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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I was six days post due. I felt like there was something wrong with me because then baby had been in the same position for five weeks. I had planned a home birth but went the hospital to check the baby's position and vitals. The baby still had not "dropped" but all was well. I finally had to accept that I might not have a home birth. I had egg plant parmesan for lunch. I thought it gave me terrible gas but the gas pain did not go away! It just got more intense! My husband band I searched the Internet for " what contractions feel like" and I called my sister.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
The most challenging thing about going natural was giving up control(that and the sleep deprivation) I had to let my body and baby do what they were made to do. I had a fantasy about childbirth. I imagined the women of my family making flower crowns while my husband and I meditated in a room filled with lavender scented candles. That's not the way it happened. My contractions were never consistent. They would be a minute apart for a half hour then be six minutes apart. It was like this for several hours at a time. After twenty four hours of intense inconsistent labor I was still only dilated one. I didn't sleep for two days straight while laboring. At forty hours of laboring I was finally progressing and my midwives broke my water. I started pushing after being in labor for forty six hours.
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I swam nearly every day of my third trimester. I also had a work out routine that I did every other day. I followed multiple fit pregnancy Instagramers and complied a workout. I believe these things help me to endure such an intense labor naturally. Also we planned to have a support system. Having people around may not be for everyone but it worked for us. My sister kept telling me that that I could do by his while she fed me gummy bears and my husband held my hand. My mother in-law made food for the midwives and kept our house clean and my mom kept contact with the outside world. I'm glad they were there and we planned for them to be there.
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What surprised you about your birth?
I was surprised that the pushing was easier than the laboring! (not that the pushing was easy at all!) I felt like I had a goal and I wad possessed by something greater than me to push that baby out!
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Do everything in your capacity to prepare. Read books, take class, exercise, rest but when you are in active labor be in the moment. Take everything one moment at a time, one contraction at a time, one breath a time, one push at a time. You don't know how long it's going to take so just take it one moment at a time.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Accepting the pain was the best relief strategy that worked. You can't fight it. Its going to happen. Its going to be painful. You can't run from it. Be in the moment. Accept it and breathe. And sitting on the toilet .
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I ended up delivering on my back in my bed with my husband holding one leg and the midwife assistant holding the other. At first I didn't know that we were going to push. My midwife was checking me and said "try this" then she said" You moved the baby!" I thought it was a bad thing! But she told me we were pushing! She was so awesome in encouraging me with every push. I asked her how long it would take and she said it could take a few hours but that we were going to take it " one push at a time ". I braced myself for a few hours of pushing. I took it "one push at a time" In the last few pushes something came over me! My baby was out and it only took an hour! (plus the other 46 hours)
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Holding my baby firm the first time was like nothing anyone could have told me. It was surreal. With all the preparation and classes and books and doctor and midwife appointments , I was still in shock that my husband and I made this miracle. The feeling of pain did not go away. In fact I thought, " I don't think I can do this again ". But I've never felt so elated as did in that moment. And now I think I could do it again.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Do everything in your capacity to prepare. Read books, take class, exercise, rest but when you are in active labor be in the moment. Take everything one moment at a time, one contraction at a time, one breath a time, one push at a time. You don't know how long it's going to take so just take it one moment at a time.
