hello;) i had a natural birth with my first boy he was born November 2011. so my memory is clear! my story is awesome i have so much to share to help i will tell u a tiny version but if u want good ideas emai me at vika14_129@hotmail.com so......when i got to the hospital it was 11:17am i was told i am 4cm then in about 20 min. i was 10cm and ready to go i got on that bad and pushed no iv no meds at all. i pushed him out facing the headboard. i pushe for anout 30/45 min. he was born at 1:51 pm. so ill say this I loved my choice my birth was a Blessing and i will do it again

Wow, lots of natural March mommies! Good luck ladies :-) I too, am using Hynobabies (home study course) and I love it! I some of the most important factors are to keep a positive mindset and trust your body, have a good birth partner and possibly hire a doula, have a good birth plan, and make sure your doctor is supportive. Do your Kegels and practice yoga. Drinking 3 cups a day of red rasberry leaf tea is supposed to tone your uterus and make contractions more productive. If your hospital allows it, try different laboring positions other than flat on your back, gravity is your friend! Check out the Natural Birth forums too, they are supportive and have good info. Good luck to you!

I sat down and wrote my birth plan today. I'm going natural and I am excited about it. I want to feel like I'm in control of this. I am almost done reading The Official Lamaze Guide and it states that pain is part of the birthing process and the more educated you are the less fear you have. Then you are more able to deal with the pain. I'm going to rely on this as I don't tolerate pain well. I'm glad to know there is a big group of march mommies to support each other in this :-)

I did no drugs for the last two. I hope to have the same experience this time, but Might need a C section, so I'm trying to remain impartial about it. The thing that kept me sane is the knowledge that it's just one day of my life. When I could focus on that, I was totally mentally okay with the pain. Find that thought that comforts you, and you'll be golden.

Def check out Hypnobirthing by Marie Mongan... We are planning to use this method and the premise behind it is that fear and anxiety cause a lot of the pain associated with childbirth. While they certainly do not claim that labor and delivery are without discomforts, it does not need to be the excruciating & terrifying experience many women have come to expect. There are deep relaxation techniques taught along with self-hypnosis exercises. I'm a FTM, so I can't say if this method works for me or not, but it makes a lot of sense to me... we'll see! Good luck to us all!

Let's do it girls!! I'm so pumped for this, great to see so many march mummies going all natural.

You guys are the best!

*points

I'm planning a natural home birth with this one. I've read the book: Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way- great book with a bunch of good point. When your in labor just remember the pain is just your muscles working. With every contraction just remember that it is your muscles doing what they are made to do and that each one brings you closer to meeting your baby. Your body gives you breaks in between contractions also- so its not like your just in agony 24/7, you get little breaks ;)

Oh! And when you think you've reached your breaking point that means your almost there! A lot of women "give up" when they are only minutes from pushing..

Goodluck!

I'm going natural. I am reading a book right now that talks about accepting the pain as a positive part of the birth- every painful part releases more oxytocin, which speeds labor along. If you can wrap tour brain around the use of pain and it's purpose, I don't think you'll be as freaked. This mental shift has settled me down significantly in that regard

I had originally wanted the epidural with no pain. After my birthing class and reading the Lamaze book, I'm going to tell myself I can do it with the least medical interventions needed. The more interventions you do, the more its a spiral to need more invasive things done. I have such a low pain tolerance so if I get to a breaking point, I will accept pain meds but I'm going to try my hardest to go natural. I bought a relaxtion cd that I am already using and I'm getting a birthing ball. I want to be able to walk around and try different positions. My mom and I are actually going to sit down today to write my birth plan.

I'm planning on going natural as I am really wanting a water birth.

Oh and check out the "natural birth" group on here. They have a lot of good info, supportive people, and birth stories.

You can definitely do it if you decide 100% and have good support (which it sounds like you do). :) I'm going natural too, and home, water birth...we women are strong and made for this!

And by "we women," I mean all of us, not just those who choose to go natural. Not dissing moms go choose meds! :)

I don't think they do water births where I'm at but I can ask

I'm also going the natural route but I'm doing a water birth at a birthing center. Is that something being offered to you? I heard it helps a lot with the pain. You can do it, mama!

I had no epi when I delivered my son and I was just 17. Our bodies are made to do this, we can handle it ladies : ) I'm going epi free once again!! It's painful but incredible to feel your body going through it, it's easier to push if you can feel the contractions and yourself! Good luck ladies, I wish you all text book births xx

Google hypnobabies& hypnobirthing seeing them go throught it makes u feel like u can do it also.. Buying their CDs can be helpful also..

My friend told me she was in so much pain, the epi was nothing like she remember reading about. Just know that whatever you choose, a healthy bby is all we are waiting for :)

I'm going to try to do it natural. But I'm not against an epi either. I just want to try natural first.

my sis did it and perfered it to her first w/ an epi. good luck girls!

I've also decided to go natural as I have had a horrifing epi experience myself. Epi definitely wasn't worth it for me, and the complications were probably more painful, hospitalized over a week, not better for months, and traumatized for life :-( My labor was even fairly quick! I don't know what i was thinking. Good luck to everyone! I am soo excited for natural birth and hoping to get a different wonderful experience this time! We can do it! :-)

I'm doing the hypnobabies self study course and I LOVE IT! Highly recommend it to anyone who has time left to do it.

@amy very very true, I didn't even think about that

I'm going natural, mainly because I want to be able to walk & move around during my contractions to take my mind off them. I don't want to be stuck in the bed like I would be if I had an epi.

I'm with ya! Natural is the way to go. I've never had to be in the hospital for anything in my life, so that is the part that freaks me out the most. The pain will only be temporary and in the end, very worth it!

One of my coworkers was telling me that sometimes she still feels a sharp pain in her back from where they inserted the needle and it's been over a year already. There are too many risks that I'm just not willing to take and it freaks me out too. My mil and aunt both had all 3 of their kids naturally and their encouraging me to do it natural. I just hope I don't have back labor because I can be a real baby when it comes to back pain haha

no epi for me either i had one with both of my other kids and neither one worked so why go through it if it isnt going to work on me

I've also decided to go natural. I'm too nervous about the epi and the idea of not being able to feel the lower part of my body kind freaks me out. Ive heard too many stories of people not being about to get up and walk around up to 2 days after or the first epi not working and having to put in another needle. I know ppl that went natural that said once they delivered they felt great. I'm a little nervous about the pain too but it's obviously not completely unbearable if others can handle it. I thinks it's more mind over matter. Like the pp said just research pain management methods.

Thanks that makes me feel a little better. I'm gunna read up on it as much as I can. Ive been doing alot of walking already. I'll be 34 weeks on Tuesday. I figured I start early and hopefully that'll help me loosen up

I'm going all natural :). You can do it momma!!! Remember that even if you're scared of the pain it's only temporary. Every contraction will get you closer to your lo! I read a lot of books and we are doing the Bradley method. Reading about it has boosted my confidence and even though I'm nervous, I know I can do it.

I am! I'm so excited for it! I will say that I truly believe being afraid is going to make it more painful and more difficult for you. I suggest reading anything you can get your hands on and learning natural calming and pain management techniques. The more prepared I feel the more my confidence grows. Also get your husband on board and involved because he should play a big role in supporting and encouraging you. You can do this!