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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I woke up at 3:30AM to go to the bathroom. I heard a muffled popping sound and just thought it was the baby shifting as I emptied my bladder. I then realized that the water kept coming. I turned the light on and looked in the toilet and the water was tinged pink. My husband woke up when I turned the light on and I told him that I was pretty sure my water had just broken. I started having contractions around 7AM and by 9:30AM, they were about 5 mins apart.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
The fear of the unknown. The thought of "am I strong enough to do this?" I knew I had practiced my hypnobirthing techniques and done everything I could to prep my body, but you don't really know what will work for you until you are in the moment. I just kept pushing the negative thoughts away and told myself you and your body were made to do this!
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I think it was a combination of thing as . Gathering as much knowledge as I could about natural birth, reading about and practicing hypnobirthing breathing and relaxation techniques, lots of walking and baby positioning exercises, red raspberry leaf tea and many prayers to St. Gerard!!
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What surprised you about your birth?
How fast it progressed. After all the reading I had done, I was prepared that this might be a very very lengthy ordeal for a first time birth. From water breaking to delivery it was about 12hrs total. My doctor almost didn't make it in time!
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AMAZING!! There are no words that can describe how you feel when you see this beautiful face that you have waited 9 long months to meet looking up at you!
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Laboring sitting on the toilet and on the birthing ball, standing and swaying with my husband, having my back rubbed with essential oils and concentrating on a focal point while using breathing techniques.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
In the hospital bed with my back propped up. I had gotten back into bed for the nurse to check my progress as she was fairly certain I was starting to push while I was sitting in the birthing ball (I was 6cm about an hour before that) and my daughter was already starting to crown when I got into the bed!
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
AMAZING!! There are no words that can describe how you feel when you see this beautiful face that you have waited 9 long months to meet looking up at you! It is an overwhelming feeling of joy, relief and an incredible heart-bursting love all at once. It was completely worth every ounce of pain, struggle and sacrifice to get to that moment and I will remember it for the rest of my life!
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How did the Mama Natural Birth Class help you in your childbirth?
My husband and I watched the classes together and they helped us to feel very prepared. We had signed up for a childbirth prep class at the hospital before finding the Mama Natural classes and when we finally got to the hospital class, we found that we were much more prepared and informed than most couples out there (and one of the very few who wanted a drug free birth!!) Learning about the different stages of labor, the comfort measures and how long to wait before going to the hospital were especially helpful. I loved the information about baby positioning and really took that to heart. I believe those exercises made the difference for my fairly short labor.
