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When did you realize you were really in labor?
The night my water broke my husband and I were talking about how exciting it would be if our baby was born on our anniversary which was June 20th, the next day. But we thought there's no way that would work out that would be too perfect if our first baby boy was to be born the next day on our anniversary. That night at 3:23 a.m. all of a sudden I heard a pop! And I woke up and I thought "oh no! maybe my water just broke!". Well then I started leaking everywhere on the bed. I got up to go to the bathroom and was leaking all the way up the stairs and I thought to myself this baby is going to be born on our anniversary! I got really excited. So I'm going to the bathroom constantly. I feel like I have to be on the toilet the whole time if I wasn't on the toilet I was on my birthing ball bouncing up and down just trying to get through the contractions. They started about 15 minutes after my water broke and we're pretty consistent. At first around 4 minutes, then they got closer and closer to 2 minutes apart within 3 hours. I told my husband I think we better get ready to go to the hospital. I started brushing my teeth and my tooth brush is set on a two minute mark and I had two contractions within those two minutes and I said "oh no we better get there quick." As we were driving to the hospital we saw the Strawberry Moon. It was a full moon, it was beautiful, just gorgeous and my husband and I look at each other and we're just so excited and so in love that we are going to get to meet this little man of our dreams. When we got to the hospital I told the nurse my contractions are two minutes apart. I showed her our birth plan that we got off this website and I told her that I really feel like this baby is coming fast. She checked me and I was only at 3 centimeters dilated! I was like "oh my gosh are you kidding me I've been at 2 centimeters the last 4 weeks. I thought I'd be dilated more than I was. But the contractions kept on coming and they were pretty much manageable there were a few there at the end where I thought I couldn't do it but my husband was the greatest doula I ever could have had. He was amazing! So we were at the hospital for about 3 hours, we got there like at 6:30 and from 6:30 till 9:41 a.m. when the baby was born we rocked back and forth and swayed back and forth and tried to get through every contraction one at a time and my husband would keep repeating my mantras to me "I soften, I open, I release". I tried to keep super loose, very very loose each time a contraction would go through me I would just completely get limp and just loosen up so that I would open up and then I would imagine a flower blossoming open and I really think that helped me to dilate from a 3 to a 10 within 3 hours. At around 9 o'clock I felt like I needed to push. The nurse came in and I was at a 9.5 centimeters dilated. the Midwife barely made it there on time I just needed to use the peanut for a little bit to help me get to a 10 and then I was open wide enough that I could start pushing the baby out. We started pushing and my baby boy was born at 9:41 a.m. he was seven pounds 8 ounces and 19 .5 inches long and he was born with a full head of hair and was just absolutely gorgeous and the first thing he did was just completely stretch out. It was the happiest moment of my life and my husband's life. We just could not have been any happier! It was absolutely perfect. It went exactly the way I had written it down in my birth plan I. I didn't have to have any IV hookups, no circumcision no circumcision, no eye ointment, no hepatitis B vaccine. The only thing we did was the ear hearing test. I had planned to use the birthing pool but the best thing for me at that time was to rock and sway back and forth with my husband holding me. I had him in the downward-facing dog yoga pose. My Midwife let me do whatever I wanted. Whatever made me feel comfortable. It was amazing! I had the hugest High afterward, I felt like I had just conquered the world! I felt amazing! Like I had just ran an Ironman Triathlon. And I was so proud of myself that I had accomplished this and I did it.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
I think the most challenging thing about going natural is you're mentally al preparing yourself mentally. I constantly read natural birth stories on this website and anywhere I could find any natural birth stories. I read Ina May Gaskin's guide to childbirth twice in the 9 months I was pregnant. I did not listen to anything negative at all any negative childbirth stories. I tried very hard to keep myself positive and I kept telling myself "I can do this, I can do, I can do this, I can do this" . There was a moment where, I would say a couple weeks before he was born that I looked at my husband and I said" I don't think I can do this," and he really Built Me Up and encouraged me and gave me a small speech, telling me everything I had accomplished in our life together and told me how strong of a woman I am and really Built Me Up and helped me to overcome that negativity and prepare myself mentally for his birth and that really helped me to overcome that roadblock. If I didn't have my husband I don't know if I could have done it. I kept telling everybody he was my doula and he just really really was there for me. the whole time. The whole pregnancy. The whole birth. Everything. He's my best friend.
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I read everything I could about birthing. About evidence-based childbirth. About circumcision, vaccination. I just read absolutely everything I could Under the Sun. About babies, making the right decisions for us as a family. Everything I could read that would help prepare me for childbirth and that really really helped me a lot. I saw a doula once a week. I did a pregnancy swimming class and was her only student the whole pregnancy so I really got a ton of one-on-one time with my Doula and we did our childbirth classes with her and also I took red raspberry leaf tea 20 weeks and up every day and I took the pills also. Also at 35 weeks I started taking Nature Sunshine 35W. And I did Chiropractic Care the whole pregnancy and from 35 weeks and onward I went twice a week instead of just weekly.
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What surprised you about your birth?
I don't know I honestly really felt like I was really prepared I had read everything I could on everything in case of something went wrong I felt like I was prepared for that. I had a birth plan. I really tried really hard to just be prepared for anything. That helped me to feel stronger mentally because I knew what to expect but honestly I think that what surprised me the most was just how much in love I would be with this child. I'm so in love with him. I was made to be a mama. I love it absolutely to the moon and back. It's the best thing I could ever have done. I was scared at first to have kids I really didn't want any but now that I have them, I am so glad I do. Also I think what surprised me was that it hurts delivering your baby, but it's doable, it wasn't as hard as I think lots of moms make you feel like it's going to be. They tell you it's unbearable. It's not unbearable. We women can bare all things. We are amazing! God made us that way to be able to birth a child and if you put your mind to it, you can do it!
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Research, research, research. If you put your mind to it, you can do it!
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Swaying back and forth with my husband really helped a ton. I also used some oil blends that I diffused in the room and repeating my mantras consistently.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I delivered in the downward facing dog yoga pose.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Amazing! Just a miracle of birth. I was just amazed that I had accomplished it and did it! I was in a daze.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Research, research, research. If you put your mind to it, you can do it!
