-
When did you realize you were really in labor?
At 10.30pm, after having had inconsistent contractions since the night before that got stronger as the day went on, I finally felt like there seemed to be a pattern and I started timing them. At that point they were 6-8 minutes apart and 1-2 minutes long. My doula told me to get in the tub to see if they fizzled out and they immediately went to 4 minutes apart and then 2-3 minutes apart and 30-60 seconds long.
-
What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
I honestly think I handled the "regular" contractions quite well; I went from 4 cm to 7-8 cm in just over 2 hours by lying on the hospital bed on my side just humming my way through the contractions! I was in my own world and even felt like I rested a bit! But then at 8 cm I started feeling pushing contractions and my body started to push through them! The nurse from the hospital kept telling me I wasn't yet to push, I had to breathe through them! It was asking me to do the impossible! My body was pushing for me and asking me to stop it made me feel so out of control! I would hold on to the bed rails, tense my whole body and scream my way through them, trying to put all my energy somewhere else than the contractions.. Which didn't work of course!
-
image7
-
What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
After finding out my first child was breech at only 38 weeks (despite having been told the whole time she was head down) it was really important to me this time to do all I could to ensure proper positioning. I did yoga (mommy toddler yoga classes with my daughter and prenatal at home via YouTube videos) some of the daily exercises from spinning babies and from around week 25 I started seeing a prenatal chiropractor to ensure my body was properly aligned for baby to get into good position. From about week 37 I really started focusing on getting ready mentally by watching and reading natural birth videos and stories including other VBAC stories! It was so inspiring to see how different births could look and also different coping mechanisms women used!
-
What surprised you about your birth?
It surprised me how you just find ways of dealing with the contractions.. There's no script or right way.. You just naturally find something that works for you (or at least I did), and the other thing that really surprised me was those pushing contractions and how strong they were. I didn't know you could get those before you were "ready to push"/complete and it was so intense how the whole body would just gear up and start pushing without you being able to control it. My doula did say though, that the nurse's view was a bit old fashioned and had it been a midwife she would have probably just told me to go with it and push despite being only 8 cm. My doula did continuously tell me to "listen to my body" but all I really heard was the nurse telling me not to push!
-
It was amazing! I had an overwhelming feeling of "we did it" and having him lie on me in all his delicious messiness in stark contract to my daughter who I held for the first time after she had been thoroughly wiped down and shortly after was taken to be give a bath, was just what I wanted.. It was so emotional!
-
What pain relief strategies worked best?
I honestly don't really remember the pain as such.. The biggest thing I remember is how hard it was to control those pushing contractions but before that I really didn't feel like it was so bad. I guess just getting into my own head and humming my way through the contractions is what I was essentially doing to "control" the contractions.
-
What position did you end up delivering in?
I delivered on my back.. That's the position I had been in trying to not push before I was 10 cm, so once I was told I was finally allowed to push, I didn't waste time changing my position
-
How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
It was amazing! I had an overwhelming feeling of "we did it" and having him lie on me in all his delicious messiness in stark contract to my daughter who I held for the first time after she had been thoroughly wiped down and shortly after was taken to be give a bath, was just what I wanted.. It was so emotional!
-
What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
- hire a doula who can help you achieve your goals
- mentally prepare by watching natural birth videos and read birth stories
- if it's a VBAC I think it's hugely important to ensure you have fully grieved and gotten over your c-section and that you then fully commit to your VBAC.
