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When did you realize you were really in labor?
For some reason I kept doubting it was really happening so I was relieved once the midwife at the birthing center confirmed I was in labor and told us to stay. But the morning I woke up after intermittent contractions all night, this excitement washed over me and I thought "we're gonna have a baby soon".
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
Trusting myself and being confident in my ability to bring him into this world. Find a position to cope with the extreme hip and pelvic pain.
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
Research everything. Everything. Even cesarean births and complications and how to know when it's an emergency and what's normal and what isn't. I wish I had spent more time on the Spinning Babies website though. That may have prevented me from a cesarean.
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What surprised you about your birth?
That I couldn't birth the baby that I grew. And how intense it was from the very beginning. How the contractions weren't in my belly at all but all low and through my hips and pelvis (which is probably what should have told me something was wrong).
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If you're experiencing a lot of pelvic pain during pregnancy - go to the chiropractor. Read all of the articles in Spinning Babies. Hire an experienced doula even if your support team is awesome because maybe she'll bring ideas for positions and helping baby that you don't know.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Water. And listening to what my body wanted.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
In the OR, on my back.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Surreal. It took forever for it to sink in that this baby was mine and inside me. I think the anesthesia and pain meds had a lot to do with this.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
If you're experiencing a lot of pelvic pain during pregnancy - go to the chiropractor. Read all of the articles in Spinning Babies. Hire an experienced doula even if your support team is awesome because maybe she'll bring ideas for positions and helping baby that you don't know. If something isn't right and you're pushing for several hours without progress, doing something drastically different. I pushed too long without progress and ruptured and my chances for a VBAC are now extremely slim.
