Who-Who-Hee: A Natural Birth Story

I did natural childbirth with my 3^rd baby and it was amazing! An experience that is truly hard to put into words. First is a little back story though, to understand why I chose natural birth with my last baby.

I was induced with my first son and didn’t have a clue what to expect. I took a regular Lamaze class, which I think is a joke, because it did not do me one bit of good. Who-who-hee-hee my butt. Anyway, I was on full force pitocin, I toughed it out for over 4 hours. I didn’t want an epidural because I was ridiculously scared of needles and I saw my sister get an epidural which caused me to look like a character in a cartoon that loses all color in their face. It was ugly! Well after over 4 hours I was DONE, I didn’t care how big the needle was, just give it to me. Ahhh, that is much better. The birth was extremely difficult for me though. I pushed that baby boy, that I love to the moon and back, for 3 exhausting hours {I was literally passing out in between contractions}, his head was 15 ½ in around and he weighed 9lb 1 oz. All together, let’s say “Ouch!” When he is a teen and giving me gray hair I will kindly remind him of that miracle I performed to get him here. 🙂

I was scheduled to be induced with my second baby, but went into labor on my own. Sweet! I had been in labor almost 11 hours by the time we got settled in the hospital. It hadn’t been bad at all, I was impressed. However the fear came rushing back as those contractions intensified, I informed the receptionist that she would need to get the anesthesiologist to my room immediately. I was not reliving my first birthing experience if I could help it. Dr. Cowan broke my water at 7, I got the epidural at 7:30, and by 8:15 I knew it was time to push. No one believed me and it took me threatening everyone’s life to get the nurse to check. Not to be too graphic, but she lifted the sheet and her and my husband looked together “down there” and it went something like this: Nurse “Oh dear, DO NOT push! There is nothing ready for baby in your room yet” My husband “Holy S&%$ I can see his head!” Me “What?!?! Needless to say 3 pushes later my 9lb 9oz bundle was here. I was pissed. Well, over the moon thrilled that my precious baby was here of course! I was pissed that I got the epidural for 45 minutes of relief. We had to pay full price for that sucker and they cost about $2,000. It was a rip off.

So, I decided with our next that I would not be getting any drugs. I am a woman, I was meant to have babies, it is supposed to hurt, women all over the world do it everyday with no drugs, and so could I darn it. I had done lots of research on what to expect, breathing methods, etc. My friend/birthing coach, Heather, taught me how to breathe, which is the most important part equal to learning to keep your body relaxed the whole time. I was scared out of my mind and shed lots of tears out of fear, but also knew that I could do it. The unknown is almost always scary and to think that I was making a choice to put myself through something very painful…seemed nutty at times.

The baby was projected to be over 10lb so I was fine with inducing! My doc broke my water at 8am. I was very firm with Dr. Cowan and the nurses that I was to only be given pitocin if absolutely necessary. I knew the odds were good because I hadn’t gone into labor on my own. I started pitocin at10amwith the lowest dose possible. {The lowest dose is a 2; they usually start women at an 8! Yikes!} I was quite bossy and adamant that I start at the lowest dose and it not be increased without my approval. I also had it typed out in the birth plan. Labor came on very quickly and I lost my sense of humor just as fast, everyone was kicked out of my room except my husband and Heather. Those that were kicked out got to return for the birth…except my dad, it would have scarred him for life. Ha.

My husband and Heather were absolutely phenomenal! They breathed every breath with me, cheered me on, rubbed my back, and encouraged me, they seriously could not have done more or done a better job! My nurse checked me a few minutes afternoonand I was dilated to 6cm, just a minute later I felt the baby drop all the way and I knew that I was at a 10 and it was go time. The nurse did not believe me because literally a minute or 2 before I was just a 6, I may or may not have had choice words to be checked again. Well like with my second son, she didn’t even have to check, she just looked and knew it was time! Heather ran to the waiting room to get my mom, cousin, and best friend/god-mother to haul buns to the delivery room. Baby was coming NOW!

Up until that point it never crossed my mind that I couldn’t do it, once labor started I knew I could. I am not one to “chicken out”; my husband likes to remind me that I am so darn hard-headed and stubborn. Well once I was at a ten I remember telling my husband “I can’t do it, it hurts, I can’t do it!” he just kept cheering me on and said “You already did it baby, now you just have to push. You are almost done!” I love him.

They paged Dr. Cowan and he was on his way {his office is on the floor beneath the labor and delivery floor} well bless his heart, he had poured himself a cup of coffee and was taking his time. When you have an epidural and the nurses tell you not to push it is pretty easy to just sit and wait, I mean you are numb or mostly numb anyway. Well let me tell you something…when you do not have drugs and baby is ready, baby is coming whether anyone is ready or not!!! Your body starts pushing on its own. I now know why so many babies are born in the back seat of cars and delivered by firemen, I thought my husband was going to have to catch the baby, luckily doc ditched the coffee and ran! {I appreciated that greatly} Well just a 2 ½ pushes later my sweet 8lb 11oz baby was on my chest. Ahhhhhhmazing! He was born at12:13….do the math people! {Oh and I was beyond thrilled that he was not the 10 pounder we had expected!}

I did it! I had my baby drug free! I felt like freaking super woman!!! The contractions hurt, they hurt like hell, but the breathing method and ability to relax made all the difference in the world. As far as it hurting to push baby out, that part was not as painful for me, yes it hurt, but not like I had imagined it hurting. It didn’t hurt any worse that the how bad it hurt with my first two births when I had the epidurals. I think pushing him out was by far the easiest part. The recovery afterwards was a complete 180 degree difference, I did not take any pain meds, just Motrin. I was up walking around 1 ½ hours after he was born. With my first two sons I had to take pain meds for a week, I only took Motrin for a couple of days with my last one.

With each of my babies I have learned a lot more about natural remedies, treatments, etc and really like it. I don’t like all of the side affects that drugs have on our bodies and don’t like taking them and didn’t want them in my baby’s body either. I truly cannot do justice trying to describe my natural birth. I would highly recommend it! It bonded me with baby in a different way. It also brought my husband and me closer together. I fell more in love with my husband that day and he with me. He played such a pivotal role in helping baby get here and there is no way I could have done it without his support. {Don’t get me wrong, he was great in the births of our first two sons, but this time he had a much more active role}You can do it too, you just have to educate yourself, have a plan, and have a support system. I would do it again in a heart beat if we were to get pregnant again.