“Thank you mama”
“I was convinced that woman could do it. I relied on the fact that we are built to do this. God designed us to do this. Yes He promised us that childbirth would be painful, and he also promised us that He would not put more on us than we can bear. I held on to those words to pump myself up to do it. Once I understood woman could do it, I then personalized it and realized I could do it. I also Googled the negative effects of an epidural and the impact it would have on my child. I hate needles so I also Googled images of the epidural needle to totally convince myself to stay away from it. Once I prepared myself as much as possible, including watching the Business of Being Born, watching water births on YouTube, taking a hypnobirthing class, etc., I was convinced that I could do it! I was 100+% committed to having a natural birth!!!! Having my husband on board and just as committed was very helpful as well.
I had mixed feelings. When I was in the middle of a surge I thought whoa this is intense, how much longer is this going to last. When is the baby coming? How come I’m not dilating more/faster? But once the surge passed I was thinking, ok, that wasn’t too bad, I can do this. I managed by breathing deeply in and out, staying in my breath, prayer, and the excitement of finally meeting our little one. I also replayed parts of the hypnobirthing class in my head. I stayed in the breath and went so far in/deep inside that I just remember closing my eyes breathing in deep when a surge started and then not remembering anything until the surge passed and my eyes re-opened. It was also very helpful having my doula (Angela) and my husband there with me coaching and encouraging me along the way. It was very helpful having my doula (Angela) to remind me not to tense up when the surges got very intense.
I had mixed thoughts and feelings, more of joy and excitement and questions about the unknown. I felt a little disappointed that we did not have a water-birth at the birth center and had to be transferred to the hospital and had to get pitocin because my uterus was sluggish. But by that time we got to the hospital, I just wanted a safe and healthy delivery naturally. By that hour my biggest concern was getting my baby out safely w/o the result of a c-section. I stayed positive. I knew that any negative thoughts would only worsen the situation. So I stayed positive and prayerful. I prayed that God would get Ethan here safely, that I would be healthy, that Ethan would be healthy, and that he would arrive naturally. I prayed that I would dilate more.
I hold natural childbirth as something very sacred and near and dear to my heart. I advocate for natural childbirth for every woman. I believe every woman is capable if properly prepared. I get excited when I hear of other woman that have and/or going to have/plan a natural child birth.
Every woman has a choice. I believe that every woman should do her research before she chooses. Informed consent is very important. To choose medication as your first option without informing yourself is not fair to the woman or her unborn child. I would encourage woman to avoid medication by any means necessary.”
