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When did you realize you were really in labor?
When I couldn't go back to sleep because the contractions came often and regularly.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
Nothing. I felt fully prepared.
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
Prepped the house two weeks in advance. Had Gatorade, ginger ale, towels, blankets, the top I'd wear in the pool, adult diapers, a post-birth meal prepped and ready to heat, music set up in the stereo, pool blown up, hoses hooked up, etc. I had everything ready-to-go so that when labour day came, all my husband and doula had to do was call the midwife, turn on the faucets, press play, and then let me do my thing.
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What surprised you about your birth?
How much easier it was than what I thought it would be. I was anticipating the typical thing you see on television. A woman screaming for dear life, yelling at the people in the room, chanting "get it out, get it out, get it out." I had even apologized to my husband in advance, in case I wound up being that way. Turns out I was the exact opposite... I barely said a dozen words throughout my entire 7 hour labour. No shouting, no screaming, no snapping at anyone. My midwife commented afterward that I had been the quietest mama she had ever dealt with in her 24 years of practice.
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Look within. You might be scared shitless on the outside, but deep, deep within you, there's an all-knowing goddess. She knows her body wouldn't go through this if her mind couldn't handle it. You can do it. Remember: this contraction is one less you have to have to see your baby!
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
I believed contractions were a good thing. When I felt my body gearing up for another, I didn't dread it, I just took a breath and powered through. I looked behind instead of ahead. The contraction I was having now was one less I had to have again. After each one, it brought me that much closer to the end goal, which was to have my baby in my arms. I didn't ever think "When will this end?" or "I can't do this anymore", because I viewed each contraction as progress.
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What position did you end up delivering in?
In the birth pool, kneeling on my right knee, squatting on my left, arms over the side of the pool, holding my husbands hands.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
Relief. I completed the marathon than is labour and birth, and it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. And I had an awesome trophy to show for it: my baby.
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Look within. You might be scared shitless on the outside, but deep, deep within you, there's an all-knowing goddess. She knows her body wouldn't go through this if her mind couldn't handle it. You can do it. Remember: this contraction is one less you have to have to see your baby!
