September 2018 Moms
Redpuma119
member
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Unmedicated/Low Intervention Births
Redpuma119
member
This thread is to discuss unmedicated, or low intervention births. There is no more reason to be proud of an unmedicated birth than there is a medicated birth or a C-section! Sometimes things don't go as planned, or a specific birth plan is not for you. Please keep this thread respectful 
Do you plan on having an unmedicated/low intervention birth? Reasons?
Have you had an unmedicated/low intervention birth? Feel free to share your story.
Any recommended reading/podcast/etc?
ETA words
Do you plan on having an unmedicated/low intervention birth? Reasons?
Have you had an unmedicated/low intervention birth? Feel free to share your story.
Any recommended reading/podcast/etc?
ETA words
Re: Unmedicated/Low Intervention Births
<img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/da/ehjecqo8ntp8.gif" alt="">
We're planning a low-medicated birth. I'm keeping the option of nitrous oxide open. Other than knowing we want to be at a birthing center, we're just now starting to think about our birth plan.
Oh! And reason for this. It's based off of my mom's experience. She's had four kids. I was a home birth but the others were all hospital births for various reasons (mostly legal). She says my birth is the only one she actually liked. We don't want to do a home birth for a couple of reasons, some safety ones and some cleanliness ones. We're lucky to have two really good birthing centers near us! And I want non-medicated because I hate the feeling of being out of control and I often experience ALL the negative side effects of medication.
The short story is I believe if I had gone med free, I would have been able to walk around and therefore labor may have progressed faster and maybe I could have avoided the torturous reactions for the week after birth when I should have been enjoying my baby. I will at least attempt going med free this time for those reasons alone.
Yep! I’ve had two already and my labors, deliveries, and recoveries were amazing.
Have you had an unmedicated/low intervention birth? Feel free to share your story.
Yes, two. I did have to receive pitocin with my first because labor stalled. Looking back, I feel like it stalled because I was laying down. Had I been up and moving around, I think it would have progressed better.
With my second, I was on my feet and swaying for the majority of it. It went great. My daughter actually shot out of me onto the bed. My husband almost caught her! Haha! It was hilarious and I still laugh about it.
Any recommended reading/podcast/etc?
Anything Ina May Gaskin is great!
I've never planned on a low med/med free delivery, I just feel if science has figured out a way I don't have to go through that pain then yay science! lol That being said, this time I will not be skipping/ignoring all information regarding pain management techniques!
**TW non-perfect non-painless (read: realistic) labor story.**
The very short version is I had to wait for a delivery room and couldn't get an epidural until I was moved to one. My water broke and then my contractions got crazy painful and I progressed very quickly. The pain was beyond anything I'd prepared myself to endure because I always just thought "I'll just ask for meds when it gets bad." I felt completely terrified, panicked and out of control as I begged for anything to help me and people were trying to tell me I might not have time for an epidural. Thankfully, I got one and it was night and day and I was able to enjoy the rest of my labor. For unrelated reasons, baby was stuck and I ended up pushing for hours so if I had listened to the people trying to tell me there wasn't time, I think I would have died. My anesthesiologist did a great job and I was able to move my legs and even feel most sensations except for pain.
Moral of the story, whatever you think you want for your birth plan, I very strongly recommend you prepare yourself for all possible outcomes!
ETA: Typos and Just wanted to add a few more details.
My birth plan was to hold off on epi as long as I could, possibly with the help of analgesics, because I had read stories about the epi causing people to stall out. But the second my water broke the pain was all consuming and it took all my concentration for several minutes to move into a wheel chair once and to stand up as suggested by nurses once. So not having the epi was just as good as being paralyzed for me. Also, when I asked for analgesics when we weren't sure the epi was going to come in time, the nurse just said "at this point it wouldn't really do anything." (Bitch. Gimme an effing placebo, I don't care!!) And the experiences of most of the women in my last BMB were that if they had stalled, there epi helped things progress.
For me the things that helped were telling myself I was ready for this baby, breathing, my music, and hip squeezes from my doula and husband.
I recommend ‘The Birth Partner’ by Penny Simpkin. It’s a wonderful resource for whoever will be supporting you, and a great way to start thinking of ways to help yourself during labor.
I would like to go unmedicated for this birth but sometimes things happen so I will keep an open mind
Birth story: I always intended on going unmedicated but I needed to be induced. I did talk with my doctor about pain control options before so I had an idea of a backup plan. Labor got started and I didn't feel shy about taking walks out using the shower etc. I would just call the nurse if I needed to be unplugged from the machine. Unfortunately I think due to the induction meds the contractions were very inconsistent in timing and duration and I couldn't do it any more. I got an epidural (and it took some adjustments) took a nap, then when the nurse came in to check progress and possibly get pitocin started she said I was 9 cm and things got moving. I really think moving around for as long as I did helped labor progress.
Tips: even if you are sure you want unmedicated know what your options are. Even if you know you want an epidural try to labor and move around as much as you are able before getting it placed. Communicate with your nurses
(Tw difficult birth ahead)
Then labor hit me. My contractions started at 1 minute long and 3 minutes apart (1 minute and 5 minutes for an hour is when they tell you to go to the hospital) and just got longer/closer from there. By the time I was finally moved to a delivery room I had been in a basically one non stop contraction for 4 hours. I was in so much pain I could barely breathe let alone think about any pain management. I got the epidural the minute the anesthesiologist was available. My labor almost immediately stopped progressing and they wound up having to break my water and give me pictocin to get things moving. The drugs caused DS’s heart rate to drop, so I also had to be on oxygen for several hours. The epidural stopped working when it came time to push and they couldn’t get it working again. I could feel everything, but not move at all. DH and a nurse had to hold my legs in position since I couldn’t move them at all. Then DS got stuck and I was pushing for several hours before they decided he wasn’t coming on his own and they needed to suction him out. I was left with a fractured tailbone and a ton of tearing. It took me over two months to recover. The whole thing took about 15 hours from epidural to delivery. An added bonus was a side effect from the epidural left a spot on the bottom of my right foot numb for 6 weeks which totally threw off my balance. Which is just what you need when trying to carry around a newborn.
I feel feel like if I had been able to move I ay have been able to avoid the stalled labor and have gotten DS in a better position to avoid the need for the suction. But I also know there way no way I would have survived hours more of contractions like that.
I’m hoping that this time around the contractions follow a more typical pattern and I’m able to avoid or at least delay medication much more successfully than last time. I’ll practice the pain management stuff again, but I know there’s a chance I might not get to use any of it.
For anyone considering a birthing center but would like some research, I recently found this study. Keep in mind it's published by a midwifery journal so inherently a touch biased but it does have an MD on the authors list.
https://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.kcnpnm.org/resource/dynamic/blogs/20140902_134433_29814.pdf
To prepare, I listened to the hypnobirthing audio books. I didn't plan on listening while in active labor, but when DH offered me headphones, that's the only thing I wanted to listen to. I really used the techniques I had practiced, and was able to stay calm and focused and feel mostly in control. Eventually I did decide to ask for an epidural, and had zero issues with it. It didn't stall my labor and I was much more comfortable. When it was time to push, I was able to feel "everything" enough that I did use my hypnobirthing strategies again to get through it. Epidural wore off fine and no lasting issues whatsoever, I really had a great birth experience.
Just wanted to add my experience to illustrate that you totally can use certain natural birth techniques to prepare for labor & delivery whether you plan on meds or not!
Married 5/2015
BFP 11/27/2015 - EDD 8/4/2016
BFP 1/6/2018 - EDD 9/19/2018
Trigger warning: violence, birth trauma
So here's the shortest way I know how to tell my story...birth center birth with no medication possible planned. Baby was breech, and went into labor on my own at 35 weeks, so the birth center legally couldn't handle me, they referred me to their sister hospital. They wouldn't try to stop labor, but told me it may stop itself, wouldn't try to flip baby head down because it might put me in labor (? yes, seriously this was all said in the same conversation) and baby still might flip by himself (?), wouldn't help me deliver baby vaginal even in an operating room as a precaution, and if I just refused to sign a surgical consent, they would force me to leave hospital (next closest hospital was at least a 30 min drive). Quick note though: neither of us was in distress, and labor was progressing quickly. But, I signed consent, even though they gave me no options, and I had done research on the safety of them flipping baby in labor as well as vaginal breech birth (which I was an excellent candidate for!). The gave me a spinal, which didn't work, but they didn't believe me. I didn't even get tingly-I lost no feeling or movement. They cut me open, got his head stuck, wrestled for a long time to get him out-all while I screamed. It wasn't until after he was out and they were stitching me up that I started counting the stitches as they went in, that they finally believed me that I could feel everything. Them I got general anesthesia.
They gave me so much IV fluids that I gained weight that day, my son's lungs were full of fluid and he was on a total ventilator (not breathing on his own at all) for a week. During that he gained an oral aversion, so it took two weeks to teach him to eat, so 3 weeks total before we could go home.
The muscle and ligament damage I received from being fully tense during the surgery left my pelvis unstable, so I can neither ride horses or rock climb anymore, and my running abilities are significantly decreased, but I can't prove any of it, so I couldn't bring a lawsuit.
So...in short, I will do very little to intervene with my goal of an intervention free birth. I have a great midwife who supports me fully, a wonderful back up doctor who wishes I would birth in hospital, but respects my decision-knowing that if something risky happens (like another preemie!) I'll come to him.
But I want to eat and drink to keep up my strength, have a tub to relax in, walk and squat and move to help things progress (not too worried, last time it was 9 hours from no dilation to 7.5 cm, and I had almost no pain until 7.5. I already have experience the most painful thing I can think of (and kidney stones!) so I know I can do this. The only way I'm going to have another surgery is if they put me under fully, and I know that me or baby is in immediate danger.
DH: 32
Married 7/18/15
1st born at 35+4 on 6/6/16
Team green turned BLUE!
2nd born at 38+6 on 8/30/18
Team green turned PINK!
Due with #3 on 6/6/20 Team Green
So I popped into this thread hoping it would help me a little. I’m torn between “I’m incredibly ashamed of this” and “duh, that’s pretty normal”, but I’m utterly terrified of giving birth to this baby. I do not have a super high pain threshold, but more importantly, I have severe anxiety - especially when it comes to medical situations and pain. I’m concerned that I’ll become so scared that I’ll cause real physical problems for myself and baby. I had been reading about epidurals and how some women have “easy and relaxing” births (I mean, that doesn’t sound totally right..) but the feeling of paralysis may throw me right into a panic attack as well.
Does anyone here have experience or advice on how to overcome a severe anxiety attack during birth?
ETA natural methods I mean, which is why I’m here.
I had a spine infection when I was 12 that left me hospitalized and passed from one hospital to another, in so much excruciating pain for <i>months</i> before they finally got my diagnosis right, and started to give me proper care. By that time, the disc between two of my lumbar vertebrae was almost completely degenerated, and the bones partially fused together as part of the healing process. I have been aware ever since then that an epidural may be difficult to place, and may not be available to me. Even if it were, I just had so many procedures, spinal taps, etc. And so much needless pain surrounding my lower back, I don't want anyone touching me there except with loving kindness. So adding botched epidural to the list of my traumas is not something I'm interested in! Lol
Even more than all that, I fundamentally just believe in a woman's superpower to labour and give life, and not only do I believe with all my heart that we can do this, and we were made for this (Among other things, obv, please don't shoot me! Lol) I also believe that the modern interventions have a way of starting a cascade of interventions that impede the natural labour process, and ultimately leads to so many unecessary c-sections. (C sections can be great and life-saving, and may be 100% appropriate in some cases, but probably not necessary in most cases.) So laying in bed with constant fetal monitoring contributes to anxiety in the mother, which slows labour, so add pitocin to get thing moving, which makes contractions more painful than normal, then the epidural is called, and mom may not be able to push effectively, so it goes like this until she's rushed to surgery to get the baby out - when I believe a lot of that can be avoided by taking a more hands-off approach, letting the mother labour in her own way, in her own time, and not putting some arbitrary time constraint on her dilation. Anywho.
For me personally, two more things. 1. We had to do ivf to get our babies, so we are both just pretty much over sciencing everything out of growing our family. For this huge step in the process, we'd like to be able to try things for once, 'the old fashioned way!" Lol and 2. We still have a few more precious embabies waiting for us, which we hope to transfer all. So I'd rather not start off with a c section for my first, and thereby increase the chances of subsequent c sections, uterine rupture, or having to fight that much harder to attempt vbac.
Have you had an unmedicated/low intervention birth? Feel free to share your story.
Nope, first (God-willing) full-term pregnancy!
<span>Any recommended reading/podcast/etc?
</span>@ashh2018. I started listening to the Fear Free Childbirth podcast. Some of the guests have been a little hokey, but I think there's a lot of value in what she's teaching, and it sounds like there's more resources available on her website. She is one who went from extreme fear of childbirth (tokophobia), faced it, and went on to have a successful homebirth! Complete 180! She keeps talking about doing the fear-clearing work necessary so things don't have to come up during labour and create an impediment to the process. It makes sense to me, but I haven't actually created a login to dive deeper into her website. Not sure if anyone else has insight here if her site has been worthwhile to them.
The main podcast I have been listening to nonstop is Healthy Births, Happy Babies. There is a tonne of great information here, solid guests and just wow. A lot of it is parenting and post partum stuff too, and stuff for dads, so you may just have to look through to see what episodes are specific to what you want to hear, but it's all so good!
I also plan on taking the hyponobirthing class offered by my hospital, so that could be a really good option to help prepare and learn some breathing and meditation techniques.
ETA I'm also reading Ina May Gaskin's, "Guide to Childbirth," book, as well as, "Mindful Birthing," by Nancy Bardacke.
I didn't have a plan. I just went into it with an open mind. What ever i need to do i will do it. I did think it was normal to have meds to help but when my water broke at home...by the time i got to the hospital i was already 8 cm dialated and it was too late to give me any meds as it would affect my baby so i powered through and it was bloody painful. I remember thinking i wish i had meds. They gave me the gas to breath though a tube but i didnt find that it was useful.... i pushed for 45 mins and out she came. At the end you just feel relieved and overwhelmed with emotion that it doesnt matter what you just went through.
I didn't tell my story to scare anyone, but hopefully just so that others might understand when I rally SO hard for a VBAC and push SO HARD for no interventions that aren't truly medically necessary.
Specifically, @ashh2018 there's no wrong way to do this birth thing so long as you're making your own choices. I knew that the idea of surgery was panic attack inducing, and so I did my research on how best to a avoid a section skipping epidural, labor at home a long time, move around, birth upright, etc) and because I know this is specifically helpful to me, I looked up everything that could go wrong, and what is done to fix it-because for me the more knowledge I have even if it's not pleasant, the better I feel.
I think it's mostly about knowing yourself, knowing what exactly is the scariest part to you, and how you best can set yourself up for success and what you can do to lower your fear.
The idea of being confined to a bed not able to move was scary to me.
But maybe doing a lot of visits just to the hospital, maybe there's a way to set up the tour a few times for you, maybe that could help? I know you can also request to talk to a patient advocate even before you're in labor-and you may be able to set up more tours or specific accommodations for you with them even if it's just permission to hang a couple sheets from home in the room, turn down the lights, wear your own clothes, or whatever will help you feel safer. Just my ideas.
DH: 32
Married 7/18/15
1st born at 35+4 on 6/6/16
Team green turned BLUE!
2nd born at 38+6 on 8/30/18
Team green turned PINK!
Due with #3 on 6/6/20 Team Green
I wish I had more to contribute to this thread, but I also want to encourage anyone who wants to go this route to do so. But also like others said, it's great to keep an open mind since you may not know exactly how your body will react to birth!
Whether you go medicated or unmedicated, my suggestions are:
1. Think of the end goal. You are becoming a mom and will get to hold your beautiful baby at the end of this.
2. If you come up with a birthing plan, know that things don’t always go according to plan. Be prepared for alternatives (I decided no plan and to just go with the flow).
3. Be educated. Take a childbirth class to find out the different options, and if you are delivering in a hospital take a tour ahead of time and come prepared with a list of questions. Know what they offer, who will be in the room with you, etc. (My mom actually gives these tours at our hospital so I asked her a million questions first.)
4. Advocate for yourself or have someone there to advocate for you. One of the nurses who was holding my leg up while pushing kept releasing it when she turned to the side to check my vitals. That was not helping, so I told her. So many different people come through there to give birth. You have to tell them what works for you.
@yosemite2018 as simple as it sounds, you’re right and thinking of the end goal is helpful. I think I’m building this one event up in my head and letting the fear take over.
@pourmeamocktail Holy shit. Those are the only words I have. Just, holy shit.
@businesswife About the "sciencing stuff" to get here. My feelings about that are similar to yours, and different at the same time. I am also just like, let me have this one time where my body gets to do its own thing, and let me be free of intervention. There is also that part of me that has this anxiety about anything fertility/baby related and I am nervous that I will resent this part of the process as well. IF brain is real..
@Ashh2018 I think your fear is totally normal, and most likely a lot of other women are in the same boat. I think you need to discuss your fears with your OB so that you're both on the same page, and she knows best how to help you. It's definitely won't be the first time she's hearing it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a medicated birth, especially if that means that you are calm and pain free. If you are panicking and in pain, the physiological response that you will have could put you and baby in distress. Don't apologize for being nervous. Like @pourmeamocktail said, go in educated on what you want to do and stand by the reasons behind your choices.
Do you plan on having an unmedicated/low intervention birth? Reasons?
Yes, that's the plan. When I was younger, I always just assumed I would get an epidural, but as I've gotten older, and had many friends/family go unmedicated, my opinion has changed. A few reasons.. I echo the other posters who have talked about stalling out and unnecessary C-sections. Also, the option to move around and feel more in control. And even though I know this isn't always the case, the recoveries I have seen with unmedicated births seem more appealing. I also have a friend who has a numb foot from the epidural, which scares the shit out of me. I also have a really high pain tolerance, don't ever really take any meds if they're not necessary, and tend to just be a calm person in general. Also, from what I have heard from other women, without meds you can "just tell" what needs to happen -push, change positions, something isn't right.. I like those options. If for some reason, I have a super long labor and have nothing left or plans change and I need an epidural or a C-section, then that's what has to happen. I'm not a failure for that happening. But I do plan to have a "plan" for that, as those procedures also have a lot that go along with them.
I have spoken to my husband and parents, who were shocked that I want to go unmedicated. They know that they will be a support system and encourage me, regardless of what they think.
As for a birthing center or home birth, I am 100% wanting to go to the hospital to deliver. I support those that go the opposite route, but for my first, I feel best being where I can receive immediate medical intervention if necessary. I'm sure others have been around long enough to have read a birth story from the January 17 BMB, where a woman's home birth turned SCARY.
Any recommended reading/podcast/etc? Thanks ladies, I have a nice list of things to start reading and listening too.
Questions: (I just made this one up.)
1-Have I imagined things, or is there an option with an epidural to turn it way down? If I do have an induction, and I'm given that painful Pitocin, I'd like that option.
2-Mamas who have gone unmedicated, talk to us about the pain. I know it is different with all labors, but what did it feel like to you?
Here's the link to a paper by the guest, Dr. Sarah Buckley.
https://transform.childbirthconnection.org/reports/physiology/
On the plus side, I don't think after my experience that I'll find labor without meds to be too much.
DH: 32
Married 7/18/15
1st born at 35+4 on 6/6/16
Team green turned BLUE!
2nd born at 38+6 on 8/30/18
Team green turned PINK!
Due with #3 on 6/6/20 Team Green
Yes. I’ve had both medicated and Unmedicated births.
Have you had an unmedicated/low intervention birth? Feel free to share your story.
My unmedicated birth was so much easier to recover from. Birth story in the next comment, but if you want to skip it..basically I didn’t have time for an epidural. I got to the hospital and it was time to get dressed hep lock and start pushing. Total labor 3 hours 44 mins.
With th my first it was my plan to go med free, but being a first time mom not taking any classes and generally not knowing what was happening I got a shot of Demerol for pain management because the on call anesthetist was in an emergency CS. Finally 20 mins before I started pushing, I got the epidural. I’m more mad at myself that I could have held out 40 more mins and had a med free birth. The nurses also wanted continuous monitoring and hated that I wanted to sit straight in my bed. They didn’t want me moving. I hated the way the epidural made me feel.
Baby #2 was born at a different hospital than baby #1, but #3 will be born at the same hospital as #1. My plan this time is to advocate for myself and have everything (that I can) my way. If I can find my old birth plan I will take a picture and post it. I plan on talking to my OB at my AS in 3 weeks and getting his OK. With my last pregnancy in his care he said everything was fine, but that was different when I was admitted. I was hooked up to pitocin and antibiotics. The abx was because we hadn’t had my results back from GBS test because she was preterm.
This is fine I may do a tour of the facility just to ask questions regarding what their “must do” list of things are. I don’t want to be limited to pushing from my back. I delivered on my knees holding the back of the bed with #2 and that was the most amazing thing. Every time they asked if I wanted to switch positions onto my back, I would try, but it was so much more painful.
This is how I delivered #2 instead of “normal” pushing from laying on your back. Imagine more on my knees holding the back of the bed.
**sorry for the “all overness” with my post. It’s early**
BFP#1: 11/15/2010 * Missed M/C 12/28 * D&C 12/29/2010
BFP#5 12/26/2017 *SURPRISE* Due 09/02/2018
Adalynn =DD1
Greg= MH
Charlotte=DD2
edit in spoiler because it’s a long story
BFP#1: 11/15/2010 * Missed M/C 12/28 * D&C 12/29/2010
BFP#5 12/26/2017 *SURPRISE* Due 09/02/2018
To prepare this time, I’m going to read lots of birth stories and just do my thing. last time I read ina May, childbirth without fear, and another book (I’ll remember the name and post it at some point), took a one day Childbirth class, and had a doula. (Well, the doula I hired and loved was out of town for a family emergency so I had a backup doula I’d neber met before and we didn’t really mesh, so that was a waste.)
spoiler: birthstory. Kind of long.
In terms of dealing with the pain:
I honestly think if you expect it to be painful, it will be. And yes, there are moments and aspects that are painful. Moreso, many of the sensations are alien and so it would be easy to classify those as painful and in fact make your own perception worse, if that makes sense. Contractions are like a weird muscle spasm that you’ve never felt before and have no control over. Before pitocin, it truly did feel like a wave building to a crescendo then gradually releasing and it was easy to visualize or work with it and be inthat moment. With pitocin it was harder to stay in front of the contraction, because it was more like being propelled/dragged to the top of Mesa plateau then staying there and then dropping off a cliff, if that makes sense. For me, the sensation of the baby descending was really unpleasant, but not painful. Same with the super aggressive perineal “massage” from the midwife. The ring of Fire was something else, but short-lived. Honestly, in the moment, I thought getting stitches after the birth was worse. I had a small 1-2 degree perineal tear and a “tiny” one at each side of my clitoris.
To prepare: I highly recommend researching different coping methods. Even as a pretty self aware individual, how I ended up coping (quiet/ almost silent and repeating a mantra in my head), was the exact opposite of how I thought. I wouldn’t spend 12-20 hours in class for any one method. Breathing patterns/ techniques, visualization/ hypno, massage, whatever are all good and valid techniques, but you don’t know what will work for you until you are in the moment.
Okay that was really long. Sorry for the novel. I’m happy to answer any follow up questions and I’m sure I’ll think of more later.
Edited bc the name of the class gave away too much info on my location. Stranger danger.
I have also started telling myself to expect a lot of, "intense sensations," but trying to pre-emptively train my brain not to label it, "pain," so we'll see how that helps. I loved learning about all the natural endorphins + dopamine the brain creates, like your body's own narcotics??? So wild.
I also appreciate the suggestion to learn all the coping techniques, bc you don't know ahead of time what specifically will work best in the moment, or from moment to moment.
*typos
Most likely yes, as I had an unmedicated birth with #1 and he had a great healthy birth/didn't need any medical interventions.
Have you had an unmedicated/low intervention birth? Feel free to share your story.
I had an unmedicated hospital birth after 48 hours (yeah.) of labor.
TLDR; I would be ecstatic if this labor is anywhere 24 hours or less. Story in spoiler.
At about 36 hours in I had a regularly scheduled 40-week appt so we went there instead of the hospital (their office was attached to the hospital) to see how far along I was and thankfully I had progressed to 6 cm. Then we went on to the hospital and got officially checked in to the labor wing. For some reason at this hospital, even though we had filled out all the pre-registration paperwork earlier, they had like 5 different people in my room asking detailed medical history questions, taking blood and trying to have a lengthy conversation with me, asking if the chaplain should come by once the baby arrived, making me present insurance info I had already provided again, having me sign more forms... if I had a normal length labor I would have had the baby before they finished all this. It definitely stalled my labor and kept me from getting pain relief in the tub. I'm delivering at a smaller hospital this time so hoping there is a little less administration/paperwork to deal with while in pain.
Anyways, finally I was able to get it the tub and that helped a lot with relaxation and pain relief. Also used birthing ball but the tub was the best.
Finally got to 9 cm at around 43-44ish hours of labor, and they suggested breaking the water to help move things along. That got me to 10. I never really had a physical urge to push and was waiting for that to happen, but ended up deciding I was exhausted and that I really needed this baby OUT. I started working on pushing in an upright semi-kneeling position which worked pretty well. Once the nurses thought that baby was close to crowning they had me lay down, which, you guessed it, slowed things way down again.
Finally, after one last huge push baby arrived!!! I had 2nd degree tears probably from that one big push, but I didn't feel any pain when he came out.
The best thing was as soon as he arrived, I got to hold him and the pain went away pretty much instantly.
I would say that even though my experience went about as well as it could, it definitely showed me that there is a reason we have pain medication and other interventions. So much of labor was mental for me. If unmedicated labor is not feeling like the right choice, there are other options. Similarly, I know I had the physical good fortune that baby was positioned correctly, I didn't have any complications leading up to the birth, etc.
Any recommended reading/podcast/etc?
spinningbabies.com to help get baby on the best position for birth
Guide to Childbirth - Ina May Gaskin
Natural Hospital Birth - Cynthia Gabriel
I used the Hypnobabies course to prepare for labor. If you like listening to relaxing things this is amazing. It would put my husband to sleep in less than 5 minutes. It is basically progressive muscle relaxation training to help you learn to relax while in labor, plus positive affirmations so you have positive mantras to think during labor. The one that I used was "This is what I want, and I am doing it." Sounds cheesy but kept me thinking positive thoughts.
Breathing exercises - this was so important to breathe during the contractions. I pretty much ignored breathing exercises beforehand, but it actually helped so much. I think Bradley method and Lamaze focus on this more.
Also, if you're close with your mom, asking how her labors went might give you insight it how yours might go. My mom also had a really long first labor.
@BusinessWife Holy crap, you are my hero!
@spottedginger That was amazing to read and thank you so much for posting it!
I think it's absolutely beautiful that many of you are planning to be as natural as possible and allow the process to work the way it is intended to. It inspires me and gives me so much hope that I can do it too someday. You are ALL so brave!
My 7 Year Journey ***Tw in spoiler***
IVF #1 - September 2018; Follistim, Menopur, Cetrotide & Lupron/HCG combo trigger; PGS; ICSI
Back on Levothyroxine
FET #1 - October 2018; cancelled, all PGS aneuploid
FET #1 - November 30th, transferred anyway
Wondfo BFP 5dp5dt, CB Digi 6dpt,
1st Beta on 7dpt 93
2nd Beta on 10dpt 510!
TTC #1 since 2011. Tried for 5 years before we knew there was a one year rule.
Diag w/MS 2016; w/PCOS & IF 2017
New RE 2018; PCOS diagnosis taken away, IF due to ovary adhesions, but prev. RE insists PCOS IF
IUI
IUI #1 July 2017 w/100mg Clo+trigger; BFN; benched w/big cysts
IUI #2 October 2017 w/50mg Clo+trigger; BFN; benched w/big cysts
IUI #3 February 2018 w/5mg Femara+trigger; low P
BFP February; mc March; Subclinical hypothyroid started Levothyroxine
IUI #4 March 2018 w/7.5mg Femara+trigger; BFN
Medicated cycle & TI April 2018 w/7.5mg Femara+trigger; BFN
Tried several cycles on our own; all BFN
As for question 2...it hurts. But it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Every labor is going to be different.
With my son, my water broke a couple hours before I started having contractions. They were pretty mild at the beginning and it was no big deal. It was 21 hours from when my water broke to when he was born. I pushed for 27 minutes. I just concentrated on breathing. My contractions started near my pubic bone, moved around to the small of my back, and then up and around the top of my belly. It’s just like one big cramp. My contractions began coupling. I’d get two right on top of each other and then I’d get an almost five minute break. This happened even during transition. Once you start pushing, it’s just relied to push against the contraction.
With my daughter, it was 12 hours from first contraction to when she was born. I didn’t push at all for her. My water didn’t break with her until I asked my OB to break my water 3 minutes before my daughter shot out of me. Haha. I think laboring without broken water was much easier. It all felt the same but I wasn’t gross and soggy. My contractions felt the same (lower belly to back to top of belly) and they even coupled a bit like they did with my son. Standing and swaying helped a bunch and sitting on a birthing ball with my husband putting counter pressure on my lower back was great. As said before, I was at 9+ and finally asked my OB to break my water because I knew I needed to push. Doc broke my water, stepped out of the room to check something, and in the moment doc was out of the room, I got a contraction and my body just started pushing DD out. Nurse saw my face and told me not to push. I told her I wasn’t pushing but my body was. Nurse lifted the blanket and DD’s head was already out. DH held up my leg, nurse hit the “need immediate assistance “ button, and my body shot my daughter out onto the bed. Haha
Honestly, the worst part of L&D to me are the belly presses AFTER baby is born. That hurts worse than labor to me.
@JLyn821 What exactly do you mean when you say, "belly presses"?
*typos
With my first I strongly planned on a natural unmedicated labor.
I went into labor naturally and labored at home for several hours before going to the hospital and then laboring several hours unmedicated there.
Finally, I was just exhausted out and was scared I wouldn’t be able to push when the time came so I finally received an epidural at 8 cm.
Unfortunately, my epidural wasn’t placed correctly and with the time constraints they didn’t have the time to check/fix it.
Finally, after 30 hours plus I had my daughter.
It was such a long, drawn out labor and the nicu team had to be present since meconium was in her lungs.
Overall, it wasn’t completely awful because I was able to push her out easily but it was unnecessarily long.
My second and third labor/deliveries were wonderful and almost exactly identical.
They were both planned and scheduled inductions with pitocin.
I went in that morning and was hooked up to pitocin, few hours later my water was broken, then had my epidural, and then a few hours later pushed them out.
I had both within 6 hours and the adrenaline rush after was amazing!
I know medicated births get such a bad rep but mine were amazing and so easy!
Definitley will deliver my fourth the same way!
But yeah, be warned about the belly presses. I had no idea about them. After DS, they were bad but didn’t feel as bad after I got up and used the bathroom. Same after DD. Once I could empty my insanely full bladder, it wasn’t as terrible.
ETA Thanks @SkilledSailor ❤❤
@BusinessWife My son never did crawl to my breast (I had to hold him up there) and their weight is so tiny I doubt the baby itself laying there does a whole lot to help the uterus contract. The feeding itself though is huge in helping the uterus contract down, and you will for sure feel cramping during BFing due to the oxytocin release. It’s not pleasant but it eases up after a day or two.