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When did you realize you were really in labor?
While shopping at Whole Foods and when I started feeling more consistent contractions that lasted a minute or so and didn't fade away while i was walking around the aisles.
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What was the most challenging thing about going natural?
Honestly, I delivered so fast that I didn't get to push once! There was nothing really challenging about this experience. This was my second time giving birth. During my first experience, my water broke and I didn't have consistent or continuous contractions. they only give you 24 hours to deliver after the water breaks, therefore, they put me on pitocin. It elevated the contractions to 100 times more! I was in so much pain, I even threw up because of the pain I was experiencing and had to get epidural even though my plan was not to take any. I waited though as much as I can and I was about 6 cm when I got it. I delivered vaginally and everything was fine at the end. During my second child's delivery, apparently I was in labor and having contractions, but I had high pain tolerance and didn't know that I was so close to delivering. In my head, I was anticipating so much pain just as I had with my first child, but since it was all natural and I wasn't on piton, the pain to me felt like NOTHING! When I made it to the hospital, I was 7cm plus. I demanded an epidural because I was afraid of that "pain" and didn't want to go through it again. i had no idea that the baby was going to slide out after a few seconds. They positioned me to put the needle in and everything. While I was in that position, I felt an explosion inside me haha, it was my water bag. It broke and I felt so wet. I told the nurse "I think my water broke", she wad we will check it in a second. Anyways, they put the needle in, but they haven't hooked me up to get a dose of the epidural yet. Once I turned and laid down in preparation for her to check me, I felt something down there, I felt a head. My mom yelled "OMG it is the head!", the nurse ran and rung a bell and maybe 10 other nurses came into the room. One nurse told me "can you hold it there, don't do anything, we don;t even have a doctor!". I told her "I have no control, I cannot hold anything". In just a second or two, she caught the baby! He literally slid out and she was there to catch him! My husband yelled, OMG it is a boy (we left that as a surprise and didn't find the baby's sex ahead of time). It took me a minute to process that set of information, as I was still in shock that I delivered already! It was one of the best and craziest moments of my life and it was all natural!
My husband almost missed the birth because he was outside the room trying to put our 11 month old baby boy to sleep. He ran inside the room when he saw every other nurse in the hallway going in. We have an Irish twin. They are 364 days apart! There will be a day every year where they both share the same age. It is very cool!
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What was the most helpful thing you did to prepare for childbirth?
I walked a lot and kept active (i had an 11 month active boy, I had no choice but to stay active and run after him). I also drank lots of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and took Primrose oil pills. I used an exercise ball to loosen up overnight during my pregnancy.
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What surprised you about your birth?
It happened so fast and with minimum pain!
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I walked a lot and kept active. I also drank lots of Red Raspberry Leaf tea and took Primrose oil pills. I used an exercise ball to loosen up overnight during my pregnancy.
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What pain relief strategies worked best?
Breathing
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What position did you end up delivering in?
Laying down.
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How did it feel to hold your baby for the first time?
It felt surreal and amazing. I couldn't believe he was here and that fast!
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What advice can you give to other mamas who want to go natural?
Do not be afraid. According to my experience and having gone natural the second time without planning to, it was less painful and felt so much better because you actually feel what is going on, and that is a good thing!
