How To: Prepare for "Natural Childbirth!"

"Giving birth should be your greatest achievement not your greatest fear." ~Jane Weidman

So, I asked you ladies in my previous post called, ”My Natural Birth Story (Click here to read). If you were interested in hearing about, How I prepared for natural birth. And to my surprise, a lot of you were, "actually" interested.

So, today’s the day I’ll be letting you know the real tea on natural childbirth must haves! If you haven't already read the previous post make sure to do that. But for now, let's get into this tea!

{ First, let me just say this! In no way, shape or form am I an expert. I'm just going off of my personal experiences. These are my just my tips and thoughts on the subject.}

But anywho! When I found out I was expecting my first child, I had a lot of questions that were wandering through my mind. I was asking myself, am I ready for this? Am I going to be a good mother? What am I going to do? Will I have to have a c-section? These were all the questions going through my mind.

I have a concussion to make! I'm a little bit of a control freak! I can admit it. So the thought of me not being in control terrified me. So, I instantly started looking up different birthing options and started watching natural birthing vlogs on Youtube. So, am I the only person that can watch birthing vlogs all day? I am, okay cool.

But, all jokes aside, I knew childbirth wasn't going to be easy. An natural child birth was going to be a whole another ball game. So, here’s a head up. You're going to be exhausted! You will feel like giving up! You will feel different, and delusional. But, even in the mix of it all, don’t lose your focus! Gods greatest gift is arriving. Philippians 4:13 says, “ I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me”. So ladies, never doubt yourself!

Here are my few essential steps and objectives that I believe to be very beneficial during and post labor.

Your Support Team!

Having a great support team was essential for me. And finding a doctor that would fit right in was on the top of my to-do list. When I started searching for OBGYN, it never crossed my mind to look into a midwife or even a doula. I remember calling my “new”, doctors office to set up my very first appointment. When I called the receptionist asked me, ”well ma’am are you looking for an OBGYN or a MIDWIFE?” And I told her I was looking for an OBGYN. She informed me that there were two OBGYN available. And asked if I would like to schedule an appointment. I said yes, and she proceeded on telling me there availability. I couldn't believe the next available opening was two months away. I needed a doctor now I couldn't wait that long to see the doctor. So thats when I asked her what’s the difference between an OBGYN and a MIDWIFE? And thats when she told me, there really isn’t a difference between the OBGYN and MIDWIFE. The only difference is a midwife can not perform a c-section. So I decided to take a chance and go with the midwives instead of the OBGYN's.

If I could go back in time I wouldn't change a thing. I was so pleased, with my decision to go with the midwives. Because she was perfect! I loved how inviting and personable she was. She never looked at me crazy, when I asked all my ridiculous questions and believe me there was a lot. When I confronted her about all my concerns she insured me that everything was progressing beautifully. She made me feel comfortable, and most importantly I trusted her. Even though I barely knew her from a can of paint, It felt like we've known her for years. It never dawned on my until now, how important that was for me. Being able to find trust in someone else besides my partner was all that was missing from my support team.

When I confronted my midwife about wanting to have a completely natural childbirth, she was all for it. After that appointment I toke it upon myself to write out my birthing plan. If your unsure what a birthing plan is a way for you to communicate your wishes to your midwives and doctors. Exampling the the type of labour and birth you'd like to have, what you want to happen, and what you want to avoid. At my next doctors appointment we discussed it over, I told her all my do’s and don’t. After we had that conversation and she knew the exact direction I wanted to go in.

After having that conversation she started suggesting all different kind of books, oils, and much more. She also gave me a folder with a lot of different palettes for new mommies. It had workshops, even mommy and me classes. Oh, she also gave me an addresses to this birthing boutique where I could pick up all my essentials items. (listed below) To say the least she was just amazing, so grateful.

My Labor!

Labor, isn't something you can prepare for! And having a natural birth isn't for the weak minded, it can be very hard and very painful.

But, these are the main things I wish I knew before. First, I wish I knew about all the transition your body goes through during labor. For example, who knew to vomit during labor was normal? I didn't but, throwing up can occur from the pain your experiencing, or as a result of food sitting in your stomach (your digestion usually stops during labor).

Second, I also experienced having the shivers and having heat flashes. Which has nothing to do with being cold by the way? Your body temperature actually raise and decreases during labor, making you feel hot and cold. No one knows exactly what causes this, but it's geared towards blood incompatibility. Which means the difference between the mom's blood and the baby blood. Which causes you to shiver and shake.

I wanted to take a minute and actually talk about the pain. Has anyone ever told you this? ” Labor is a pain that is easily forgotten”. Whoever told you this lied to you. Okay! So whoever came up with that little phrase, is crazy. Because I remember everything about my labor. I remember every single detail and every contraction. The worst part of the labor for me was being so uncomfortable. I could handle the contraction once I learned how to breathe through them. If your wondering, contractions feels like bad cramps.

Once again this is my personal experience. So, the pain level I experienced is going to be different from person to person. Because everyone is different.

The moment that changed everything, was when I felt my first contraction. It made me completely reconsider going the natural route. I thought to myself, "maybe I should get the epidural". At this moment I lost my focus (this is when my support team steps in). This pain wasn't for the weak minded. My contractions were at the top of the charts, so they were very hard to breathe through. A since I couldn't get in a comfortable position during this entire process made it even worse.

My holy Gail was that I was only in active labor for two and a half hours. Once again I went into further detail about my labor and delivery in my article called, my natural birth story. So, thankfully within 15 minutes of pushing my daughter was here!

Do you wanna know the worse part of labor that no knows talks about at all. Stitches! Since my daughter always had her hand in her face caused me to tire a little bit. Which causes me to have to get a couple of stitches. Those stitches, those stitches. The contractions didn't even compare. Why don't people talk about this? It's so crazy to me, because of its apart of the whole experience. And I understand not every woman has to get stitches. But there is a 50/50 chance. So, to all my expecting mother out there just be aware of this.

The After Birth!

I know, I know, you're like I thought you were going to tell us your must-have essentials for a natural birth. I am getting to it. For me, all the essentials I need came with the afterbirth. When I tell you your gonna be all kinds of sore, and sensitive down there, that's an understatement! But these products will definitely be lifesavers. Here are my top suggested and products for after birth.

Dermoplast [Pain Relieving Spray]

So this numbing spray was definitely recommended to me by my midwife. Since I had stitches in such a sensitive area this numbing spray definitely helped with the pain and soreness. I would only suggest to use sparely and also check with your doctor.

Stool Softener!

I was giving a pill a couple minutes after I gave birth. I personally had no idea this would be such a help. And I’m so thankful my nurse's thoughts on everything. I couldn’t even imagine trying to push anything else out. With the lack of food and drink could leave you constipated. So make sure to buy one with laxative in it.

Maxi Pads!

I know a lot of women don’t wear pads but you will after birth. I have no clue where the hospital gets there from but there huge and oddly comfortable, I also brought my own. Make sure to get the super soft, natural one without dry-weave. The friction is not your friend neither is the chlorine. (Nighttime Pads)

Peri Bottle

I also remember using this bottle every time I went to the bathroom. Definitely better than using toilet paper especially after getting stitches. I would fill the bottle up with preferably warm water and spray it up. I would recommend using this for the first couple of days.

And this is where my story ends my precious princess is here and thriving as a rambunctious toddler. I would absolutely love if you would share your birth story (ies) below. I would love to read everyone's.

I hope y'all enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Make sure to "SUBSCRIBE", so you never miss an update of post. Oh, and don't forget to follow me on Instagram @lifefeaturingaliya to enjoy my day to day life. Until next time!