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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I was sitting on the hospital bed and felt the contraction sort of heat up my back.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
Fighting the thoughts in my head tempting me "you should take break, you don't know how long you'll be in labor, just take it easy" with "if you push her out soon, it'll be over and you won't even need a break!"
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I made a point to coach myself into relaxing. I knew that keeping my mind off of the intensity of contractions was the best way for me to work with them. I would lay in my couch or bed and tell myself "Relax your forehead--don't hold any pressure there, let it go." And I would go down through my whole body and get familiar with how I was in control of my muscles relaxing and what that felt like--rather than telling myself "relax!" as a whole.
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What surprised you about your birth?
The most surprising thing was how in touch I felt with my body--I didn't feel in control but I felt like I knew exactly what to do to let my body let me meet my baby.
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Prepare your mind. Know that the pain of contractions is good. It's not pain to run from or try to escape. It's a pain that comes with strength and intensity and purpose. Your mind is, by far, your biggest wall.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
With my early contractions, it really helped to just be excited that I could feel them, knowing the baby was coming soon. ?
When the intensity starting increasing, I would change from counting letters on the posters in the hospital room, I would rotate my thumb clockwise or counterclockwise while making an "8" with my ankle. I would do hula hoop hips on the birthing ball.
While I was in transition, my husband would squeeze my hips together and I made super cute (not really) cow groans. I also had a heat back on my stomach, on my back, and my forehead.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I flipped over onto my back about 2 minutes before she was born.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
It was beautiful. It was sticky and precious. Even though there was a delivery team around us, I was so caught up in the beauty of my baby and the strength of myself that I didn't even care.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Prepare your mind. Know that the pain of contractions is good. It's not pain to run from or try to escape. It's a pain that comes with strength and intensity and purpose. Your mind is, by far, your biggest wall.
