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When did you realize you were really in labor?
When I was woken up by a menstrual-like cramp at exactly 1:00 a.m. on our son's due date! It came over me like a cloud blocking out the sun. They kept coming like clockwork, every 7 minutes, lasting for 40 seconds each. Then my mucus plug came out, my water broke, and I knew it was the real deal. I hadn't been dilated at all before my due date, and had only had Braxton Hicks contractions. Everything about what I was feeling then was very different from the twinges and pains I'd felt in the weeks before.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
Keeping my jaw and muscles loose during contractions - I knew I could let the contractions do their job to open me up or stay tight and closed. As an athlete this was hard for me and took all of my concentration. Oh, and believing I could push that baby out!
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IMAG1463
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I did a lot of yoga and walking to prepare my body, but I think reading the birth stories in "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" and "Spiritual Midwifery" (multiple times) helped get my brain ready to handle labor. The experiences of the moms opened my eyes to the range of ways babies come into the world, and gave me an idea of what to expect from myself once labor got going.
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What surprised you about your birth?
How intense it was right from the beginning. There was not a second of downtime. And how fast it happened! My labor was 11 hours from start to finish, but I had expected much longer as a first-time mom and a runner.
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YOU are the boss of how your experience will go! Your attitude determines more than every single other factor in your birth! Stay open, stay open, stay open in every way you can, and it will be a positive experience.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Counter-pressure from my doula. I was so grateful for her physical strength. After the birth, I told her she had magic hands. She also instructed an assistant doula and my husband about how to rub and hold onto me to help me through the discomfort. The tub was also the most wonderful place in the world, and I got in it twice during labor. It helped me dilate substantially both times; the second time, I was checked in the tub to find I was at 10 cm. and the nurses rushed me out!
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I had my back against the bed, which was set up like a big upright chair, and my doula brought out a pull-up bar with a bedsheet knotted at both ends that affixed to the bed - the birthing bar! This idea had looked appealing to me in our birth class as it was a way to trick tension out of the lower body and into the arms and shoulders. With my feet first against nurses’ hands and eventually the footholds attached to the bed, I was to pull hard on the sheet during each contraction and push downward. I struggled during the most intense rushes to crouch around the baby to push him out instead of arch back from the discomfort.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
The greatest reward for the hardest thing I've ever done. The room had been very dark during labor, and the nurses turned the lights on as soon as my son emerged. The brightness and holding his hot little squirmy body gave me a rush of energy, and my brain came back to the surface after working so hard to let my body take over. Giddy, empowering pride.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
YOU are the boss of how your experience will go! Your attitude determines more than every single other factor in your birth! Stay open, stay open, stay open in every way you can, and it will be a positive experience.
