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When did you realize you were really in labor?
My first birth was a natural birth by surprise... I had fully planned on getting an epidural prior to going into labor. At a checkup at 37 weeks I was told I was 1 cm but that was totally normal. That afternoon I felt what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions while I was cooking dinner. That night, I could hardly sleep because I was very uncomfortable. As I was finally drifting off I thought I heard a "pop" sound and jolted awake. I thought my water had broken but after calling a nurse and putting on a pad for an hour there was no sign of water. I tried to lay back down but at this point I couldn't lay still comfortably. I called again, saying I might be having contractions, and the nurse said "Honey, if you were in labor, you wouldn't be speaking to me right now. It's just your ligaments expanding, take a warm bath and a tylenol". So I did. After laying there for about an hour (laboring, but not realizing it), I got sick and threw up. Not long after I went to the bathroom and saw blood. At this point we called and the nurse said to come in. When we finally got up to the room in L&D the nurse told me to go get changed into a gown so she could check me (she was obviously annoyed thinking I wasn't in labor). As I was changing I had quite a bit more blood and at this point the nurse (as well as my husband and I) became concerned. I laid down to be checked and she got a wide-eyed look and said "You're 8 cm!" I went into shock, asking if I could have an epidural, to which she said "oh honey, you're way past that point!" as she rushed out to call the doctor. That was the moment I realized I was in labor! She was born within 30 minutes after that. The doctor barely made it to catch her!
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
With this birth, the most challenging thing was just accepting that I was going to have to go naturally after planning to use an epidural. The actual birth was very fast and easy! I actually decided to go naturally with my next 2 births because I realized it wasn't as bad as people had made it out to be! (At least for me).
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I actually didn't do anything to prepare for this birth. I wasn't very health conscious at that point in my life and had no intention of having a natural delivery.
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What surprised you about your birth?
How fast it went and how scared I had been of the pain when the actual delivery wasn't near what I had built up in my head!
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With this birth, the most challenging thing was just accepting that I was going to have to go naturally after planning to use an epidural. The actual birth was very fast and easy! I then decided to go naturally with my next 2 births!
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
I didn't use any with this labor. From the time I realized I was in labor to actual delivery was 30 minutes. During those 30 minutes it was just commotion and chaos of surprised nurses rushing around to get the room ready for delivery.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
On my back.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
I was in shock! She wasn't due for 3 more weeks and and kept saying "She's here! She's here! Look babe, she's here!" It was the most wonderful surprise ever!
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Don't listen to all the people that tell you how awful it's going to be! I had so many people tell me that epidurals weren't even a question because of how horrible labor is, and I'm SO thankful I was unable to get one! I have now had 3 completely natural births and I can say that the pain is nothing compared to what I had imagined. Plus, recovery is much smoother without drugs or interventions, if they can be avoided!
