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When did you realize you were really in labor?
When my water breaking woke me up at 4:30am I knew there would be a baby sooner rather than later. But, I wasn't having any contractions yet. I knew I should probably try and go back to sleep, but that wasn't going to happen. I was too excited! So, I tried to relax, while watching TV in our bedroom. Half an hour later intense contractions started and there was no mistaking what those were.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
The hardest thing about having a natural/med free birth, in my opinion, is just not knowing how long things are going to take. My labor this time around was much quicker than my labor with my first, but I didn't know it would be so much quicker. So, when I started having really intense contractions early on I had a few moments of panic not knowing how long those would last. It is a bit of a mind game that you have to power through.
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Donna-Louise-6
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I am a birth doula, so I have quite a bit of experience with childbirth. That being said, when you are the one in labor there is only so much head knowledge that will help. The things that have helped me the most with both of my natural births was practicing yoga and the type of breathing that is involved with yoga, watching all sorts of natural birth videos, and having the right people around me during labor and birth.
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What surprised you about your birth?
I was totally shocked by how different my two labors were. They felt totally different from start to finish. I knew in my head that every labor is different, even for the same woman. But, I guess I was still expecting them to feel somewhat the same. It was hard adjusting because all the things that worked best during my first labor weren't working at all during my second labor. I had to just let go of how I had imagined this birth and find what worked for me this time around. My first labor was 22 hours long, 12 hours of early labor and 10 hours of active labor with 10 minutes of pushing. My second labor was 11 hours long, but really only about 3 hours of active labor with about 20 minutes of pushing. Having just 3 hours of active labor put my body through a little bit of shock. And pushing was much harder the 2nd time around.
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Just believe that you can. Immediately shut down anyone who tells you that you can't. Find the write medical support and birthing environment for you, whether that is home or birthing center or hospital
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
During the 8 hours of early labor I had, the contractions were not very regular, but were still very strong. I was moaning and swaying through every single contraction, starting from the very first one. As I said before, every pain relief strategy that helped with my first labor felt awful during this labor. I did not like the hip squeeze and I couldn't really walk during contractions. I mostly just focused on making low noises and I leaned over something or someone and swayed my hips. At the hospital, once it felt like active labor was finally established they filled the birthing tub and I got in that on my hands and knees. The water didn't bring much relief for the actual contractions, but it did a really great job at helping my baby relax between contractions and helped my other muscles relax a bit. It got me through transition.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I was in the birthing tub when I got the urge to push. I had been on my knees, leaning on the edge of the tub throughout all of transition and when I first started pushing I thought I would stay on my hands and knees. I pushed a couple of times and that position didn't feel right. I switched to sitting, leaning against the back of the tub with my feet in the little footholds under the water. This position felt much more effective to me. I ended up doing the rest of my pushing there and gave birth that way.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
It instantly made everything 100% worth it. My pregnancy was horrible and hard for me and labor had been mentally hard for me this time around as well. The second that baby was in my arms though, I knew I would go through it all over again in a heartbeat for another moment like that. My first baby had been rushed to the NICU for breathing problems, so I hadn't gotten to hold her for hours after her birth. This time around, getting to hold my baby, it was a very healing experience. We were in the birthing tub still so it was pretty wet and slippery, but just wonderful.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Just believe that you can. Immediately shut down anyone who tells you that you can't. Find the write medical support and birthing environment for you, whether that is home or birthing center or hospital. It can be done anywhere, but there might be one choice that makes it much easier for you. Do whatever you need to do to feel safe and supported. And make sure everyone around you understand that the day is about you and if they want it to be about them or anything else then they need to leave.
