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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I was induced at 37 weeks because I was diagnosed with HELLP. I was very sick for 8 days prior to diagnoses, my doctor decided to check my liver enzyme levels, he said in case we have to start an induction we are going to give you a steroid injection for the baby's lungs, one today and one tomorrow. When I went in the next day for the last shot they had received my blood results and said we are going to induce you - I was like okay, when? They said, "right now". I was in shock as I didn't want to be induced and I wasn't ready at all!
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
Although I was induced I still delivered unmedicated as it was what I wanted as my original birth plan. This was certainly a challenge and very painful with the strength of contractions caused by Pitocin. So the most challenging in my case was not having a break between contractions to catch my breath and get back into my zen. It was so full on!
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Rex-born
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
Having my birthing ball and pelvic exercises throughout my pregnancy, meditations, and practicing breathing techniques. Also, the Mama Natural Birth Course was super helpful in understanding all my options and everything to be aware of at the hospital. It really opened up conversation between my husband and I to decide what we felt was most important for our new baby and us.
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What surprised you about your birth?
The best moment of actually giving birth was delivering the placenta, it was this soothing feeling - it was soft, warm and the final feeling of relief. It was all over with great success!
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It just really helped educate us and shed light on all of our options, once it came time to make the decisions we felt confident because we had learned about different viewpoints and were given the opportunity to discuss it beforehand! Great course and definitely recommend it!
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
For early labor, I found that biofreeze and arnica cream was very helpful for my back labor. Then the mixture of homeopathic tablets I kept taking throughout, paired with my diffuser, soft lighting, and meditation music. All of these combined made early labor very easy for me! For active labor, my doula saved my life (haha) during a contraction she was behind me and pushed on both sides of my pelvis with strong pressure and reminded me to breathe, this helped more than I could have imagined. Also, although I was induced, because I didn't get an epidural I had the freedom to move around so they put a bar on the bed that I was able to be up on my knees holding the bar which was by far the most comfortable position for a large portion of the time.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Incredible, weird, surreal and miraculous! It made all the pain worth it, and all I kept thinking is wow, this is truly a miracle. How my body grew this beautiful, living-breathing baby boy. It was the moment I was forever changed!!
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What did you name your baby, and why?
Rex William. My husband and I's agreement was he would name the boy and I would name the girl. My husband said since he was a young kid he wanted to name his son Rex, so his dream came true!!
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How did the Mama Natural Birth Class help you in your childbirth?
It just really helped educate us and shed light on all of our options, once it came time to make the decisions we felt confident because we had learned about different viewpoints and were given the opportunity to discuss it beforehand! Great course and definitely recommend it!
