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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I'd had contractions for about 5 hrs Friday morning early. They stopped when I got up and started my day so I didn't think much of it. Friday night they started back about 7PM They continued all night long at 7 to 10 minutes apart and I started with a bloody show. When they didn't stop the next morning I knew we were finally in true labor.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
There weren't any other options in my mind. It wasn't so much a choice to go natural as viewing it as what was going to be will be and there isn't another option.
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sam
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I did many things, labor teas, dates, stretches, exchanging a chair for a birthing ball, I'm not sure which of those things helped the most but all together they seemed to make a difference... that and a lot of prayer!
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What surprised you about your birth?
How long it took! I'm a very fit, very active person, my baby was in perfect position, I did everything right and my labor was 43 hrs long! I wasn't prepared for the shear fatigue of being up that long and laboring. But God carried me through, and the birth went beautifully just took a really long time!
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Pray, trust God, make up your mind and take it one contraction at a time. The only piece of practical advice anyone gave me that helped was not to scream; if the pain gets too bad grunt or groan but the lower your "tone" the better. I laughed when they told me that, but in the moment they were absolutely right!
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
I used a pool and loved it...it helped with the pain and helped me to relax. Also keeping in mind that no matter how much it hurt it was very short... contractions don't last more than a couple minutes and then the relief is so sweet. Just hold on in the thick of it and you get to relax before too long.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I ended up on my back in the bed. It wasn't what I would have chosen but as some point in the pool my poor sleep-deprived body gave in to exhaustion and I couldn't stay up (as in legs shook and collapsed) to deliver on my knees as I'd planned but it worked and I delivered a very large baby with only a minor tear in spite of positioning.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
I think I was in shock, after so long I couldn't believe I was actually holding my baby, that he was finally out!
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Pray, trust God, make up your mind and take it one contraction at a time. The only piece of practical advice anyone gave me that helped was not to scream; if the pain gets too bad grunt or groan but the lower your "tone" the better. I laughed when they told me that, but in the moment they were absolutely right!
