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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I realized I was in labor at about 2AM. I was going to the bathroom repeatedly, I had a pink bloody show, and my contractions were strong and intense. It was hard to know if I should call my mom to watch the kids because I didn't want to wake her up for a false alarm. I started to want to push with the contractions and was making a low moaning pushy noise with each contraction, so I decided we should go. I still wasn't sure if it was labor.. we even stood outside the hospital for a few minutes deciding whether to go in or not. My husband reassured me that if it was a false alarm we could always just go home and it was no problem. Sure enough, I was at 8cm!
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
Even though it was my 4th birth, it was still so scary to go natural. I had to prepare my mind and body in the weeks before my birth. It's always a mind hurdle to jump, knowing that there is no way around giving birth and any way of giving birth involves pain. There was a point at the end where I knew he was posterior and kinda "stuck" and I felt despair and a feeling that I would be stuck in this intense pain for the rest of my life and the baby would never be born. I have felt that feeling with each baby, and even though it doesn't seem like it at the time, it is a sign that labor is almost over!
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I read birth stories and watched so many birth vlogs on YouTube that I started to wonder if I had a addiction. :) The night before labor, I looked into Spinning Babies and tried an exercise to get my posterior baby turned. I really wish I had started on that earlier and known more about it.
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What surprised you about your birth?
I was surprised that my labor was so long. Baby #3 came in a half hour after arriving at the hospital, so I didn't expect baby #4 to take 5 hrs after arriving at the hospital.
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It felt amazing to hold him. He was my treasure after all the pain and the pregnancy. I was so surprised he was a boy and I felt like my heart might just burst with all the joy. He was so warm and squishy and beautiful.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
I mostly swayed my hips during contractions and did a lot of leaning on the bed. I had the nurse put the bed almost up to countertop height so it was easier to lean on.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I thought I would deliver the baby on my hands and knees since that worked so well for the last birth, but I just wasn't making progress. I turned over to try and just change positions to get my "stuck" baby unstuck and he just got moving once I was on my back! I delivered him in a sitting/squatting/laying on my back position.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
It felt amazing to hold him. He was my treasure after all the pain and the pregnancy. I was so surprised he was a boy and I felt like my heart might just burst with all the joy. He was so warm and squishy and beautiful.
