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When did you realize you were really in labor?
When I was walking around Duluth, MN with my family. We ended up walking 3 miles on boardwalk and around the parks in August 2015. I'd been having contractions for about a month on and off and this is my third baby. I started having intense regular contractions every 10-15 minutes, so I decided to head towards the hospital where we chose to deliver. I have a great nurse midwife and called her to discuss this decision too. She asked me "what is your body telling you?" I said, just get to the hospital!
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
I'm all about natural, but my body has never gone into progressive labor so I've been induced both previous times with pitocin to be on the safe side with other potential complications.
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
Reading stories such as on this website, babycentre.com and The First 9 Months.
Knowing that your body, you, and your nurse will work together to make this event successful.
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What surprised you about your birth?
We went ahead and sped up labor with pitocin again and had an epidural but this time delivery was faster and being more relaxed helped too. The umbilical cord was wrapped around little Max's body so I was glad that he was safely born! the other reason we sped things up was because his heart rate had a significant decline and he was probably sitting or pinching the cord inside. He was also turning around inside and then came out doing a corkscrew 3/4 turn! So a few minutes after delivery, I felt sick then threw-up and asked for aroma therapy. The midwife found the hospital stash and gave me citrus-ginger to smell and that calmed down my stomach.
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Listen to your body and your doctor. A birth is the action of the baby and mother working together and the midwife helping you.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Lavender then epidural
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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?
Awesome and grateful for a healthy boy also surprised because we didn't know what we were getting and we were guessing a girl!
All that hard work paid off with a wonderful blessing!
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Listen to your body and your doctor. Not every body can go totally natural, but I'm lucky that I didn't have a C-section and went as natural as possible. Some births are different for the same mother, so a mother of successful natural births can have a C-section for one baby and go back to natural for the next birth. Every birth is different and a gift. A birth is the action of the baby and mother working together and the midwife helping you.
