Did you plan it this way, or did you prepare to do it this way.
I wanted one with K and my cervix swelled at 6 and I took the epi. With the boys I got them as soon as I could. This time I think Id like to try again.
Dh isnt really supportive, saying he knows Ill get the epi, didnt I try this before yada yada yada but whatever.
So I know he wont pay for a class and honestly I dont have the time to do one. I ordered natural childbirth the bradley way and hope it gives me some tips.
Any other advice you can give me, books I should read. I wont be upset if I cave or change my mind and I wonder if that hinders me but Im trying to be realistic here.
I've had 3 unmedicated births and yes, I planned them. I planned homebirths so I didn't even have the option, which was good the first time around because I was in some serious pain. After that, I educated myself on how to minimize the pain without drugs and it helped a TON. My last two were EASY compared to even my medicated births. But, it was a matter of educating myself and practice. I can share what I learned with you, if you like. Also, hypnobirth type methods are excellent, from what I've heard. It's a more formalized approach to what I stumbled upon.
I've had 3 unmedicated births and yes, I planned them. I planned homebirths so I didn't even have the option, which was good the first time around because I was in some serious pain. After that, I educated myself on how to minimize the pain without drugs and it helped a TON. My last two were EASY compared to even my medicated births. But, it was a matter of educating myself and practice. I can share what I learned with you, if you like. Also, hypnobirth type methods are excellent, from what I've heard. It's a more formalized approach to what I stumbled upon.
If you want to pm me or post here some things you have learned or that have helped you id appreciate it.
The main thing is relax. Seriously, if you relax your muscles during each contraction, the pain is significantly less. So much less that I was able to relax the pain away until the last couple of hours with both Brenna and Brittany. Even those last couple of hours were mild until transition. However, relaxing during pain is not easy and will take practice. You can practice with any pain you feel, headache, muscle cramp, etc. The more practice you get the easier labor will be. Relaxing is the biggest thing in reducing pain. Seriously. HUGE.
Use visualization. Visualizing your relaxed muscles and cervix doing exactly what they are helps a lot. Don't allow pain to come into your visualizations, just muscles and tissue gently stretching. If you visualize it being painful, it will be, so it's important to keep your visualizing pain-free.
Change tactics as often as the pain changes. This part is also difficult, but if you've practiced the other two things, it shouldn't mess you up.
Be in whatever position is least painful. For me, this was sitting or standing. If I laid down, the pain was unbearable. Some people say just the opposite. Experiment and find what works. In the hospital you may have to fight for this. They don't always let you move around the entire time.
Vocalize, if it helps you. It doesn't for some people, but it does for me. I'm normally a quiet person, but during labor, I can lessen pain by moaning a bit. I have a friend who's just the opposite. Vocalizing during labor is harder for her than remaining quiet. The hospital people may also fight this.
Don't let anything distract you. Paperwork, nurses suggestions, that annoying beeping from the monitor...it can all wait or be taken care of by someone else. Reducing pain will take ALL your concentration and any distractions will be painful. If it helps, close your eyes and ignore everything.
Listen to your body. Generally, if labor starts to get painful, something has changed and you'll need to change tactics with it. Listening also takes practice. Tons of it. Fortunately, you have tons of time to practice and you don't need to wait for pain to practice. You can listen to what foods it wants you to eat, how much sleep you need, and many other things.
Some people like massage during or between contractions. I don't. Every touch irritated me and was distracting. You can experiment, but speak up if you don't like it or need a change.
As for transition, I have not found a way to make this time pain-free, but all this makes it less painful. It's still torture, but if you keep in mind that it won't last long, you'll get through it. Also, being upright will lessen the time in transition. Gravity helps immensely. Hospitals generally fight this. They like you to lay down, in general. You can talk to your doctor ahead of time about upright options.
I think I remembered everything. If you have any other questions, just ask.
I agree with Alaina. With Ava I had unmedicated birth and then with Van I had the epi. With this 3rd I want to try and go natural again. I did close my eyes alot and breathe in and out slowly and it does get better (not like magically better but better than before) and I didn't like people touching me either and I was a bitch most of the time but I didn't care =) I wanted to be quiet and try to focus on it as much as I could. I couldnt get meds anyways (epi) because it was too late and she was coming quickly. With Van, the reason why I got epi is because he was not getting anywhere with the strong contractions I was getting and my body was getting so exhausted and my lower back was killing me (I was hving back labor) then a broken tailbone on top of it didnt make it any better and the doctor reccomended the epi and once I got it, everything processed quickly after that (dialating and van finally dropping more). I think the key is LOTS of patience and relaxation as much as possible. Good luck!!!
I think what helped me a TON was reading a lot of natural birth stories. (I just googled "natural birth stories" (haha!) and found a ton.) They were very inspirational and definitely made me feel like, "I can TOTALLY do this!!"
I agree about the relaxing. I remember with Addie and Emilia, I would really sort of "fight" the contraction and tense up. With Abram, I would sort of ride the contraction out and kind of sink into it, if that makes any sense. I basically tried to do the opposite of tensing up (it's sort of hard to put it into words! : )).
I also would recommend staying home as long as you can stand to, but that's totally up to your comfort level. I guess it also depends on your hospital, but mine is definitely more the type that as soon as you get there, you're hooked up to everything, lying in bed, and I think that makes it much harder to manage the pain.
What worked best for me was sitting on the toilet (as funny as that sounds!).
If I think of anything else, I will post again. I love birth---you're making me want to have #4 just to give birth again! haha!!
