Birth Stories
Tayloralex24
member
Natural, medication-free hospital birth (pretty long)
Tayloralex24
member
I decided pretty late in my pregnancy that I wanted a drug-free birth for my first child. I was 7 months along, or so...I was so encouraged by many stories I found on the Internet (along with a few books) of other natural births. I just want to pass on my beautiful experience and hopefully be of some encouragement and comfort to others in my same previous, knowledge-hungry position!?
Little background:
I'm an ultrasound technician for a Perinatologist. I know a lot about pregnancy and knew little to nothing about delivery. For some reason (maybe because my own pregnancy was something of a surprise and I wasn't big into planning anything about it), I waited until my 3rd trimester to educate myself. By the time I had made a concise decision with my husband, John, about what we wanted out of our daughter's birth, I came to find that my OB (not my employer) was NOT really on board! Oops. Our last few visits were just plain weird. I wanted to inquire about natural, epidural-free, pitocin-free, induction-free stuff, and he starting passively deflecting my questions and throwing out quotes like "there aren't any medals for doing this without drugs" and "just let us do our job, we do this all the time." And by the way, there is a medal carved in your soul that no one can take from you when you deliver a baby- no matter how it's done!?At this point, I was down right panicked that I had chosen the complete wrong person for the job! (My 1st hint should probably have been month number four when I gained 5 lbs from the last month and he starting telling me that I was gaining too much too quickly and that he was alarmed, etc. I was not over-eating at all, was exercising regularly and ended up gaining only 20 lbs throughout the entire pregnancy. Wow. Maybe the problem was just that I was PREGNANT! Such a man :-) I must notate, though, that when it came down to it, he honored my wishes and let me do my thing and I am ever-grateful for his part in my healthy daughter's birth.
Anyway, I became somewhat obsessed with educating myself on drug-free births. I knew how I wanted this to ideally happen, and I was on a mission! I wanted to experience all of it fully. My husband was 5000% supportive and just about the only one (aside from my dear brother.) It boiled down to this for me: God created me and my body to be able to do this. By golly, if other women can give birth naturally, I can do it too! I must say, though, if I needed pain relief, I would not have been disappointed with myself. Everyone's labor is different in length and intensity and I had no idea what I was in for. So, though I had an action plan in my head, I was totally ready to go with the flow. And God forbid something went astray and I needed emergency medical attention....I was prepared to let the medical staff "do their job," just like my OB said!
I went into what I'd certainly term "false labor" about 3 days before my due date. At this point, my overly-anxious and medical-intervention enthusiast of a doctor starts talking induction if I go a day beyond my due date. I was quite discouraged by the idea. By The Lord's grace I actually went into real labor on my due date! Impressive, I know! I was so ready. Contractions started at about 1 pm and consisted of a mild, period-crampy feeling. I went about my day nesting and preparing for my hospital visit later. My husband was at work and I actually didn't call him at any point. I figured I'd be ok until he got home at 7-8pm. Plan was to labor at home as long as possible, anyway...
John called me on his way home from work and at this point, I knew I had waited too long! I was in pain and timing these 3 minute contractions. He was still an hour away. Oops number 2 (number 3 was when we never toured the hospital and had no idea where we were going when we arrived!!!). I actually passed a large clot right before we departed for the hospital at 9pm and had been bleeding since. I was freaked out, but was apparently kind of normal and ok. I hadn't read that and wasn't prepared for it. Either way, we finally found labor and delivery and checked in. Pre-registration is great. The wonderful nurses checked my cervix (which MAY have been the most painful part of my whole experience) and I was at 6cm already! That was quite encouraging. I had no written birth plan, so John and I just verbalized that we wanted no medication and no IV (consented to a Hep lock). I was left to labor with just my hubby in our quiet, dark room with my iPod's worship music playlist. I knew I needed God's strength for this. I tried the walking, swaying, toilet-sitting thing. Strangely, I MUCH preferred to be flat on my back! No one says that, but it was true for me (see, everyone is different :-)). That supine position was probably about the only thing my OB and I could agree upon! Haha. My water never broke on it's own. I had to work to break it right before they would let me push. Once I pushed hard enough against the nurse's hand that was shoved inside of me, there was no mistaking the water-balloon-bursting feeling! Not to be any grosser than necessary, but I definitely peed and pooped a little during all of this. I promise that you don't care at the time and neither does anybody else! All in a day's work...
My hard labor last about 5 hours. My pushing lasted maybe 1.5 hours? Who's in the frame of mind to really count? I think it's interesting how people describe the physical feeling of pushing a baby out. For me, it wasn't like having a huge bowel movement. It was just like pushing a baby out of my vagina. It's like explaining to someone what a uterine contraction feels like, or what a baby's movement feels like inside of you. Kind of just is...and it's hard to describe to someone who hasn't felt it. It was all painful, yes. I didn't really find any stage of labor to be more or less painful than the next. It all just kind of hurt. I found solace in knowing that this was normal, natural, meaningful pain and I simply and fervently pleaded with God to get me through it. The incredible man that my husband is, was revealed to me that day. He was in my ear through every step with encouraging and comforting words. He never left my side. And then at 1:10am (now the day after my due date) here I was with this 7 lb, 1 oz beautiful baby girl who had no drugs flowing through her precious body! Worth it? Oh, gosh. Absolutely!?I tore a little (no Episitomy, thank you anyway!) but my whole recovery was speedy, to say the least.?
My best advice is to do what is best for you and your family. Simple as that. Whatever that means to you. For me, it was this...and I would be honored (and hope) to do it again in the next couple of years. Take everyone's advice with a grain of salt and cling to optimistic and encouraging birthing stories - as I'm thankful that I had before I experienced it myself.
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Re: Natural, medication-free hospital birth (pretty long)
Wonderful story! I love the positivity! Congratulations on a great experience and a healthy baby girl!!!!
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