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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I had felt some very heavy pressure for a few days. They hooked me to a monitor but it wasn't registering any contractions. I got home from work a week before my maternity leave and I felt a hard pressure. I had just taken a shower and was about to lay down for bed. I saw a trickle of water and knew I was about to have a baby!
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
The most challenging thing for me was not progressing. I wasn't even having any contractions when I went to the hospital it took all night and all morning to start having them. It felt like I wasn't even about to deliver a baby. Most of my pain was in my back and it felt like i had slept funny. When my labor actually started I kept forgetting to breathe. I would keep passing out because I was breathing wrong. The nurses had to come in and put me on oxygen.
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gabe1
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I had my bags packed. With my daughter I didn't have any bags ready or clothes or anything. I am also married to a woman so knowing about paperwork also felt relieving to us.
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What surprised you about your birth?
How at first I wasn't having extreme pain. I also didn't have to push very long until he was out and about.
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It felt amazing, there are no words to describe it. My wife held him first and she did kangaroo care with him. I loved having time alone to bond before visitors came.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Breathing. Staying focused on one thing. The contractions are like a roller coaster it just keeps getting worse until it's like you are coming down from the hill. It repeats over and over again. Stay focused and keep telling yourself you can do it without the medicine.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I delivered on my back with my feet in stirrups. I hated the stirrups. It felt so impersonal and didn't make me happy at all because I couldn't see anything.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
It felt amazing, there are no words to describe it. My wife held him first and she did kangaroo care with him. I loved having time alone to bond before visitors came.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Write a birth plan. List not only what you want but look at what options will be there if it doesn't go as planned. Sometimes being prepared makes the after birth stuff not as stressful. <3
