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When did you realize you were really in labor?
The day before my daughter was born, 20th, I had REALLY mild contractions. I knew that it wasn't time for her to come yet, but my husband was concerned that she was going to come quicker than I thought as this was our first birth. So I contacted my midwives later that morning just to keep them updated. All day on the 20th I had sporadic contractions. On April 21st, I was 42 weeks and 2 days, I woke up to hard contractions at 2 that morning (10 mins apart). My husband wanted to contact our midwife right away, but I wanted to make sure that I was truly in labor. Looking back, I'm pretty sure I was still in denial that I was going to have my baby that day. After a couple hours of 10 min apart contractions, I finally called my midwife to let her know that I was in labor (about 4:30 AM). She told me to contact her when they are 5 mins apart OR something happens (like water breaks). I tried to get rest between contractions. About 8:30 AM, my contractions were 5 mins apart, so around 9:30 AM we decided to contact our midwives. When they came to our home, they both checked on me to see how I was doing. They decided shortly after they got there, that it would be best if I took a walk to help speed up my labor! Man, was that difficult! When we came back to the house, they suggested I take a bath. About 3:45 PM I started pushing, and by 5:11 PM, we had a beautiful baby girl.
My favorite thing about home birth was that it was mostly between just my husband and me. My midwives were pretty hands off. They let my husband & me work through every contraction together. They checked on us, but they weren't hovering, which I really appreciated.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
People not believing that you can &/or should go natural. I was told I was crazy and insane for wanting to have a home birth. I was told that something could go wrong. I was told that is what a hospital is for. As discouraging as this was, my husband and I had to ignore the comments, because home birth is what WE wanted! It resulted in us lying to our family and friends when they asked where we were having our baby and who our doctor was. We didn't like the thought of lying, but looking back, I don't regret it.
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rosemary-elizabeth
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
RESEARCH & READING AS MUCH AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!!!!!!!
Coming from a large family (one of the youngest of 14) I thought I was pretty intelligent when it came to pregnancy and becoming a mom, but I couldn't have been more wrong. There is so much to learn!
I originally decided that I wasn't going to write my birth story and share with everyone because I wanted to be private about it. Almost 4 months later, I decided that I NEEDED to write my birth story. I needed to because mama natural was such an amazing source to hear different birth stories. Every single story is sooo encouraging, whether they had the baby at home, birth center, or hospital. Every single story helped me!
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What surprised you about your birth?
How our bodies work. The birth of our daughter was PERFECT. Yes, there was pain, but you truly forget that pain the moment you hold your child. I really couldn't of ask for a better birth.
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God didn't make a mistake when he created a woman's body. YOU can have a natural birth!
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Work with the contractions, not against. Breathe with them, try not to tense up with each contraction. I am also a believer in prayer, so I prayed that everything would go the way he (GOD) intended it to go.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I moved to 3 different spots to deliver my daughter, but I ended up delivering her on a birthing stool.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
AMAZING & PERFECT- WORTH EVERY SECOND OF THE LABOR PAINS. I didn't understand when my mom told me that she forgot the labor pains as soon as she held each one of us after we were born until I had my daughter.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! Don't let anyone tell you what to do or how to have your baby. This is YOUR childbirth, not everyone else's. In my eyes, childbirth is the ABSOLUTE greatest experience you'll ever have in your life. You're bringing another child into this world. I know, home birth isn't for everyone... but for my family and myself, it was exactly what we wanted and everything went perfectly. As long as the good Lord above allows me, I do plan on having all of my babies at home. The love, support, and encouragement that my midwives gave my husband and myself were spectacular. God didn't make a mistake when he created a woman's body. YOU can have a natural birth! Read as many childbirth stories as you can, because every birth is different! I was two weeks and 2 days late with my daughter, but we have a healthy child and I had no problems delivering her. Surround yourself with people that respect your choices. EDUCATE YOURSELF. You can never learn too much!
