Your biggest 'helper'??

Caidyn

For those of you who have had a natural birth before, what was the biggest thing/thought/technique that 'got you through'??

tokenhoser

Yoga. It taught me focus and conscious relaxation. I wasn't ever that diligent in my practice, but it was really useful to me in labour.

RockyMtnMama

For my first birth it was yoga breathing and visualization from knowing how to endure on epic mtn bike rides where my IT bands were often throbbing. 

For my second it was yoga breathing/calming breaths, showers, and moaning/mooing low.

 

sschwege

HYPNOBIRTHING!

Other things that helped: Warm bath, DH pouring water over my stomach during contractions, birthing ball, tennis balls on lower back, warm rice sock, and at the end humming as I exhaled.   

AmyRI

The biggest was the advice to listen to my body and do what felt best.

In the same vein, different positions, breath awareness, and low-tone vocalizations, learned from yoga mostly but some in the generic hospital childbirth class, where the techniques I really used.

3rdat40

A sense of humor got me through! Even when I was in a lot of pain, the whole absurdity of situation was funny to me. I'm normally a very prim and proper, conservative kind of gal, but during labor I was crawling around on my hands and knees to get through the contractions, buck naked, and I didn't care who saw me!

SWBs Wifey

I can only name one??  

1) DH.  He rocked.  

2) An amazing doula that I connected well with and was on the ball with moving me, offering me water (or having DH do it if he hadn't lately), and the perfect massage for me.

3) A supportive team and environment.  I could NOT have done it in a hospital setting with nurses offering me medication and strict instruction on how to labor.  Being in the environment I was in helped me to relax and have an easier labor. 

4) Being able to labor and push in whatever way I felt like I needed to at the moment.  When it came down to it, I pushed standing up... not common, even in natural births/ birth centers.  It's the only way that felt "good" to push.  Everything else felt like work.   

perplexed59

Distraction. I spent most of my labouring being pricked with a needle for an IV. They had the hardest time finding a vein. So I focused on keeping still and not letting my contractions get the best of me so that they could get a vein. They finally got a vein just as I was going through transition. 

ABeautifulMind

My H and MW were awesome, most definitely.  But honestly, I was is la-la land during the toughest part of labor and vocalizing through my contractions was what made things easier for me. 

theladyjess

Knowing that it wouldn't last forever. Not watching the clock. Vocalizing during contrax really helped keep me relaxed.

theladyjess

Not watching the clock.  Time just passed but if I had watched the clock the whole 18 hours it would have gone by so slowly. 

Knowing that it wouldn't last forever, and most likely wouldn't last more than a day (24 hours).

Vocalizing through contrax.  It really helped me stay relaxed.

KateLouise

Warm water: shower and later then tub.

A chart they showed us at our antenatal class, which had a range of labouring positions. I never once though, "oh I'll try position x off that chart." but as I moved into positions that simply felt most comfortable to me, at the back of my head it was nice to know that what I was naturally doing was also helping to open up my pelvis and work the baby down the birth canal. 

jenyjeny

theladyjess:

Knowing that it wouldn't last forever. Not watching the clock. Vocalizing during contrax really helped keep me relaxed.

This exactly - only they told me I would be done by 10pm - so by the time that came and went, I was pretty livid (she was born at 35 after!). 

jennyann28

sschwege:

HYPNOBIRTHING!

Other things that helped: Warm bath, DH pouring water over my stomach during contractions, birthing ball, tennis balls on lower back, warm rice sock, and at the end humming as I exhaled.   

All of this!!! Well, ok, we didn't do the tennis ball & rice bag (I left it home because I didn't think I'd have access to a microwave to heat it, but we did. Totally bringing one next time). The tub was the best though, I went from 4-8cm in one hour in there!

wifeofadam

With #2 it was a doula.  She was the only reason I got through it.  Her ability to relax me was so amazing.

With #3 it was the water.  It relieved so much pain and I'm not sure I would have made it through the birth if I wasn't in the water.

choppinbroccoli22

1) DH's manual pressure on my lower back with counterpressure from his arm wrapped over my chest; and on the sides of my hips when lying on my side. Or holding down my legs when they shook, so that I could concentrate on relaxing.

2) DH talking about our weekend in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. I was so focused on him, I really felt like I was there.

3) The tub. It took the shaking away and helped me to relax. They did need to increase the pitocin though.

Joyfullnoise

tokenhoser:

Yoga. It taught me focus and conscious relaxation. I wasn't ever that diligent in my practice, but it was really useful to me in labour.

This!

BelleIsa

My midwife!  lol

But seriously, she could tell when my breathing was getting frantic and would calm me down or distract me.  She would grunt with me through contractions, which made me feel less self-conscious about doing it on my own.  She was amazing.