Natural Birth
Betsy8328
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Any Last Minute Tips?
Betsy8328
member
Hi!
I am a FTM and want to go natural. I have been practicing breathing techniques, reading up on research/strategies, and have a wonderfully supportive husband who will help me stay calm along the way. Do any of you have any last minute tips to help me prepare for my little guys' birth? I am due in 2 weeks. I am starting to think about the fact that I am not getting nervous yet...why not? HAHA. Just want to make sure I'm as prepared as possible! Thanks for any help!
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Re: Any Last Minute Tips?
That's great...it sounds like you are in the perfect place mentally. You will do fantastic!
My advice...stick with your plan. My DH and I talked out the different scenarios ahead of time...what we would do if my water broke first, how long we'd stay home, who we would call and when, etc. Being on the same page and knowing exactly what we were going to do helped to keep us both relaxed and calm throughout the entire process.
Other advice that kind of contradicts what I just said above...trust your body. You hear it a lot that women just "know" when it's time. That is so true. We timed my contractions and while they got stronger and stronger, they never actually got to be 3 minutes apart and lasting for 1 minute for a full hour (which we had agreed would be the point where we would head to the hospital).
But at a certain point, the contractions went from difficult to down-right hard and I could feel my body starting to push. I knew it was time to go. So we did, even though my doula (who was on the phone....she hadn't even gotten to our house yet) suggested we wait longer. I arrived at the hospital complete and ready to push. My son was born less than 30 minutes after getting there.
Good luck! You will do great.
Find your rhythm early and stay in the zone. There's a Hypnobirthing Affirmation I always liked, "Every surge (contraction) of my body brings my baby closer to me". Take it one contraction at a time and don't worry about the next one until it comes.
You can do it mama! You are not alone, thousands of women will be laboring with you on your baby's birth day!
Remind your husband to try and stay calm even when you are not. About 22 hours into my labor (and running on about 3 hours of sleep), I was screaming through every contraction and was convinced the pain was going to eventually kill me. My husband was my rock throughout and it would've been so much harder if he had panicked the way I did after hours and hours of hard labor.
FTR, I'm not saying you will react that way - but you just never know how you'll handle the pain and a lot depends on how long you're in labor...it helps to have a partner who understands that you may be saying/doing things that seem totally crazy!
I would say accept that there will be pain. It's ok. You can't fight it, just go with it.
This helped me, I think, especially since I didn't have any "early" labor that I hear from most women. I was kicked straight into crazy intense contractions, so I just had to buckle down and ride it out. I knew that it was eventually going to be over, even if it felt otherwise in that moment.
You can do it!
1. Don't let your excitement when labor starts to cause you to over walk and bounce off the walls to get things going...let things take their time, and rest when you can. There is hard work ahead. Labor will come.
2. Be familiar with what to expect from a first time labor - 18-20 hrs is normal, with a few hours pushing also being normal. Stalling is ok, and not bad.
3. Know what hills you will die on with the hospital staff and policies, and what things you can bend on as far as your birth wishes go. For example, I would personally push back with all my might if they want to put me on pitocin. First labors take TIME and they almost always want rush it. I also would not consent to an IV unless my energy needed the fluids. But, I'd wear a monitor for a few minutes if it meant not having continuous monitoring.
4. Don't go in too soon! You can labor at home for hours even if your water breaks. Know what to check for when your water breaks (clear or pink fluid, baby continues to move). I labored at home for 6 hours before I was progressed enough. Going in too soon can quickly derail any natural birth hopes you have had, it has happened far too many times to not be the norm.
5. When you check in, feel free to tell them that your working toward a natural birth and ask for a nurse that would support you in it
6. When you are fully dilated, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO START PUSHING if your body isn't ready. There are women who fully dilated, and then rested for hours before the body was ready. There is more to being ready than dilation, and a first time mom pushing needs her body to be ready. Pushing premature can end in exhaustion and a c/s (that happened to me).
The best thing you can do is #2 - learn what is in the range of NORMAL for your first labor and be an advocate for giving your body a chance what it most assuredly knows how to do. Read birth stories!! Spend your evenings reading them. I have found a ton that I have really enjoyed at Birth Without Fear