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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I realized I was in labor right away. Saturday morning, November 12th, I woke up with intensive lower back pain. The pain stayed there for a good few hours and started coming in waves. They were gentle enough that I could ignore them for the time being.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
The pain mostly. I had pure back labor. Absolutely none of the contractions reached around to the front of my abdomen. I endure don't near 56 hours of back labor with incredibly slow dilation that never reached 10cm. I gave birth to my son at 8cm.
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
Sleep and eat. I refused to go to the hospital until the pain got to a point that I knew I wasn't going to be able to walk or take a car ride much longer. So for the first 40 hours of labor, I slept when I could and ate what I wanted.
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What surprised you about your birth?
It just did not go as planned. I planned on regular contractions and regular dialation and a baby that was not transverse. I basically planned on an average delivery. Instead, I delivered a baby transverse with 100% back labor, went to the OR immediately afterwards and still maintained the will power to walk out of the hospital 2 days later with a totally healthy baby.
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I couldn't believe after all of that he came out screaming and healthy.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Nothing really worked. The pain had gone on for so long and so rough that I just worked on being able to breathe through contractions and take them one at a time.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
On my back. It was the only position that the nurses could aid me due to how weak I was at the end.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Amazing. I couldn't believe after all of that he came out screaming and healthy.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
You never know what you are going to get. The birth plan went right out the window for me. It helps to not keep track of time and just to focus on one contraction at a time. And honestly, having an amazing support person makes a world of difference.
