Natural childbirth question?
ByI am 26.5 weeks pregnant with my 2nd baby. With my daughter (who is now 11 months old), I had horrible back labor. She was turned around and she caused a lot of pain and suffering on my part during labor, to the point where I was throwing up uncontrollably! I tried to labor at home with her for as long as possible, I tried taking a bath, birthing ball, massage, everything. I still threw up uncontrollably, so we had to go to the hospital. As soon as I got the epidural it helped, but where they inserted the epidural it left a very large nasty bruise, and excrutiating pain for 3 months, and its still tender 11 months later!!!
So this time around, I do not want an epidural! I would love to do a natural birth, and I would love to labor at home for as long as possible.
What are some things I can do to insure that I have a natural birth? And what can I do to labor at home to make me comfortable? We live 10 min. from the hospital, so I want to wait as long as possible to go. Also, I had an episiotomy with my daughter that still gives me discomfort, will it cause any issues during labor? Or pushing? My daughter was 7.9lbs and her head was very large and got stuck! So instead of tearing, my doc. just cut me, but told me that my daughter paved a good path for any future children! haha!
What was your natural childbirth experience? Also, if you haven’t had a natural, and you got pain relief (narcotis) what was the issue with it? Did it dope up your baby? Did it help dull the pain?
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6 Comments
February 16th, 2010 at 7:08 am
I, fortunately did not have back labor with either of my labors. I was induced both times, though with pitocin. Even still, I was able to make it through without the epidural. Staff told me both times that I have a high pain tolerance…and I did expect the pain to be worse. I had a wonderful midwife that did make such a difference. She and my husband were at my beck and call…even doing things for me that I didn’t ask of them. And my labors were rather short…however, I did tear very badly with my son. He was 10lbs, 5oz…and just made his grand entrance into this world without giving my poor body a thought. I think that even through the awful tearing and stitches…I’d rather it be that way than an episiotomy. I have heard a tear heals better. If I could offer a suggestion…get a midwife instead of the regular obgyn. I think that made a huge difference in my book.
February 16th, 2010 at 7:59 am
My labor was so fast I had an “unplanned natural birth” (I had a csection with my first and a VBAC with my second)
To insure you have a natural birth
1) write a birth plan… this allows the doctors to know your wishes and makes you really think about what you want… google “birth plans” and see samples… Once you decide in your mind this is what you want… think about it often and encourage yourself… half the battle is mental… if you go in “unsure of what you want” you will cave to an epidural. BE CONFIDENT
2) remind yourself it will be over SOON… and tell your hubby your wishes so he can encourage you to keep going!!
3) Make sure you walk and take a shower (anything that the hospital will allow) taking a warm shower dulls the pain… because te body registers temperature before pain (I think that is what the doc told me)
4) the episiotomy should not affect this birth at all. Most people tear with their first baby and NOT their second no matter the size of the second baby. Your body has already been through this and knows what it is doing. Trust your body…
5) I was only in labor 5 hours… and really no pain until the last 2.5 hours (so I was pretty lucky). I got half a dose of stadal… but it did me NO good… just made me “relax” between contractions… Because the birth was so quick I am not sure it “dopped the babY” but I never will do it again… I gave in to my pain.
Natural childbirth is amazing… because you can feel when to push… WORD OF ADVICE… not to scare you … but just to tell you to look for it… (or feel) when the baby crowns is burns really bad (called the ring of fire) I did not know that at the time and it scared me… AFTER WARDS I was still sore (I tore because it was my first vaginal birth) BUT it was empowering… I had awesome nurses to encourage me and took each contraction as it came…
(My babies are also close together… they are 16.5 months apart. Its a lot of work.. but awesome at the same time!!)
GL you can do it!!!!
February 16th, 2010 at 8:03 am
Have you considered working with a midwife? They are very open to home births. Some OB’s have midwife’s in their practice, and you can still deliver in the hospital if that is something you are concerned about. They usually have good advice about how to deal with the pain during labor and even ways to reduce the risk of tearing or needing an episiotomy.
We are having our baby in a birthing center with a midwife. It’s a very comforting environment, much more homey than a hospital.
February 16th, 2010 at 8:07 am
I also had back labor. 48 hours of it! I finally caved and had a C-section even though we were both doing fine. I was unable to have an epidural due to other medical conditions, but they did an old style spinal for the C-section. The only pain meds I had after about 30 hours was a little narcotic and benadryl just so I could sleep. It just took the edge of of the back pain which was enough for me. I was still able to get up and walk around if I wanted. Neither one of us showed any signs of distress due to the meds.
I only got to 6cm before spontaneous pushing occurred and ripped my cervix 2 inches. My midwife told me after the surgery that my pelvis was built so that the natural turning would not have happened and said I should have another C-section the next time. This coming from a midwife of 20 years. My son was not groggy but had an infection from my water breaking so early. He latched on as soon as we were back together and has been perfect since.
The only thing I would add is a shower massager and tub jets on your back. I had both in my birthing center and they were great. Also I had a rice sock ( tube sock filled with rice microwaved for 1 min) that applied just enough heat and pressure to my back.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:02 am
I had a epidural and episitomy for my first. He was born face up and was 7lbs 14oz.
With my second, I just used the nitrous oxide until it was time to push (it made me really light headed). I had second degree tearing down the opposite side of my episitomy scar. My son was 8lbs 13oz with no drug related issues. The biggest difference was the burning sensation as I was stretching. It felt like a blow torch on my vag!
Remember that no 2 labours are exactly the same. Go for lots of walks, do your kegal exercises, and as you get closer to your due date, do some perineal stretching.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:06 am
I had a natural birth 18 months ago, no epidural, no drugs.
I used a TENS machine, which is stuck onto your back with stickers, and when you feel a contraction, you click the button, and it sends an electrical signal (either gentle or more stronger depending on how high you set it) on your back, which blocks the pain to a certain extent. I got to 6cm dilation, no problem (at home) just by using this little beauty.
Before the birth, i also used an EPI-NO birth trainer, which you can use in the final weeks of pregnancy to “stretch” you. This helped with the head coming out. My baby’s head was the size of a 10 pound baby. I ended up with tears, but I know it would have been SO much worse if i hadn’t had used the childbirth trainer.
I also used the distraction method, which is using sound (shaking shakers in my ears…that is get a small container, fill it with buttons or anything else that makes a rattling noise), and when you focus on the noise rather than the pain, this distracts you. You can do the same with looking at a picture intently, or smelling aromatherapy. But the noise worked the best for me.
Of course, at a certain point – in the hardest part of labour – transition – it was very very painful, but if you want a natural birth, these things helped me.
I heard after the first, it gets a bit easier, so good luck to you.