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When did you realize you were really in labor?
At 41 weeks and 1 day, we met with our midwives for a NST to check on baby and see how far dilated I was. The baby was doing great and we were shocked to discover that I was already at 5 cm! During late pregnancy I never felt for sure that I was having any contractions so I was quite (pleasantly) surprised I had already made it halfway while just going about my normal routine :) After learning how open my body was, my midwife performed a few natural induce techniques (sweeping membranes, homeopathics, and EPO on my cervix) to get things moving along. That was mid-day on Friday...I spent the whole weekend in gentle early labor and by Sunday evening I was dilated to 6-7cm. I never knew labor could be so gentle! At that time, we decided to go ahead and break my bag of waters to help baby along. After my midwife broke my water, I experienced 3-4 more intense contractions and got into the birthing tub shortly thereafter to work through transition.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
This is our third baby, but my first time going natural. I was induced unnecessarily for our two previous babies at 39.4 & 39.0...though thankfully, they were both born vaginally without complication. We were uniformed during both of those pregnancies & births. It saddens me to think that I unintentionally denied myself the wonderful experience of a natural birth twice before I became empowered to make the decisions I thought best for myself. So, the most challenging thing about going natural was the feeling that even though I had technically given birth twice before, I still felt completely clueless as how I would be able to cope during labor and how it would feel physically (I had received epidurals with both previous births). Another challenge was trying to explain to others why I wanted to be unmedicated this time around...I don't feel I was ever able to accurately explain it to others, so after a while I just stopped trying to explain and rested in the knowledge that I knew I was making the right choice for myself and my baby.
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Photo-for-MN
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I read many birth stories and watched many birth videos...mostly water births since that what I had planned on doing as well. I also read each book written by Ina May Gaskin. We attended a natural birth class to refresh our memories on the physiological aspects of birth and we practiced support techniques to use during labor itself. Throughout most of my pregnancy I stayed as active as I could and ate a healthy diet (with the occasional treat!).
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What surprised you about your birth?
There are two...first that I was able to cope so incredibly well with early and active labor. I was in the water for the most intense contractions and I wouldn't describe them as painful, just uncomfortable. The second surprising thing was how I did not cope well with the pushing phase...it was at that point that all hopes of a peaceful, gentle water birth became unrealistic for me. Looking back, I realized that I did very little to prepare for the pushing phase (I guess I just assumed I would know what to do when I got to that point) and next time, I will place more emphasis on preparing for it. In addition, as our baby girl was born the midwives recognized immediately why I had such a difficult time...she presented as Occiput Posterior (face up)! Nonetheless, after an intense 60 minutes of pushing she was born healthy, alert, and ready to breastfeed. I was (and still am) amazed at what I have accomplished and I honestly can't wait to do it again ;)
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Research natural birth as much as you can. Trust in your body's capability to birth. Have an idea of what you would like birth to be like, but be open to having your idea change at any point in the process :)
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
During the most intense contractions, I was in the birth tub and found that with each contraction I was most comfortable pulling myself into an upright position. During the pushing phase, I surprised myself to discover that I am one of those extremely vocal women. I was completely unprepared for that since all the videos I watched showed a mama who was nearly silent while pushing her baby into the world. I, however, was making extremely loud noises during the whole pushing phase. But it seemed to help distract from the intensity of her head coming down ;)
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What position did you end up delivering in?
On the bed, side-lying.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
It felt amazing! I was in complete disbelief that I had done something so challenging and that she was finally here! The best part was when my husband discovered that she was a girl...we had kept it a surprise for ourselves and having two boys at home, she was certainly hoped for throughout the pregnancy!
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Research natural birth as much as you can. Trust in your body's capability to birth. Have an idea of what you would like birth to be like, but be open to having your idea change at any point in the process :)
