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When did you realize you were really in labor?
When I realized I was not urinating but that my water had broke and it was just slowly leaking at noon. No contractions. My husband took a quick shower since I was not even having contractions yet. By the time he got out I was having strong contractions just minutes apart. She was born at 4:28, just minutes after arriving at the birthing center.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
For my first birth she came so fast that I would not have had a choice about going natural anyways. My biggest concern was how long labor would last with being in unknown amount of pain. Did not have to worry about that one. (I had been freaking out at how much pain I was in thinking this was going to last 12 hours or so. Once I was at the birthing center and the nurse examined me and told me that she was right there. I immediately relaxed knowing she was on her way and it was not going to be hours. On the drive there my husband kept telling me I was in transition. I did not believe him and was getting mad at him. Obviously he knew what was going on)
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April2001
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
From taking the Bradley Birthing Method classes and other natural information. I was learned that the "pain" of giving birth is a natural thing and to not be scared of it. Our society is so use to pain being a bad thing and a sign of something is wrong. I feel this makes women scared that the pain means something is wrong and something to stop. I felt once I understood and accepted that the pain of labor is a natural expected thing and not something to be afraid of. Then I was able to relax about the concern of the pain. It became much less scary.
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What surprised you about your birth?
What surprised me about my first birth was how fast it went (I know this is not the
typical speed of birth). It went to fast that I did not believe I was so close to delivering. Looking back, and especially after by second birth, I can see I had been in labor to some degree for nearly 24 hours and significantly for about 5 hours before I noticed my water had broke and I accepted I was in labor. I was also surprised at how well my husband seamed to know better than me that my labor was going fast and seamed to know what was happening. Maybe because he was better able to focus than me while in labor.
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Understanding that women have given birth forever, without medical assistant. Trust in your body to know what to do and accept the pain as natural instead of being afraid of it and fighting it.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
During my first birth I did not have any time for much pain relief strategies.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
Laying in bed actually laying across the bed (it was a full sized bed) because that is how I had just sort of flopped onto the bed.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
I guess the best way to describe it is that I felt like I had always known her. I had my girls name picked out since I was a teenager. I did not know the sex of my baby, but we had picked out a girl and a boy name. So when "she" was born she already had a name and it just felt so natural for her to be there.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Understanding that women have given birth forever, without medical assistant. Trust in your body to know what to do and accept the pain as natural instead of being afraid of it and fighting it.
With that being said, I do want to add that not all births go as we plan and modern medicine is there to help save you and your baby if things do not go as planned. Do not blame yourself.
