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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I was in denial for the first several contractions! My mom had just arrived from out of town, and my body took the relief of having her close as its cue to get going!
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
I don't deal well with stress, and labor really forces you to face the hard stuff. You can't just decide "I don't want to deal with this right now."
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I got a little crazy about wanting to be in control of every possible outcome of the birth so I decided to make sure that I had things I didn't think I would need. I had been dead set on having a water birth, but I was still adamant to my midwife that she needed to bring the birth stool. As it turned out, I ended up having a birth on dry land on the stool! I also focused very strongly on having a plan to get my family there ASAP. I knew I wanted my family close by, and my labor playlist with songs with a lot of meaning to my very big, and very musical family. We spent a lot of my early labor singing together and relaxing. The picture included really shows the vibe of my labor very well.
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What surprised you about your birth?
I had two births prior to this one, and This was my first home birth. It really surprised me just how much different and better my home birth would be. I expected it to be a little different, but the amount of emotional healing I got from the experience has been overwhelming. Being able to choose my own birth space and create my own boundaries concerning my body was so freeing.
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Trust the birth process, and trust your midwife! Having meconium in my fluid was really scary for my family and me, but we trusted the midwife to let us know when there was a real problem. She was very attentive, and brought us through the stress, no problem! Read birth stories, watch birth videos, soak up everything birthy that you can and learn to love the unpredictable nature of birth instead of fearing it!
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Honestly, this is the thing that I struggled the most with! I was really bad about wishing that I could escape the pain instead of focusing my efforts on ways to manage it. Mostly, I found the counter pressure on my back was what worked best.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I delivered on the birth stool, which was very comfortable! It took a long time for my midwife to convince me to change positions because I was afraid of being caught in between two positions while having a contraction. Once I finally decided to switch, labor progressed much more quickly.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
It was amazing! He was absolutely beautiful, and strangely alert and calm. It was a little tense because he had meconium in his fluid, so we had to work a little harder to get him to cry and work that fluid out of his lungs. Once he got a good cry in, everything was great!
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Trust the birth process, and trust your midwife! Having meconium in my fluid was really scary for my family and me, but we trusted the midwife to let us know when there was a real problem. She was very attentive, and brought us through the stress, no problem! Read birth stories, watch birth videos, soak up everything birthy that you can and learn to love the unpredictable nature of birth instead of fearing it!
