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Hi Ladies,
I am hoping for a natural, drug free labour and birth but all the stories I have heard have been horror stories or traumatic, out of control births. Everyone tells me to just take the drugs, they laugh at me when I say I don't want them.
I am confident in myself and not anxious about birthing my baby but could really do with some inspirational stories.
So if you have one, please share :D
Thanks :D
here is my last birth FionaJill: Welcome to the World Iain Jasper.
My 3rd http://milkfionamilk.blogspot.com/20...-november.html
my 2nd http://milkfionamilk.blogspot.com/20...of-august.html
and my 1st http://milkfionamilk.blogspot.com/20...gust-2002.html :)
Yep, my VBAC with DD.
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ng-122124.html
There is a link to mine in my sig :D
My SIL also had a drug free natural labour but she's not on here.
Try & remember that giving birth is what our bodies are made for. The horror stories are the exception not the rule so to speak, just that no-one really shares the normal birth stories because they aren't as interesting IYKWIM. At least, that's what I think.
Here is my last birth - The birth of Anelise
I am hoping to have a pretty much identical birth for this baby too. Anelise is the only birth I can classify as drug free as I had a natural placenta delivery also. My others (apart from DS1) have been pain relief free though.
I was induced but completely drug free aside from 2 panadol for a headache 2 hours prior to induction. DD's labour from start to finish was about 6 hours and I was laughing the whole time! I think having a beautiful midwife really helped. She even made me crack up when she sent DP out to get me hungry Jack's food for lunch. Sorry I can't elaborate more really. It was basically just a bunch of thumb twiddling and reading magazines between contractions. I'd definatly go for drug free for the next one as it was completely a positive experience here!.
Hope that helps hun!
this is mine :) https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ne-146886.html
they did break my waters but i still did it without drugs :)
Good on u!
IT just to annoy the **** out of me everyone told me take the drugs, u cant do it without them blah blah, what a load of crock!
I had pre labour for days,weeks, anyway, the day i went into labour i had bad period cramping for hours, i started having contractions and had them 3 min apart for a while at home ,i had back pain ,but i was coping fine , called the hossy around 9 at night they said to come in when i felt i could not cope, we were going to stay at home as i was coping fine but we went in as the hot water ran out LOL..
Walked into the hossy fine, contractions along the way, went to the loo lost my plug, and was 6 cm dialated on examination,laboured for a few hours, pushed for 1 hour and bub arrived at 230.
I had no drugs,the ice chips were my drugs of choice :) I had a 8 hour labour + pushing..
I didn't need drugs, yeah it hurt it hurt a lot but my birth exp didn't require them, and why take drugs if u dont need them? I had a great birthing exp ,And it really gets to me when ppl say 'take the drugs'
Good on u for wanting what u want,stick with it and do what u can to have the birth you want, if something happens and u need drugs, take them, don't feel bad about doing it as situations do arise that can't always be helped ! U are going to do an amazing job! :)
hun
i can honestly say that i was never in pain with my DS2 birth- not even overly uncomfortable
it was pain free, natural, drug free active VBAC
but I had to fight for it
heaps of research and plenty of information to throw back at them
here is the link
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ong-91722.html
Just nod and smile when others tell you that you *won't* be able to do it. Every woman and every birth is different. Believing in yourself and your body is the first step to getting your dream birth.
In saying that, I didn't have a drug free birth despite all my efforts. I so badly wanted drug free but it just wasn't to be. DD was posterior, the back pain was hell, and she ended up being stuck so my OB had to manually turn her (both hands up there, ouchies) and then vacuum her out. Needless to say, I was extremely grateful for an epidural!! But, before my epi, I did get to 9cm drug free. I laboured for approx 6 hours before my epi and found a fitball, the shower and lots of 'rocking' really helpful. A great birth team who knew what I wanted and supported that made all the difference too. My waters broke spontaneously at home too so I think that helped me mentally as I knew my body was taking over and doing its job, ITMS.
Anyway, I do know of a few brilliant drug free births in my circle of friends. My sister had an amazing drug free, 1.5 hour water birth with her second son. It was incredibe! One of my close friends laboured for about 24 hours at home but wasn't really sure it was labour and delivered her daughter within an hour of arriving at the hospital - there was no time for drugs!! Another two friends delivered their second babies drug free and both said it was amazing and completely different to the experience they had with their first borns.
Believe in yourself and your body, be sure that your labour team knows your plans and look into natural coping techniques. But also be prepared that things can change and I think it's wise to know a bit about medical interventions in case you need to go down that path.
Good luck though!!
Links to both of mine in my sig.. have fun reading them all.. there are a lot more GREAT stories out there than most people realise :)
**warning** DD1's well i think of it as a GREAT story while others consider it frightening, i like to think of it as proof our bodies KNOW what to do and even when they shouldn't often things do go right :)
My DD's wonderful drug-free labour story is here: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...th-109993.html
I HIGHLY recommend that you read this thread though: https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ods-45345.html It is brilliant at explaining how your body works during labour and how you can work calmly with your body. I got so much out of the thread and give it huge credit for why my second and third labours were both awesome :D
ETA - I would also like to say that I didn't experience "pain" with DS2's and DD's labours either :)
Mine's in my sig. It was natural/drug free up to 3rd stage. I didn't agree with that bit, but by then I had other things on my mind.
I'm one of those people who enjoy birth. I think it rocks! Sure, it got tough at times, but nothing too bad.
GL - do lots of research, look at hypnobabies/hypnobirthing if you have time
You can do it!!! :D
Both my births were drug-free, although not completely natural as had ARM with #1. Birth stories are in my sig.
All the very best!
:yeahthat::
I love your original post - by the sounds of it, you'll have the birth you want. Your confidence in your ability to birth naturally and without drugs is the key - you sound like you're well on the way to birthing your baby the way YOU want. Don't let anyone - other mothers, the medical profession, friends and family - undermine your confidence in yourself.
I had two incredible births, both spontaneous, drug free and they were the most empowering experiences of my life. I desperately wanted births free of intervention and without drugs. To this end I educated myself as best I could about the birthing process, found out what my rights and options were and then I enrolled DH and I in a hypnobirthing course. I could wax lyrical about hypnobirthing, but suffice to say if I felt confident before the course, I felt like I had a super power afterwards, such was the faith I had in myself. And the course also helped DH understand totally where I was coming from and be the best support for me that he could. In addition I had weekly acupuncture which I'm certain helped me have easy, relatively quick labours. With DS1 my waters broke at 7.30pm and he was born at 4.25am. Of that, I was only in "hard labour" for the three odd hours I was in the hospital - I pushed for 30 minutes. With DS2 I knew I was in labour around 7.30am, arrived at hospital around 11.30am was in "hard labour" not long afterwards and he was born at 2.14pm - pushing again less than 30 minutes.
With both births I stayed at home as long as I could, I stayed relaxed and I kept the faith. With bub 1 you're not sure what to expect, and I was really keen to experience it for myself. It's fair to say that birthing isn't exactly a picnic, but it is definitely not something to be feared. Hypnobirthing taught us to embrace any "turn" our birthing may take, so we were prepared if we needed assistance, but fortunately I had straightforward births. I found birthing to be hard work at times, but ultimately just so rewarding. And I'll be honest, there is pride in yourself when you can birth the way you want. And then to be able to get up and walk around an hour or so after the birth is also a good feeling.
Good on you Babyluv - I wish you all the best in your birthing journey. Just keep the faith :lol:
I keep meaning to put DS' birth story on here but haven't yet! So I'll just briefly share his entrance to the world!
I planned a drug free birth and told people I wanted to be in control - they all laughed at me. It used to really annoy me but I knew what I'd read on BB that it was possible.
I went into full blown labour (in that I mean I had strong regular contractions right from the start, no pre labour due to DS not engaging until my waters broke) a few days after DS' EDD and was quite comfortable using the TENS that I had hired. With that and using some nice hot water in the shower I lasted at home for 10 hours, when I got to hospital I was already 8 cms!
I had already told my midwife previously that I wished to be left to labour how I saw fit at the time. So she just sat back and observed, only checking bubs heart rate regularly. Once I was in the birth centre I only used my TENS, thought I'd be in the bath or shower but just didn't feel the need. I found the TENS fantastic, it didn't take all the pain away but certainly made it managable.
After a few more hours my waters broke and DS unfortunately landed in a slightly off kilter position. I said that something was wrong but my midwife let me go for awhile longer before calling a doctor in to check me out. As I said, DS landed funny when my waters broke so he was presenting with his head off to one side. The doctor said he probably wouldn't come down on his own so I would need a vaccuum delivery. By this stage I had been in labour for about 15 or 16 hours. I was disappointed that I wasn't going to get the birth I had hoped for, but I had given it my absolute best! I was also getting quite worn out by this stage. I had spent most of the labour on my feet, which was my bodies way of trying to get DS in the right position. I had no control over this and just felt the urge to stand, it's amazing how our bodies just know what to do!
Unfortunately DS was still too high up for a vaccuum when I was getting all ready for it. I had no urge to push at all but had to push DS down in order for the doctor to get him out. My midwife popped me on the toilet and everyone who came in to assist with the vaccuum left. I pushed and pushed with all my might! I found this extremely difficult with no urge to push whatsoever! But pushed him so far down my midwife eventually said I could do the rest on my own!
After 2 hours of pushing I finally got that wonderful urge to push. It was such a relief to finally be working with my body and this was probably the easiest part. DS was eventually born after 22 hours of active labour, 20 of those hours spent on my feet and no pain relief! The poor kid had a lovely big bruise on his head from where he had been presenting.
When my midwife visited me the next morning, I cried while I thanked her for giving me the birth that I wanted. If I had needed the vaccuum I still would've been proud of myself because I gave it all I had. But for someone that had been so afraid of birthing, I'm still astounded that I did it!
Hope that helps. It might sound like I had a hard time but I still wanted to share to show that even when things are against us we can still get the birth that we want! I forgot to add that DS was 9lb!
I had two amazing labours, my first a lot longer and harder and I used gas. My second was shorter and my body seemed to just know what to do - no pain relief.
Links to both stories are in my sig.
Mine for DD1 was very quick :lol:
The quick arrival of Nakita Lily Robyn
Here is mine for DS, enjoy! Not 100% intervention free, I had ARM, but the rest is a natural birth :) Hoping DS2's birth is fairly similiar! Though I think I can do without the weeks of prelabour!
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...8-a-75573.html
Bub #2
Id done calmbirth classes this time around. And accupuncture.
I was on msn chatting telling my cousin that nothing was happening, was still having pelvic pain but had had that one an off for weeks
Started to get a little bit more painful, but nothing that seemed like contractions, it was too irregular.
I went to my aqua class like normal. I should have taken the advice I was given, to get DH to drive me, because by the end of the class I was having 4 cx in 10 minutes and did not want to get out of the pool.
They didnt seem that bad, until I had to drive home having them - luckily had a gf follow me home to make sure I got there OK.
Rand the MW who assured me it was not false labor and they were not going away, and to take it easy, so dowhatever I had planned and some in to the hospital.
I told DH we were going NOW and rang my parents to come over. They were 30 mins away, so rang my Aunty who came over to stay with DS1 until my parents got there to take over.
I sent DH to get petrol (yes, not on the way, I made him go get it and come home!) then we went.
I was breathing thru the cx on the way to the hospital cos I knew DH would freak out, but when we got there and he went to the back of the long line at triage, I stopped trying to remain composed andthe lady called up to the birthing unit for a wheelchair.
I told DH to tell them I wanted gas when we got upstairs, which we did. My midwife smiled and suggested trying the shower first.
Ok I said, but I need to go to the toilet first. Ahah. Lighbulb.
We didnt get off the toilet again til DS2 was born.
40 mins all up from carpark to birth, no time for drugs, 5 mins of pushing and my beautiful boy was here. Natural third stage, minor/1st degree tear but no sutures.
3 hours from start to finish.
Oh, DS was 10lb 3oz :D
My Aunty later told me she thought she was going to deliver DS in the ensuite.
I'd had pre-labour for about 4 days, and by day 5 I was pretty tired and over it all. Everything was ramping up on that 5th day, and looking back it was getting pretty intense, but at the time I just kept thinking it had to get so much worse. For my whole pregnancy everyone told me horror stories, how much pain I'd be in, just to go the drugs etc etc So as I worked with my contractions which were 10 minutes apart all day, never getting closer to the magical '3 minutes apart and go to the hospital', I started to think I'd never get through it when it finally became the real deal.
I went to my Ob appt at 6pm that afternoon for a check up as I was 8 days past EDD, and was praying I was even just starting to dilate as I'd had enough, to lay back on his table and find out I was 8cm dilated! I was sent packing to the hospital, getting there at 7pm, in the bath at 9pm, and birthed my baby girl at 10.36pm. Water was my drug, and yep it hurt, but my body gave me fantastic chances to rest and recuperate (my ctx were pretty much 10 mins apart my whole labour) and once I actually believed I was doing it it became a truly amazing experience.
I kept moving pretty much the whole time, vocalised from deep within, and just visualised my cervix opening and bub moving down. To this day I still go wow, did that really happen. The prelabour was exhausting, but I truly believe it helped my body prepare so well for the actual birth, I just wish I'd embraced it more, rather than being frightened of it. I completely understand how women can need other options during labour, I came close to asking a few times, but I'd really fallen in to the trap of believing it was going to be horrific from all the negatives I had heard, so it became this huge thing in my head. So much so I was pretty much in denial it was happening, looking back now I realise just how hard I'd been labouring that day at home.
You can read both my homebirths here https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...aul-94502.html and here https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...is-145393.html :) Both completely natural and drug free. Both were also over 9lb.
Wow these stories are amazing, it's so great to hear of so many women with positive birth stories! I definitely feel inspired now & I'm determined to go after my natural birth. Thankyou so much for sharing ladies, it has really given me a big boost :)
Hi Babyluv,
I think it is absloutely fantastic that you want a natural and drug free birth. You are informed and know exactly what you want and I love that! I havent recorded my birth stories, but I thought Id just give you a little information from them.
DS2's birth was beautiful. The contractions came on very hard and strong once my waters had broken. I was screaming through most of the contractions and the nurses were trying to get me to have every drug available. I kept saying no and they kept repeating that I was in too much pain and it was better if I just took the drugs because that is what they are there for. I wasnt listening because I was confident in my ability to birth my baby and I knew I could push through without drugs so I resisted them all! I knew I wanted a natural birth and I was going to get it! I was able to push him out with only a minor tear. My baby was so alert and I was able to bond with him immediately, and the nurses even admitted that he was so well because I hadnt had any drugs which can make babies drousy. My recovery was very quick too.
I will contrast this with the birth of DS1 where I didnt get my planned natural drug free birth and it upset me for ages. I felt like an absolute failure because I let the Dr give me an Epidural and the gas, which then led to other problems and interventions. I now realise that I had these drugs because I needed them at the time. I wasnt weak or a failure, but I was scared being in labour for the first time and the pain absolutely overwhealmed me. I wasnt confident in my body's ability to birth my son, and the pain was just too great (DS1 was posterior). I just wanted to share that with you, not to scare you but just to let you know that you should never feel like a failure if it doesnt work out for whatever reason.
Good luck. I hope you can get that drug free, natural labour you want because it is absolutely amazing, but if not, then its ok too.
I had tricky births however 2 of my BellyBelly Baby buddies have recently had totally amazing home water births: Mayaness and Roryrory... I'm pretty sure they both posted their stories. Truly inspirational :)
I used the gas for mine, but apart from that it was all natural pain relief and the labour was a very positive experience. Whilst the pushing bit was a little traumatic, that wasn't anything to do with interventions or drugs, etc - in fact, if I'd had an epidural by that point, it probably would have ended in a c-section. As it was, I was able to deliver him vaginally and without drugs. I guess what I'm getting at is that whilst I might not have had an "ideal" birth experience, it was natural, vaginal, and positive from the point of view that I was able to do it naturally. The interventions (ARM, vacuum) were necessary but nothing to do with my body's ability to birth my baby. You can read my Birth Story to get the full picture - I'm so proud of myself and have such a strong belief in my body despite the drama at the end.
Brilliant advice! I should have put that in my post too. Although I must say that I didn't feel disappointed or like a failure for having an epidural or allowing my OB to intervene - I was just so damn proud of myself for what I achieved anyway! I found my DD's birth so empowering and the most amazing, wonderful experience I could ever imagine. Giving birth is an unbelievable feeling and I can't wait to do it all again, even if I do need drugs but hopefully I won't next time!:
I had gas for DS1 and no drugs for DS2, had synto for the placenta for both (not my choice for DS2) Their stories are linked in my sig, but are very long - just skip halfway down to get to the birth bit. I think its important to be supported in your decision so make sure your partner is on the same page as you and your birthplace is supportive of you not having drugs.
Tauren, I was just upset because I so wanted a natural birth (and I told everyone I was going to get one, lol). I blamed all the interventions that took place after the epidural on the epidural and I knew that they would never have happened if I never took it. I didnt go into details because BabyLuv didnt want to hear horror stories. However I should have never have let myself get upset by it, but its easy to do that when you read about so many people who have the birth story you wanted, and you feel weak because you couldnt do it, even though it was necessary at the time.
Giving birth is the most amazing, fantastic thing you can experience. I hope you get you get the birth you want next time and Im glad you had such a wonderful experience the first time too. I feel so blessed that I was able to achieve the birth I wanted for DS2.
Hi Ladies,
Just wanted to say thankyou for all your positive birth stories.
Our baby girl was born naturally sat @ 3:12 am 7pound 6ounces, I had a 1st degree tear requiring 2 stitches & can say I am very happy with my labour & birth and am very grateful for your stories, they really gave me coincidence and I feel great :)
Heres mine
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ry-107850.html
I don't count the Nebs or tamiflu tablets, They were for the swine flu :-)
Woohoo! Wonderful news, I'm so happy you had a wonderful birth :):
Grats Babyluv! Fantastic job hun!
You're more than welcome to read mine :D
Link is in my sig x
My other 3 birth stories are all here too, but you'd have to look for them, I'm too tired!
DD1 was the only one that I really had any pain relief & it was only gas & peth to relax me & let things happen.
I've been very lucky IMO :D
ETA! Congrats!!!
Congratulations Babyluv! I'm glad it went well, hopefully you will share your own story when you're up to it :D