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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I was actually induced...baby would not come regardless of me doing everything that I was told would induce labor according to God, Google, and man. They induced me at 40 weeks and 5 days. My doctor wanted me to go another week, but my mom would be back at work by then and I wanted to have her for a week to help me. My doctor ended up happy with the fact she induced because he was large for his gestational age when he came...another week and I would have been forced to have a c-section.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
That I was going natural at all. I did get an epidural, but it gave me such an awful migraine and made me so numb, my doctor had to allow it to wear off so I could feel the contractions. By the time we got that far, it was too late to give me another dose. So, going natural wasn't intentional and it was SO much harder and more painful than I was prepared for. I labored for 24 hours, including the three and a half I spent pushing. It was the most exhausting, painful, awe-inspiring day of my life. I still can't believe I had my little one that way.
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Family-Heart
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
Thank God, I made a playlist...several actually. I had one for just the laboring part (mainly calming music...and I ran out so I switched to Pandora). It just made the whole laboring experience relaxing for me...up until the pushing. But even then, I had a playlist called "Time to Push" which was mainly workout and empowering songs (my husband says if he ever hears "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten again, he'll scream). I had another called "Don't Give Up" of worship songs and songs about having babies. And then my last one was called "Meeting Eli" and it was for our first hour together....basically every song that I ever related to my pregnancy and meeting him. I could not have made it through the entire experience without my playlists. I will have them for all subsequent pregnancies.
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What surprised you about your birth?
That I lived. I really didn't think I was capable of giving birth naturally. I have a small frame and I didn't think my pain tolerance could stand contractions. Boy, was I wrong! My body is way stronger than it originally let on. Also, my son was born at 7:37 in the morning. By 5 that evening, I had forgotten how bad the pain actually was. My husband was in shock and wrote the whole experience down, but I remembered very little of the worst parts of it. I guess that's why I'm crazy enough to still want two more kids!
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Do what works for you. My doctor tried to tell me I'd hate the music, but my husband and I knew that's how I've always made it through difficult things and I know that the music is what got me through my labor.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
That epidural would have been lovely. But honestly, my husband and my mom focusing my breathing. And cursing. God, my poor son was cursed so much. I cursed him for crowning for a full hour and not moving anymore, I cursed my vagina for not kicking him out, I cursed the pain, I cursed my doctor. I cursed everything and everyone, but it kept me grounded. My doctor and husband also yelled at me occassionally, which made me mad, and made me push harder. So, I guess it was effective.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
On my back, knees to my chest, holding the bed rails.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Surreal. It didn't even feel like it was real, like this tiny baby with dark hair was mine. My husband said I went from screaming to comforting in half a second and it was astounding. I remember the first thing I said was "Hey baby, don't cry. Mommy's here" and then realized how silly that was because crying, in this case, was a wonderful thing. The feeling of having him skin to skin on my chest was like a drug and there is nothing in this world that ever felt so wonderful or triumphant as that first moment he was placed there.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Do what works for you. My doctor tried to tell me I'd hate the music, but my husband and I knew that's how I've always made it through difficult things and I know that the music is what got me through my labor. You have been through painful things before. Do what works for you, regardless of how crazy other people think it is. It's your labor, your child, your experience to tailor and remember!
