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When did you realize you were really in labor?
It was about 11am, I had had what I thought were just Braxton Hicks contractions since 8am from how spaced out they were and were never consistently the same. Once I lost my mucus plug they started out at 7 minutes apart and quickly jumped becoming faster and stronger. My husband was still in class an hour away and I thought it was no big deal, I could wait for him to get home and we could turn around and head to the birth center. I called my midwife and she urged me to get there now. So, I got in touch with my husband shortly after and he left class early and headed home.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
I was alone. I did have my two year old, but my husband was rushing his way home from school so we could go to the birth center. He walked in within two minutes of the birth. I was keeping it together and had my mind focused on the baby inside of me, and knowing I could birth my baby myself, but I didn't want to. I wanted my husband there, I didn't want to have to be alone, with my, surprisingly calm, two year old watching, but not completely understanding.
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
Watching so many natural videos on youtube, lots of research. Knowing and accepting that this is what I want because my first birth was nothing like I wanted and I needed to know everything and be comfortable in my ability to birth my child the way I wanted too. My first was traumatic and I wanted redemption in my capabilities to bring a child into this world. No overbearing nurses, no ignoring my wishes on-call doctor, no laying on my back, and no interventions. Just me and my body, it was painful, to relive my oldest birth story, but it was so helpful to also know from my own view of what I didn't want versus just want I could read about online and think I didn't want that.
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What surprised you about your birth?
That it was so fast. My first was a 9 hour labor from first contraction to birth, so with that short labor for a firstborn and hearing that the 2nd comes faster I should have been more on the lookout, but I wasn't expecting prodromal labor to kick start into full labor so suddenly and baby to be born 20 minutes after my water broke.
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I wasn't expecting prodromal labor to kick start into full labor so suddenly and baby to be born 20 minutes after my water broke.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Water. As soon as the contractions were back to back and I knew I wasn't leaving our house anymore I crawled to the shower and was just squatting there letting the water run down my back. Before that I was squatting on the floor watching Mickey Mouse with my then two year old and whenever a contraction hit I just laid my head on the floor in more of a downward dog yoga pose and reaching around and pressing on my lower back.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I was squatting in our one person stall shower. When I crawled to the shower all I could think about was wanting to fill up the bathtub, but it was dirty and I couldn't possibly clean it at that point, so the shower would have to do and I also didn't want to have to have my husband be stuck cleaning up more than the carpet from my water breaking. So, a small contained area, with water, was my go to place.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Absolutely amazing! I just had a baby, unassisted, almost alone, and was so confident and proud of what had just happened. He just stared up at me and I slowly moved to a sitting position to be more comfortable. My midwife was then on the phone and recommended we get an ambulance for a hospital transfer to be checked out since we weren't planning a home birth and with an hour drive to the hospital we agreed since baby would stay with me the entire time. His cord was attached until we got to the hospital almost 3 hours after his birth.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Believe in yourself completely. Know that you are in control of your body and can do anything you set your mind to do. Focus on baby and don't get lost in everything else. That's someone else's job. Finally, live in each contraction, know what is going to happen with each one, throw yourself into that pain and know that the outcome is your precious baby. Don't try to hide from the pain and make it go away, they help bring baby down and out.
