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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I experienced three full weeks of prodromal labor and "false starts" before my labor began which was exhausting and frustrating to me -- I assumed that by my third baby I would have no trouble recognizing the difference between false alarms and the real thing! Finally, at 41 weeks, I had a night of contractions that were strong enough to wake me, although by the morning they had slowed down considerably. I went to my midwifes office to check and make sure baby and I were fine but while we were there, baby's heartbeat had some unusual deceleration. Since I was due and we were concerned about her heart, we headed to the hospital and agreed to a dose of Cytotec to get my labor established (I think I was in very early labor at that point, but certainly not in established labor). That one dose was all it took -- within an hour I knew that labor was under way and by that evening we had our daughter in our arms!
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
Although I was fully committed to a medication-free birth (induction drugs aside...) it had only been 22 months since I had a med-free birth for our second child and I definitely had not forgotten how it felt to go through transition and then have an obstructed birth, all without pain meds. I didn't realize until I was in active labor how much fear I held for the last stages of this birth. God was gracious and the delivery of my third child went FAST -- at 8:30 pm I was 7 cm and at 8:51 pm I held my daughter in my arms, after only 2 pushes! So I think the most challenging thing about going natural was the intensity of everything I felt and having the memory to anticipate it again. But it was totally worth it and if we have more kids (hard to imagine, less than 3 weeks after giving birth...) I would plan for a natural birth again in a heartbeat!
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
Reading "Hypnobirthing" (no classes were available in our area) and practicing intentional relaxation with music and essential oils throughout my pregnancy. The practice helped me relax with less effort while I was in labor. And the affirmations found in "Hyonobirthing" helped to address some of my fears about my body's ability to give birth naturally. Positive affirmations are invaluable! Because you CAN do this!
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What surprised you about your birth?
My first two labors were as average as they could be -- 8 hours in labor, 20 minutes of pushing with my first; 11 hours in labor, 20 minutes of pushing with my second -- and so I was surprised by how fast I delivered my third. I was in labor for about 9 hours, but it only took 21 minutes for me to go through transition and 2 pushes to delivery my daughter. It was the first time I experienced an unmistakable and uncontrollable urge to push -- even as I was in the midst of the experience I remember thinking, "Wow, so THAT'S what this feels like..." And that being the case, I was pleasantly surprised to have no tearing!
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Be gentle with yourself. Take care of yourself and focus more on the process of building your family with this child than you focus on having the exact outcome you envision. You can do it!
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Leaning forward and being either in the shower or in the jacuzzi (with the jets directed at my back and hips) were the most helpful pain relief strategies for me. I also had my husband massage my back with a blend of essential oils (basil, lavender, black pepper, and Siberian fir) during contractions and that helped a lot.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
Left side lying. I started pushing on my hands and knees and my midwife asked me, "do you want to deliver in that position?" My answer was, "I don't know, I don't know what I'm doing!" (Not actually true, but things were moving overwhelmingly fast all of a sudden!) So she suggested left side lying and no sooner had I lay down than I pushed my daughter out!
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Unreal! I couldn't believe how tiny she was (because of course they feel ENORMOUS coming out!) I sobbed and sobbed and couldn't believe how much I loved her already!
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Be gentle with yourself. Take care of yourself and focus more on the process of building your family with this child than you focus on having the exact outcome you envision. You can do it! But your birth probably won't look exactly like you anticipate that it will, because every woman is different and every child is different and every delivery is different, and that's ok! My personal experience has been that physically recovering from each of my two natural births were 1000 times easier than recovering from the one birth I had strong induction drugs as well as narcotic pain relief.
