After my first pregnancy ended in heartbreak and miscarriage, I just knew that when I finally did become pregnant with a healthy baby, my body would go complete nuts, and of course, I would be very thankful for every moment of it!
But, when it did happen (6 months later), I never got sick, never got headaches, never had cravings...none of that. I felt absolutely fantastic for most of the 9 months. Until the last month or so, my only "symptom" was my ever growing belly (and butt, and legs, and arms). Compared to so many of my friends, I would call myself lucky. I was able to eat normally, I continued to exercise,walking a couple of miles a day, and swimming regularly. Every doctor's appointment was uneventful. I only started having trouble sleeping and feeling the weight of my belly towards the very end (Thank God!).
My husband and I chose not to find out the sex of our baby. It was much easier not knowing than I thought it would be. Each ultrasound the doctor would ask if we wanted to know, and we would look at each other, half hoping that the other would cave, and then decide that we would stick to our plan. It saved us a ton of money from not buying frivolous sex specific baby items, kept unwanted questions and advice to a minimum, and provided us with plenty of entertainment listening to all of the wive's tales about what I was carrying based on the shape and placement of my belly. It also made for the absolutely BEST delivery day ever! We will probably follow the same protocol for all of our future babies.
The Delivery
So, I had all kinds of hopes and plans about delivering my baby naturally (meaning 100% medication free).
I have witnessed friends do it, and I was completely prepared, armed, and ready to conquer the task... Until labor happened.
I had been exercising a lot and using my Jasmine Essential Oil to persuade my body to go into labor on its own before or around my due date. This was my first step in being able to deliver naturally. I DID NOT want to have to be induced.
It worked! On the night of September 13th (2 days before my due date), after I had been swimming that day, gone to the farmer's market and walked around, and gone for a long walk with my husband that night, I went to bed around 11pm. I was awoken by a HUGE contraction at 11:28. No sleep for me. My labor came on super strong, and super fast. I chose to labor at home until my contractions were three minutes apart. I only live 10 minutes from the hospital and I did not want to check in too early because if my labor was slow, I knew they would push for pitocin, and I didn't feel like having to put up a fight :) Well, it was only an hour later that my contractions were that close. By the time we got to the hospital and were checked in, my contractions were a minute and a half apart, and lasting around a minute. No break for me. I was 7 cm dilated. I had the worst back labor ever, and some water sack complications, and after fighting with the nurses about not having to be continuously monitored, and not getting in that dang hospital bed (I won both fights) I finally gave in to the epidural at around 3am and 9 cm dilated. I was utterly exhausted, shaking, weak, tired, hungry, and frankly, who needs to be a hero? NOT ME.
My labor pretty much came to a halt after the epidural, and after fighting the nurses about not having pitocin (another fight I won) I finally made it to 10cm and deliver a healthy baby BOY at 10:12am on September 14th.
I was sad at first that I had given up on a medication free delivery when I was so close, but I really enjoyed being able to visit with family, fix my make up (really), and relax with my husband before welcoming my sweet baby boy into the world. I wouldn't change it.
Next time, I'll try for a natural delivery again.
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