What Labor Is Really Like... My Natural Birth Story

Looking back... I can’t believe I did it. An all natural birth. The exact way I wanted it. God is so thoughtful and kind. 

When people say you’re preparing for a marathon, they aren’t lying. I’m so proud of myself - during the entire pregnancy I did yoga. I took walks and tried to be as healthy as I could. I still enjoyed desserts and took care of my pregnant cravings LOL but …

Here is what labor was like for me. 

I had already been 2cm dilated since 37 weeks. I started curb walking at that point as well. I also was having 6 dates a day & red raspberry leaf tea throughout the third trimester. I had lost my mucus plug like a week before I went into labor and constantly felt contractions. 

On March 30th at 1am, my active contractions began. I woke up and just knew. This is it. We had a few scares of water breaking before this point but this time was different. The contractions woke me up and were finally very consistent, around every 5 mins.

I remember waking my husband saying- my contractions are every 5 mins for the past hour it is time to go!

We went to the hospital around 2:30 am. The contractions just picked up so so fast on the way to the hospital. When we arrived, the hospital OB didn’t believe I was in active labor LOL. I wasn’t in a ton of pain so she thought I would just go home and wait for them to pick up. Well, she came in shortly after they hooked me up to the machine to count my contractions and said they were three minutes apart! Then, I was admitted to the hospital! 

I remember walking into the hospital room and with God’s strength soaring through contractions. Breckan and my amazing doula did counter pressure and we started using oils. I used peppermint and tangerine when I was feeling nauseous. But Cheryl, my doula, placed valor on my spine and heart rigorously throughout the process. 

I truly felt fine at that point.  I could manage the intense contractions for a while. I got to 6 cm perfectly fine, tired of course but I felt okay! My doctor came in and I had not progressed for a couple hours, so she suggested to break my water. I was pain, but it was bearable it was insane. I asked for Zofran bc I was dry heaving. Shortly after the nausea meds, I projectile vomited a lot. Once that was over, I felt fine.

The contractions were starting to get VERY intense after my water was broken. After that, we began to start practicing pushing. At this point, I was basically falling apart. I’ve never felt pain like that in my entire life.  I used the analogy as those contractions felt as if I stepped on a sharp Lego had a half a second break then stepped on another one LOL. 

Seeing how your body reacts to pain is really weird. There were times I was just squeezing my hands together for dear life. Then other times I thought I was about to fight someone and would punch my fist into my palms : don’t ask me why punching a bag or something has always been a great stress reliever.  

The pushing portion was INSANE. It’s like my body was doing it for me. I think nature took over. At that point, I was in so much pain- I didn’t think I could do it and I’m YELLING to get the epidural- but alas it was too late. I remember saying, "I can’t, I can’t” and Breckan(my hubby) telling me I was already doing it LOL and that I absolutely could. I was basically yelling between pushing LOL and a nurse came in and told me to politely shut up LOL. She said “ screaming isn’t going to help you need to grunt instead”. I was too tired to be like…. “do you think it’s my choice that I’m yelling?” Instead, I listened to her and started grunting and to be honest it worked better. So, truly, thank you blunt nurse for your advice. 

Anyways, they alerted the doctor that the baby was coming out fast- after an hour or so of practicing pushing- my doctor got there and she was like she’s basically here, and three mins later Olive was born. Covered in meconium and on my chest. 

My labor was a total of 13 hours! 

It was incredible. After that, I was told I had a third degree tear and my doctor was stitching me up which I felt every stitch. They used lidocaine, but it took a hot minute for it to work. 

They brought Olive over to me later after she was weighed etc. and started telling me she would have to go to the NICU because her oxygen was too low. She went to the NICU for a couple hours then was brought to our post partum recovery room.

I feel like everything happened so very quickly and I’m still sitting here processing it all. My whole life changed in 13 hours. I’m really proud of myself. I’m so grateful to God that we were both safe. I feel so empowered doing an all natural birth. I’m proud of my body and I was able to see just how strong I really am.

My husband and doula were crucial in this- without them I def would not have done natural and I would have given up. 

My mantra: My body was made for this, I was made for this.