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When did you realize you were really in labor?
With this being my first baby, my husband and I were CONFIDENT that it would be a long labor. So I told him to go enjoy a night out at the movies by himself (one of his favorite solo activities) while I thought I could just work through contractions on my own. His movie started at 9 PM, and by about 9:30, I was confident things were progressing into more active labor!
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
The most challenging thing about going natural is that little voice in the back of my head that started every sentence with, "Well, what if...???" Especially opting for a home birth, and not having the emergency measurements as a backup, it would be tough from time to time to make the "What If" monster go away.
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
Perhaps I'm biased, but chiropractic care (along with a strong mindset, confident in my body's ability to birth this baby!) was 100% the most important and helpful thing I did! It kept my body feeling and moving great throughout all of pregnancy, kept my nervous system functioning at 100% (which meant I could physiologically progress through labor well!), and kept my pelvis in optimal position so that it allowed for baby to be in a good position as well as allowing my pelvis to be primed and ready for a smooth labor and delivery!
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What surprised you about your birth?
How QUICKLY it came! As a prenatal chiropractor, I know the stats on how chiropractic care (which I, of course, received regularly throughout my pregnancy... it helps being married to a chiropractor too!) can result in a faster labor, but this was SO unexpected. I left work at 5 PM with contractions around 7-8 minutes apart and even stopped at the grocery store on my way home to have some food for our birth team. My husband was starting his movie at 9 PM, and I started having more intense contractions but I could still sleep between them. At 12 AM, as my husband was pulling back in the driveway, and I started to feel like I needed to poop (which I knew was sure sign birth was here!). We called our birth team, but two contractions later, our sweet girl made her debut at 12:21 AM! It was unexpected, but we wouldn't take back our accidentally unassisted home birth to have it any other way!
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Surround yourself with people who are supportive and loving. They're the only type of people worth having for your pregnancy and birth anyway!
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Moving through them and moaning deeply. I enjoyed a position on all fours, rocking my hips back and forth (well... as much as you CAN enjoy something like this).
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I ended up delivering on all fours, quickly reaching down to catch my own daughter, which I had wanted to do from the start. (Side note that because she came so quickly, we never got to fill the tub! My midwife said we were the first she's ever had to deliver in the tub WITHOUT water).
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
It was so sweet and so surreal. I just couldn't believe how quickly she came, and that we had really just done that all on our own! There's no more empowering feeling than the feeling that I got when I realized what we had just done all on our own!
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Don't underestimate your mindset. You AND your support system (whether that be your spouse, birth team, whoever) have to be confident in your body's ability to birth this baby. If not, the "What If" monster will get LOUD and make a natural birth pretty much impossible. Know why you're making every decision you make (aka don't just do it because it's the crunchy thing to do). Have any doubters? Share with them your sound, evidence-based advice on why they're wrong (if you want to). People still bothering you? Tune them out. Surround yourself with people who are supportive and loving. They're the only type of people worth having for your pregnancy and birth anyway!
