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Natural Birth
brennarobbie
member
Nate's Natural Birth Story :o)
brennarobbie
member
Nathan Lee ?Nate? is finally here! He was due on July 1, 2012, but decided to come almost exactly a week early. We had wanted a natural birth (if possible) from the very start. These were the most helpful books that we read in preparation: Ina May?s Guide to Childbirth, Hypnobirthing, Birthing from Within, and The Birth Partner.My labor started around 1 in the afternoon on Sunday. The first contraction I had I knew was different from the BH I?d been having. Then about 10 minutes later, I had another one. These first contractions were sporadic, but 2 hours later they revved up a notch. By 3:30, we were timing contractions about 5 minutes apart for 1 minute, and then 15 minutes later, the contractions were already up to 3-4 minutes apart. I labored at home on my exercise ball (I claimed a corner of the living room and just rotated my hips and breathed). We played the Rainbow Relaxation CD from Hypnobirthing over and over, and it helped a lot to concentrate on breathing. I also used something that I only recently read about. It?s called a TENS unit (if you?re like me and don?t know what it is, go Google it right now! It?s actually very commonly used in England). Hubby put it on me around 4:00, and it was heavenly! I swear it was hubby, the exercise ball, and TENS unit that got me through labor.Around 7ish, I was having contractions for a little over a minute, and they were 1-2 minutes apart. I was still able to breathe through them, but couldn?t talk or concentrate. It worried me that they were so close together. We called the on-call midwife at the hospital, and she and I decided it was time to come on in. Hubby packed up the car with the help of my sister, and the three of us drove the 5-minute drive to the women?s center at our hospital.I was checked in triage at 8:00 and was 4-5 cm. I felt a little discouraged because I hoped I was at least 6, but everyone agreed that it was best to stay. An hour later when we were settled in our room, our midwife checked me, and I was a full 5 cm.It seemed that labor really revved up when we got to the hospital. The next few hours I continued to labor on my ball and used the TENS unit. Hubby put on some music we brought and was so supportive! We decided to try to labor in the shower, so I put my bathing suit top on and hopped in. This is when things started to get intense. I could barely stand during contractions?they seemed to take over my whole body. I couldn?t sit during them because that was too uncomfortable. We got out of the bathroom and back onto the ball. I asked our nurse if I could get checked, just for my own peace of mind. I needed to know if this hard work had paid off at all. Our midwife checked me and I was 7 cm. At this point, she asked if I wanted her to break my water. I really wanted everything to happen on its own?plus I was REALLY nervous about contractions getting more intense?I was barely handling the ones I was already having! In the end, hubby and I talked and agreed to it if it would get little man here faster.This is the part I can?t believe?I had read about ?transition,? and how it?s a whole other ballgame. I don?t care how much you read about it, there is no description. My uterus literally took over my whole body. I was making sounds I never knew existed!!! I felt bad for anyone on our hall. I could not control my mouth! It was overwhelming, and I could start to feel little man coming down. I just kept rotating my hips on the ball and praying for him to come. The amazing part is that in 30 minutes, I went from 7-10 cm and was ready to push!!!Looking back, pushing sucked, but it felt so much better! The contractions were significantly different. I went to the bed to get checked by our midwife, and it was better being on the bed. It felt the best to be on my back with the top of the bed almost completely upright. Our midwife and our nurse started to count through the first push and I literally shushed them and asked them to stop! I wanted to do mother-directed pushing and breathe him out, and they totally respected it. I think it was auto-pilot for them to count. I guess they saw that what I was doing was working, so they never counted again. I got in about 4 pushes with each contraction. 40 minutes of pushing, and little man literally popped out! His head came out at just about the end of a contraction, but I was determined that he was not going to sit there for 2 minutes until the next one!! Somehow I pushed him out the rest of the way, and our midwife had me grab him and pull him up onto my chest! I started laughing as soon as his warm little body was on me!! Everyone in the room said that I did a complete 180?from yelling to complete bliss! 
)I had a 2nd degree tear (which SUCKS to have stitched up with just local anesthetic?) and more bleeding at first than they wanted. She repaired the tear while I tried breastfeeding for the first time (he ate like a champ!!), and the bleeding got back under control. It was a good 40 minutes before the cord stopped pulsing, and hubby got to cut it. Little Nate was 7 lbs 15 oz and 19.5 inches long.So here we are, 10 days later, and this little miracle is simply lighting up our lives! We still talk (hubby and I)?neither one of us can believe it happened just the way we wanted! No IV or hep lock, no pain meds of any kind, no pitocin afterwards?my dream of delivering without intervention happened, and I have never been so proud of myself or my hubby?because I couldn?t have done it without his love and support! ) Here we are...just after birth and then our 4th of July photo! )(sorry if the pictures are HUGE...photobucket doesn't like me...) 
)I had a 2nd degree tear (which SUCKS to have stitched up with just local anesthetic?) and more bleeding at first than they wanted. She repaired the tear while I tried breastfeeding for the first time (he ate like a champ!!), and the bleeding got back under control. It was a good 40 minutes before the cord stopped pulsing, and hubby got to cut it. Little Nate was 7 lbs 15 oz and 19.5 inches long.So here we are, 10 days later, and this little miracle is simply lighting up our lives! We still talk (hubby and I)?neither one of us can believe it happened just the way we wanted! No IV or hep lock, no pain meds of any kind, no pitocin afterwards?my dream of delivering without intervention happened, and I have never been so proud of myself or my hubby?because I couldn?t have done it without his love and support! ) Here we are...just after birth and then our 4th of July photo! )(sorry if the pictures are HUGE...photobucket doesn't like me...)
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Re: Nate's Natural Birth Story :o)
What an awesome birth story! I am glad your labor was everything you wanted (except for the tear) and it really gives me hope that I can deliver my little girl naturally too.
Your little guy is adorable and you have such a cute family.
Such an awesome story. Congratulations on Nate's arrival.
Can you tell me where you placed the TENS unit?
Two pads at the top of my bottom and then two about two inches above those. It was heavenly! ;o)
Congratulations on your new little bundle. What a great birth story. Funny about the ten's machine, they are used commonly at home (Ireland) and i've not heard anyone mention them here until now. My friend is sending her one over in the post for me to use so hopefully it'll come in as useful as it did for you. Congrats again on your baby boy!
Were you having back contractions?