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I did use RRL tea but that's it. I had an epidural, 8lb baby, 2nd degree tear, 35 min pushing, went from 4-10cm in 1 hr after having water broken. I think it was pretty smooth and my contractions were strong and effective, so I think the RRL tea helped.
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I had a really easy and nice labor and delivery. I did absolutely nothing to prepare for it! I say really nice, though my epidural didn't take in my abdomen, so I felt my contractions. I put on music and powered through them, and although they were really painful, I was glad I could feel them when it came time to push, as it made me an effective pusher. My legs were numb, so I couldn't feel myself tear or anything, so that was a plus! My doctor did a perineal massage, which probably helped, as I only ended up with a first degree tear. I went from 3 cm to 10 cm in an hour with the lowest dose of pitocin possible (labor stalled out) and once I was at a 10, I pushed him out in 30 minutes. Easy enough! Recovery has been way harder than childbirth.
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I had a pretty easy labor - I went from 4 to 10 cm in under an hour and pushed for less than 30 minutes. No meds, no tearing. I was already 3 cm at my last appt 3 days before i gave birth. I really think it was just luck. I did prenatal yoga once a week, walked a couple times a week, and sat on an exercise ball occasionally towards the end.
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Overall, it wasn't easy but the actual delivery was pretty quick...my water broke at 31 weeks (followed by hospital bed rest) and went into active labor two weeks later. I woke up in labor at 5am and was ready to push by noon. Pushed for 30 minutes and had 1 degree tears. My daughter was tiny though at 3 pounds, 14 ounces, so she was probably easy because of being a preemie. I did have an epidural because labor went so fast, it was incredibly painful, and I didn't want to deal with it after being on bed rest for two weeks.
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I had a super easy vaginal delivery but didn't really do anything to prepare other than my Kegels regularly. I did go through most of labour pre-epidural standing up and had spent a lot of time sitting on my exercise ball during the third trimester. I think a lot of it is luck and depends on way too many factors that are out of our control.
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I haven't read any of the responses yet but I did pelvic tilt exercises regularly for my back, but it's supposed to help with labor, and I walked almost daily. I definitely think both of those helped.
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I think it was just luck and the fact that I let dd crown for a few minutes to stretch everything so I didn't tear
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I had an easy delivery (pushed for less than 20 minutes with very minimal tearing) and I didn't do much to prepare. I was pretty much on denial about actually giving birth throughout my whole pregnancy. I sat on an exercise ball quite a bit the week before I delivered and I drank some RRL tea. My nurse was amazing though, I honestly attribute the easiness to her. She didn't have me pushing until I was for sore ready and I did quite a bit of bearing down with a peanut thing between my legs before.
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@Cherrybee: He still won't let me live that down! Haha!
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Easy delivery here. 3 pushes, no tears. I swear by laboring down
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I did RRL tea daily from 37 weeks on. I didn't work out, but I walked a lot every day and had a very active job.
My water broke at 39 weeks, and I had the baby within 8 hours of that happening. I'm told that I pushed for a 3 hours (it didn't feel like that long), but I was not a good pusher and would have wanted to labor down for longer if we hadn't gotten some heart rate decelerations.
All in all, I still consider it an easy labor, it was fast, I tore- but not too badly. I'd be happy to have a similar experience next time.
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@lawbee11: i had an incredibly fast labor and delivery - but tore a lot because she FLEW out (on her own - just a small taste of her current personality lol). From water breaking to birth 4.5 hours, first contraction to birth a little under 4. I spent most of months 7-9 on a yoga ball for my back, and did the EPO orally and vaginally the last month or so. Who knows what really worked though!
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@Mrs. Jacks: same! I was bearing down when they let me get the Epi and I labored down for another 20 m. She flew out!
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I had a relatively easy delivery. I bounced on an exercise ball the last month when I was uncomfortable (a lot). That's all I did. My labor was in my back, which blew but I just did what felt most comfortable while in labor. I sat on the toilet.
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I pushed for a little less than an hour and had a minor internal tear that required 2 stitches. I did nothing to prepare. I had the strength to push pretty well because I was in labor for only about 10 hours before that and I could walk and talk through contractions until about 3 hours before I started pushing.
ETA: My doc did perineal massage as she was crowning and coming out. She said that it helped prevent tearing. -
I did most of the things people listed here but still had to push for 1.5 hours, after 21 hrs of labor, and a 3rd degree tear with a terrible recovery. I think it's luck of the draw.
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@lawbee11: I had a relatively easy vaginal birth in my opinion. I was in labor for thirteen hours and had three tears, two lateral and a third degree tear all the way to my rectum that required tons of stitches. But it was a good experience, very low intervention (broke my water at 9 cm, catheter for my bladder because I couldn't pee, and a little pitocin at the end when my contractions slowed).
I never did many kegels or any perineal massage. I did do tons of squatting, stretching, and tailor sitting. I stayed active til the very end (mostly tons of walking, including stairs). I ate as healthy as possible and drank tons of water. I read a lot about the birth process and different positions for labor. I hired a doula, and I had a supportive husband and an OB who knew and respected my wishes for labor (even when she didn't 100% agree with me). I had a positive attitude going in and trusted my body.
I don't think a few more kegels would have prevented my tears. What was meant to happen happened. Exercise built my endurance up for labor and being so knowledgable about birth helped me push through to the very end even when it was painful and I was exhausted.
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I pushed for an hour and had a deep 2nd degree tear but the recovery from that was a breeze. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought. Also, I didn't have an epidural and definitely didn't actually feel myself tearing, which I was really scared about too.
I drank RRL tea and sat on an exercise ball a lot from about 37 weeks, delivered at 41+5. Not sure if either of those things helped but my labor was short (albeit incredibly hard and painful), only 11 hours, so maybe some of that contributed?
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Well, I was on the ball/walking/doing prenatal yoga constantly from about 30 weeks on, did Kegels and drank RRL. My delivery wasn't awful, but I was in back labor for 32 hours, had two failed epidurals, pushed for 2 hours and had 2nd degree tears (plus an episiotomy). But looking back it doesn't seem bad at all.
So I'm of the mind that certainly, prep all you can, but it will ultimately come down to you and the way your body reacts to labor (and how your LO is positioned, I think him being posterior made my L&D harder).
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