Natural births questions?...

For those of you who went all natural I'm wondering what your experience was like? I'm trying to prepare myself but don't really know what to expect . What pain management techniques worked best ? How long did your labor last? Would you do it again? Was it as painful as you expected more or less? The more details you could give or any advice , tips, and tricks would be great! Im due in two weeks and am trying to get as much info as I can to prepare myself .

me to! I would like to go all natural, no interventions at all! My mama did it so can I ! I have this book called the Bradley Method for natural childbirth, it's quite interesting...

Mine wasn't 100% natural because I was induced with cytotec, but I had no pain meds at any point.

I've done it that way twice now, and would not hesitate to do it again. Both of my labors were fast which is both a blessing and a curse. My first labor lasted about 7 1/2 hours, and with my daughter, true labor was about 3 1/2 hours or so. While that meant less time in labor, it also meant that I was making a lot more progress in a much shorter time, so it was incredibly intense. I would highly recommend a Prepared Childbirth class of some sort. The one I went to discussed a lot of different pain management techniques, including breathing, vocalization, visualizing, pressure points, etc. When we talked about the vocalizing, I kind of zoned out. I didn't think I would use it, but it ended up working the best for me when I was actually in labor. Not screaming, just kind of moaning through the pain.

First time, contractions were intense and when I pushed his head would come out a little then in between contractions when I was resting it would go back up. My labor was 2 hours 27 mins and I didn't need an episiotomy nor rip.
Second time it was a breeze! My labor was 4 hours 11 mins and I didn't rip nor need an episiotomy.

Best advice I can give, make sure you're prepared to let you body take control, breath, find a focal point to concentrate on when pushing, don't eat before labor of you can help it, sit on the toilet or birthing ball as it has the natural gravity force, don't be nervous, and last but not least...expect the unexpected.

I would do it again in a heartbeat!

With my last baby I went natural, my water broke at home, walking and squating helped, moaning, standing and leaning on bed helped... when it got time to push, pushing was a huge relief...

I was induced but had a natural birth. No pain medicine what so ever. My labor was 14 hours with 9 of those hours being back to back contractions from the pitocin. It honestly wasn't that bad at all. After labor was what hurt more. I just kept reminding myself that soon my baby would be in my arms. Good luck!

With my first I went with no pain meds. I had Pit, and lots of other stuff, but nothing for pain. It was not fun, but being refused an epidural or any pain meds made it easy, lol

My advice would be to stay at home as long as possible and refuse as much intervention as you can. If you get induced your odds of wanting an epi go way up. Every intervention makes it more likely you'll want/need more of them.

Imagine that it's morning, you're feeling awesome! you find a chocolate bar in the fridge. SCORE. So you go on your day.

Only now it's afternoon and you don't feel so good. You're not quickly realizing that whole chocolate bar was not chocolate- but laxatives. That is natural birth.

My first I had the epi at 8cm

My second all natural. It felt like a bitch and then felt amazing when she came out lol. Not much different then when I had my son since I guess the epi didn't get a chance to work (he was born so soon after.

I was in labor with her for an hour and a half. Most of which I was trying to sleep at home it was night time

I did it all natural with both. With Jazz my labor was 14 hours total. I didnt handle it as well as I had hoped and let fear take over. I did get in the tub which seemed to help, until the heat faded, It was really hard and i screamed like the whole time. Pushed for 2 hours but after she was born I was feeling great and took a shower 20 minutes later. Didnt even feel like I gave birth lol.

with my second It went by really quick, I did alot better this time. On the hour drive to the birthing center I did very well, I kept my eyes closed and took deep breaths. I envisioned an ocean with the waves washing up on shore and then a wave crahing every contraction, slowly receding back, sounds silly but it really helped, I was pretty much silent. My mom thought I had stopped having contractions, but they were every 2 minutes. Then we had to pull over so i could throw up, thats when all my ocean thoughts vanished and i couldnt get them back lol luckily we were only 10 minutes away. when we got there i was like 1 minute apart and walking through the hallways I had to sit down like 3 times. I finally made it to the room I had my first in, We were going to get in the new tub they installed but I had gotten on the bed and didnt want to move, 15 minutes later and about 14 long screams later lol i had my chunky 8 pounder, recovery was a little different, alot longer, i didnt get up for a shower for 2 hours, my body was shaking, but ultimatly it was still worth every scream.

I'm so scared   but so ready!!

My labor was three hours long. it was painful but i got threw it. it was more harder on me to go through labor so fast. they came hard and was in my back. My pain manegment was the yoga ball. it really helped. my biggest recomendation is to keep yourself moving. i was able sway through the contractions. my mother rubbed my back and SO had a bucket of ice water and wash clothes and kept switching them out after evey cntraction lol. my face was burning up so bad but i didnt have a fever. i was going to use the tub but i had an internal monitor on and they wouldnt let me in. like i said, it was painful but i would do it again.

WIth my first, i had natrual. I started contracting at 6am every 3min, then by about 12 it was every 2min. I went to L&D by 3pm and there were still 2min and was 4cm dialated. I did not take any medication. They did break my water though. I just breathed threw them and held onto the rail real tight and SOs hand real tight each contraction i had. They were real intense. When i pushed, i was sleeping between pushes. They cut me or i wouldve torn. I was in labor at the hospital for 7hrs, and 7hrs at home

Now with my youngest, i did NOT go natrual and DEf regret that decision. I did not get the epi but i got the iv med, tremodol i think. It did not help the pain, i was in alot of pain and i tore, even felt it when i t happened and pushed back causing her to get sucked back in me.

If i ever have anymore kids, i plan on going natrual all over again. It was the most amazin feeling ever. I would so do it over in aheart beat

With my first I originally wanted an epidural. I really hadnt done any research on it and just thought it was what everyone did. I knew I didnt want iv meds after seeing my sister on them.

I went into labor at 11:45 pm. Contractions started at 2 minutes apart but they were painless. I didnt think I was in actual labor but hubby talked me into going in. We casually.drove to the hospital because I still wasnt in pain. It took us about an hour to get there. It was snowing pretty hard.

I walked into labor and delivery still laughing and joking and still thinking it was a false alarm. The nurses also thought I would be sent home.

I had my bloody show while getting in my gown. It freaked me out. They hooked me to the monitor and then finally checked me. I shocked everyone by being almost 8 cm!

Shortly after getting checked I felt the urge to push. I was basically hyperventilating and curled up in a tiny ball. I wanted the epi but by the time the epi guy got there I was complete and they shut the doir in his facw. I beeded to push but the adorable little nurse very politely asked me not to. So I didnt!

My midwife finally got there. I pushed once and my water broke. I said "was that the baby. That was easy!!"She laughed and said "Sorry hun. Its not that easy!!

I only pushed three times and she held up my baby. We were team green and I got to yell "ITS A BOY!!"

Tate Millan was delivered at 1:31 am. My labor lasted 1 hr 46 minutes. I never cried screamed or cussed. He was born at 36+2 and was 6lbs 1 oz and perfectly healthy!!

With my second I knew I wanted to go natural. I also knew I would have another quick labor. I was so terrified of delivering in the car.

Thankfully my midwife listened to my.concerns. I was checked at 36+2 and was 5cm and had a bulging bag. We weighed our options and decided it would be safest to induce. Even though she was early we wanted to make sure she was delivered in the hospital and nit in the car! I also needed 8 hrs of antibiotics for gbs.

I was kept overnight for the antibiotics. I was supposed to be induced first thing in the morning but we had a super busy L & D.

My induction was started at 2:10 pm. She broje my water and I went to 6 1/2 cm. They started a tiny bit of pitocin. When the first cobtraction hit I started to panic. Thankfully my wonderful nurse reminded me to breathe. I took deep breaths in my nose and out of my mouth. I also kept comfy. I didnt tighten my.muscles.

I literally felt nothing through my labor. I laughed and joked. It was beautiful.

Shirtly into my labor I felt pushy. I let ny nurse know and she told ne there was no way I was ready. I waited a few more cobtractions and told her again. She once again reassured me abd also said she was gonna step out. I very calmly said "Look lady, I am pushing this baby out with or without you and that midwife!"

She checked and baby was right there. My.midwife came in and I pushed only three times and ny baby was placed on my chest.

Once again we were team green. We really really wanted a girl. I just felt ib my heart that baby was a girl. I looked down and the cird was in the way. So I yelled "WHAT DID I GET???!!!"

I cried so hard when she told me I had a baby girl. I coukdnt stop crying. I was so very happy.

Bo Delainie was born at 2:46 pm. Just 36 short minutes of pain free labor. She was only 5 lbs 3 oz but perfectly healthy.

I am so happy that I was forced to go natural with ny first. If that wouldnt have happened I would have chosen the epi.

with my first i had an epidural and felt nothing past 5cms or so.
This time i also had an epidural, but it stopped working once they broke my water at 8cms.
I did no research on natural labor...i was expecting it to be painless like last time.

It took 8 pushes. It was extremely painful, and I screamed I couldn't do it anymore but the dr said one more push, because his head was already out.

I screamed about 3 or 4 times...
and it hurt like hell, but im happy i had that experience and it turned out that way.

my dr told me to breathe because i started panicking once i could feel the pain. and trust me, stay calm and breathe slowly. it helps the pain be more bearable.

im a big wuss and i did it!  
but expect the unexpected!