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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I was in labor for over 4 days so even now looking back it's hard to say when that moment was that I was like "ah yes, this is labor!" I started having contractions on Sunday evening but they were pretty far apart. By Monday afternoon I was pretty sure they were contractions but I kept second guessing it because I was only 39 weeks at that point and I didn't want to jump the gun. Monday night was when the real contractions hit because they jolted me awake very abruptly in the middle of the night and then I couldn't sleep and didn't for a long time after that.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
I have to say for me it was the length of my labor. Considering my pre-labor contractions stated Sunday evening, the harder ones started Monday night, the really hard ones Thursday, and then I didn't actually give birth to my son until Friday morning it was a VERY long week. I didn't sleep for 4 nights leading up to having my son and by the time I made it to the hospital I was exhausted and getting nowhere. I wasn't dilating at all and it was like no matter how much my body contracted I wasn't ever going to have the baby. I ended up having to take a low dose of Misoprostol (Cytotec) to see if it would help me dilate more, which it did, sort of. That was on day 3 of labor and I was at a point where I needed something to happen. I was so tired that I just kept telling my husband "I am never going to be able to push this baby out!" I made it 3 days and 20 hours of laboring naturally but with my exhaustion, I knew that the smart thing to do was give in to the epidural so that I could actually rest and hopefully get this baby out safely. I got that epidural and started pushing 3.5 hours later and pushed my son out in 20 minutes. In my case, my epidural may have saved me and my son.
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IMG954522
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I have to say that learning everything that I possibly could about all types of childbirth was the best thing that I could have done for myself. I went into my labor with a completely open mind. I wanted a completely natural birth but I was open to the fact that life isn't perfect and situations change and sometimes you don't always get what you wanted. I am not saying that everyone has to have the mindset of "well at least you got a healthy baby" but more of an "I am going to do everything I can to keep an open mind and make sure I get my healthy beautiful baby."
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What surprised you about your birth?
The length of it! My mom had me after 16 hours of labor and my sister after 6 hours of labor so I never ever expected to be in labor as long as I was. I think the other thing that surprised me the most was the ferocity of when your water breaks. Everyone always says that the Hollywood version of water breaking is all a lie but not in my case! It broke with so much force that many very lovely words came flowing out of my mouth and I scared my husband straight out of a deep sleep to his feet in 2 seconds flat.
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It wasn't until we were in the mom and baby room that I finally realized that the little human in my arms was mine and I don't remember when it happened but at some point, all of a sudden the love and feelings just flooded me and I didn't want to ever put him down.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
I loved the water and heat. When I first started having contractions I would wrap my heating pad on me and lay in child's pose and it was amazing. Then after my water broke I sat in the shower for 2 hours before my nurse begged me to come out to get monitored for a little bit. I was able to stand the contractions when I was in the shower but once I was out that last bit of energy that I did have left me and I was so tired I would fall asleep between contractions.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
Because I did end up with the epidural I pushed in a seated position with my legs in the stirrups. The nurse tried to get me to lay back but I was adamant that I was not going to pushing laying down and I wanted to have some control over the situation. She finally agreed after asking my doctor (who was/is amazing and never says no to me) and I was right because I got that baby out in 20 minutes without a single tear.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Holding him for the first time was surreal. I am not going to say that it was this amazing life changing experience because that isn't right. I was so tired I don't think I really understood what was happening. I remember giving him a kiss and getting the vernix all over my face and we have a picture of me wiping it off on the blanket. After that, I think I just stared at him for a while trying to figure out what the heck had just happened to me. It wasn't until we were in the mom and baby room that I finally realized that the little human in my arms was mine and I don't remember when it happened but at some point, all of a sudden the love and feelings just flooded me and I didn't want to ever put him down.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
I would say that the best thing you can do for yourself and your baby is to keep an open mind. Most people will have a normal labor (that isn't 4 days long) and they will be able to give birth naturally but sometimes, very rarely, things change and go down a road you might not expect. If you try to fight it it will only make your labor that much harder but if you keep your mind open you can be prepared for anything that might come your way. It could be something as simple as finding out that water isn't the pain reliever that you thought it would be and you may need a new position to get you through. Allowing your doula, your husband, your midwife, and/or your doctor to help you when you don't know what to do next is also a huge part of being able to make it through the pain. When you push them away it can cause you to lose yourself in the pain but when you lean on (literally and figuratively) your support team you can make it through anything.
