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When did you realize you were really in labor?
My husband and I were spending some time together watching a show after he had gotten home from work and I felt like by "Braxton Hicks" were more intense then they had been before but it wasn't till I had laid down for bed afterward that I realized they were coming pretty regularly and when my husband joined me in bed I said "I'm not sure that these aren't actually real contractions Love". Needless to say, we didn't end up going to bed that night!
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
I think the most challenging thing is now knowing when it's going to be over. I think if I knew at ____time your baby will be born it would give a lot more physical and mental strength.
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I think having a doula this time was really helpful and how she went over with my husband and I, our wishes and refreshed us on positions and ways to relieve pain and such. It helped me mentally prepare for what was to come and reminded me how to "properly" go through labor, breathing and such to work with my body and. It against it.
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What surprised you about your birth?
I think that it was more intense than my first baby. Even though the labor was less than half the length of my first little one, the way her and the water sack were and the pressure it put on me made the contractions more intense than they were with my first.
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It was the most amazing thing to pick her up out of the water, to hold and stare at her knowing it was all over and she was ours.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
For any back labor pain and back pressure and hip squeezes felt AMAZING!!! Being in the birthing tub also helped relieve pressure a bunch.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
On my hands and knees in the birthing tub.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
It was the most amazing thing to pick her up out of the water, to hold and stare at her knowing it was all over and she was ours.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
I highly recommend using a birthing center with a midwife and hiring a doula! And if you're lucky you can find a birthing center like ours that includes an interning doula as part of the package!
Also get in the tub! I had no intentions using a tub worth my first birth and ended up spending a good amount of time in it and eventually birthing in it. It helps so much with relieving some of the pressure and allowed me to focus more on breathing through the contraction versus resisting it.
