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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I had very irregular, menstrual-like cramps all day on Tuesday, but they would come and go and never settled into a pattern. That night, around 3am, I started to be woken up by contractions strong enough for me to ask my husband for counter-pressure on my back, but I wasn't facing the clock and went back to sleep between them, so I have no idea how regular or close together they were. At around 4:30am I got up to use the bathroom and noticed a lot of blood, so I called my midwife to see if I should be concerned (and not because I thought I was in labor). She came over to check on me, and pronounced me dilated to 7cm! I was shocked, and so was she!
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
My contractions screeched to a grinding halt when I got to +2, possibly because my kidlet's head was tilted sideways (my midwife could feel her ear when she checked the position), and after 4 hours of trying we tried could neither straighten her out nor get my labor going again. We had to transfer to the hospital, where I was put on Pitocin. It worked--after 4 hours of it and the use of a vacuum to straighten kidlet's head out, I was able to deliver vaginally, but I was in so much pain I could barely think straight. I never received any pain-killers, but I completely understand why women use them. Pitocin-augmented labor is NOTHING like natural labor, which I barely found painful at all. Labor on Pitocin was incredibly painful and absolutely exhausting.
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I made a conscious effort to only think of childbirth as a normal, natural process that my body was entirely capable of carrying out. Reading natural birth stories, as well as books like Childbirth Without Fear and Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, helped a lot as well in reassuring me as to why I had made this decision and that I was more than capable of seeing it through. I trained myself to see childbirth as work more than pain (sort of like exercising is usually more work than pain), and it worked. I really didn't think of labor as painful.
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What surprised you about your birth?
How easy natural childbirth was! I was dilated to 7cm before anyone--me included--even realized I was in active labor, and I made it to +2 without any difficulty or large amounts of pain.
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Make sure you have your mental game ready. Read positive birth stories and books like Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Childbirth Without Fear to encourage and support you.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Counter-pressure on my back was an absolute lifesaver, especially while I was receiving Pitocin. I'm glad I had a doula so that my husband's arms could get a break occasionally! Consciously relaxing my whole body between contractions was also essential (for practice, do Kegels and really concentrate on releasing them completely at the end).
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I was on my back, holding my knees and pulling them up to my chest. It probably looked like I was halfway through a sit-up.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Bewildering. I was so exhausted by the time she was born that I think instinct alone had me hold her on my stomach.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Make sure you have your mental game ready. Read positive birth stories and books like Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Childbirth Without Fear to encourage and support you. Make peace with the fact that even if things don't go exactly as you plan, delivering a healthy baby is the ultimate goal, and you should be proud of yourself and your experience when you get there.
