giving birth, I would highly, highly recommend learning as much as you can about how birth works on a physiological level so that you can learn to trust your body. I would also learn about the routine interventions and the side effects and consequences of those interventions. I'm not sure what your attitude is about doctors in general or what your plans are for labor and delivery, but I very commonly see women who don't have a realistic idea about we what happens during labor and delivery and how doctors and nurses often act, who then end up unhappy with their experiences afterward. Knowledge is the way to avoid that! Hospital antenatal classes are *not* enough.

I learned a lot to be prepared and I felt like it made an enormous difference in my outcome compared to other women in my pregnancy group. I'd be happy to talk about that more if you want!