With my first born son I tried to prep mentally for labor and though I thought I didn’t have much fear surrounding what it was going to be like, once I started to feel contractions (something I’ve never felt before) I instantly tensed up and wanted to escape my body. This made my contractions even more painful and I felt fear all around me. So, I opted for an epidural at 2cm and enjoyed most of my 24 hour labor/birth medicated and numb but I didn’t get to experience the natural labor I originally wanted.
With my second son I was determined to grab ahold of as many resources I could that would help me achieve the natural labor of my dreams. Calm, quick, empowering, and dare I say....painless. I listened to my Christian Hypnobirthing tracks every night from 30 weeks on and envisioned the Lord with me every step of my labor and guiding me through each contraction. Meditating on his scriptures before bed helped so much regarding any lingering fear I had.
On Friday April 24th at 5:30am (39 weeks and 3 days) I woke my husband to tell him the good news that I was In labor. Contractions were 10mins apart but not super intense and was still able to talk through them. Around 10:30am I was no longer able to talk/walk through them and they were 4-6 mins apart. I was still completely normal and calm in between contractions but I decided to call my midwife anyways. She said to head to the hospital as it sounded to her I was in active labor. When we got to the hospital I was only 3cm but had cervical change to 4cm with in an hour so they checked us in to our room around 12pm.
From 12pm-5pm my husband and I labored in that room virtually uninterrupted (as my midwives mentioned in my chart I was practicing Hypnobirthing and didn’t want many interruptions or cervical exams) and they completely respected our wishes. We laughed, worshiped, meditated, and relaxed in between each contraction. Still very normal and calm in between contractions. It was amazing! Contractions were intense and I needed to focus but not painful. I was able to be in and out of the bath when ever I pleased and it was so relieving. At 5:15 my water broke and the intensity of my contractions went from 0-100 I felt. I started to shake and vomited with back to back contractions. I started in that moment to fear I couldn’t handle it and asked to be checked and they said I was only at a six. That could mean hours so I asked for the epidural. But little did I know I was transitioning because my body went from a 6cm to feeling the urge to push in 20 min.
Involuntarily my body began to push and I barely made it to the bed before my sons head was born. One more push and my sweet nurse caught my baby while I was on all fours. As the doctors and other nurses came filing in I was handed my baby and I was checked for tears. NO TEARS! Praise Jesus! The first thing I said when he came out was “I CANT BELIEVE I DID IT!!” Maxwell Thomas was born 5:40pm 8lbs 11oz 23inches of perfection.
So was it painless? No. Those last 20 mins were tough. But 95% of my birth was calm, relaxed, and painless and I give God ALL the glory for that!
By Katelyn Stigleman
@Katelyn_Frances