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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I had prodromal labor which lasted a week. Every night I would start having regular contractions and they would peter off around 4am. It was exhausting! The first few nights the contractions only lasted a couple hours, on the fourth night they kept going and were getting stronger, so I called the midwife in. Little did we know we still had several more days to go, but by the end of that night I was 4cm dilated.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
For us, having a home birth was a matter of a lot of prayer. Our first baby was born via cesarean, and we were desperately hoping for a VBAC. We knew there could be some risk involved in hbac (home birth after cesarian) but we didn't want to make a decision based on fear. We interviewed several midwives, and when we met our Audra we felt such an overwhelming peace about her being the one! In hindsight, I really believe it was God's leading because, the way my labor went, had we been in a hospital there most likely would have been more intervention and possibly another c-sectIon.
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Allison
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
Pray pray pray! I just prayed for God's hand to be with us, the baby, and my midwife. I also prayed against fear and for wisdom for the birth team. It was also really helpful to process my previous birth and decide what I wanted/didn't want this time around. I also did lots of squats and yoga, and saw the chiro during my 3rd trimester.
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What surprised you about your birth?
That it was so long! I wasn't expecting quick or easy, but a week of prodromal labor plus two nights of back labor, five hours of pushing and two episiotomies wasn't what I had in mind! I'm so thankful for my amazing birth team and midwife who were just spectacular and so encouraging through it all!
Also, I have to say there were some midwife tricks that I had always been skeptical about, but totally worked! Doing circles on the birthing ball really helped bring around contractions when they would start slowing down. Also, the day I finally gave birth my midwife did acupressure and it totally worked!
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I wasn't expecting quick or easy, but a week of prodromal labor plus two nights of back labor, five hours of pushing and two episiotomies wasn't what I had in mind!
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Hmm...not much! Labor wasn't too bad until I experienced back labor the last two nights, that was just terrible. I had a tens unit and tried different positions but nothing helped. Finally my husband made me take a bath - that was probably the most amazing thing he's ever done for me! It felt incredible and I had a few minutes of relief!
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I started on the floor, then in the birthing tub. When the baby wasn't coming out after a few hours, the midwife had me get out and try a few other positions (some of them pretty intense!). I ended up delivering on my side, my husband holding one of my legs and my two sisters (who are doulas) taking turns pressing down on my hip to help open the birth canal.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Relief! The very end was a little scary. The baby just had a hard time coming out, finally after two episiotomies she was out! We just lay there together feeling each other's warmth. She was wide awake and popping her head up looking around. She started nursing right away!
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
You can do it! What helped me the most was really my amazing birth team, I don't think I could have done it without them! Even though it was difficult it was SO wonderful to be at home, and to work with my body. It was painful at times, but it felt like GOOD pain. Find a birth team you know will support you and whom you feel peace about and go for it!
