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When did you realize you were really in labor?
I was nearly 3 weeks past the due date and already on my second round of castor oil and herbs (with midwife supervision) and I was in denial that labor would ever start. Someone told me that the first baby is the latest one you ever have and I mistakenly believed them! So even when I was bouncing on my ball 3 hours before the birth I was still in denial that anything was happening. It wasn't until I was getting really irritated at my 2 year old and mother asking me questions during contractions and after my husband came home early from work and started to tell me about a meeting and I said, "stop talking, I don't care about your meeting" that we realized it would be soon. My husband was surprised too because we had spent so many weeks waiting. Then he immediately asked me if I had done anything on our "When Birth Starts To-do List" and I hadn't done anything! I didn't feel like walking upstairs all day. Haha! So, it was a mad scramble to set up. I could barely make the bed during contractions and he was setting up the tub and making phone calls. Thank goodness we had all of our supplies handy!
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
Everyone asking "How late are THEY going to let you go?"
I am a SAHM but my husband was purposely going to rooms at work where no one could find him because it was annoying him so much.
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
Prepare our home and supplies. I read a few more birthing books this time around and practiced some hypno exercises.
My mom feeding me during the day when I didn't have much of an appetite. She knew I would need my energy.
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What surprised you about your birth?
How fast it was. The first baby was the better part of 3 days and the second was 3 hours!! I didn't know they could vary that much.
It was covered by my insurance at 90%! I had to find a Certified Nurse Midwife and had to write a few exception letters when the one I found was out of network but in the end I was covered and comfortable!
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Having a supportive husband was priceless! I couldn't have done it without him 100% on board.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Bath tub
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What position did you end up delivering in?
I stayed in the water so sort of laying but sort of sitting up in the tub
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
It was very natural with him coming out of the water and being placed on my chest all still attached together as one
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Having a supportive husband was priceless! I couldn't have done it without him 100% on board. He has come a long way over the years. He was actually on the home birth wagon before I was! We had our first at a birth center and after visiting the hospital in our new town, we decided we couldn't go that route having already experienced a home like environment.
