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I kinda think most of it was luck. LO just happened to be head down and in a good position. I labored overnight so I do think getting an epidural helped because I was able to rest. Otherwise I would've been exhausted when it came time to push. DH was also an awesome support person. Good luck!!

I agree with Lawbee11, all luck. There is so much with labor that you have no control over. Rs heart beat kept dropping but they moved me and she would be fine.

Epidural helped for sure!! I was at the hospital overnight and I tried to sleep but never did so the epidural helped cause I was so tired.

I don't know if there was anything specific (a lot was good old fashioned luck) , but looking back some things that helped me were:

-dh being a rock star throughout every second, when I thought I couldn't go on he showed me that I could.
-an epidural ... 28 hours of stalled labor (couldn't get past a 3) and I was exhausted. I got an epi, it helped me sleep and my body relax. 2 hours later I was 10cm and ready to push. I actually has energy again.
-I pushed for 2.5 hours - I finally needed the vacuum to get her out. She was posterior which didn't help things. I was open to anything at that point and was just thrilled I didn't have to have a c section after all that.
-being team green helped me think past the long hours of labor and pushing - when the gojng got tough dh would look at me and say: "are we having a son or a daughter??" - I was so excited to find out it helped keep my mind off the pain.
Good luck !!

I had a long labor and had to push for hours. I think if I didn't have midwives delivering or was at a different hospital I would have had a c-section. Choose your hospital and doctor carefully.

I had a very long labour and ventouse delivery with my first and narrowly avoided a c-section by thirty minutes, I'm hoping to have a shorter labour with less interventions this go around by doing what I can in the last trimester to get Squish into an optimal position.

this time I think the bath tub helped me progress and then once I got the epidural the peanut ball in bed helped continue progress.

Also this time I was upping the pit as much as we could but I wasn't in pain and wasn't going past 2cm. The ob reached up high and broke my water and things progressed really fast after that.

I had a very patient doctor who let me push for 4 hours and my own stubbornness.

Luck, honestly...baby was in a good position, I had a fast labor (I think in part due to the epidural)...maybe being in good shape helped? I worked out (walking/elliptical) up until the day before I gave birth.

Epidural, DH, and a great nursing staff. LO's heart rate went up and down, so lots of moving me around. My first labor was great. It's probably why labor doesn't scare me and why I'm okay with it for this baby.

I think so much of it is out of your control-the best thing you can do is pick a dr with low c rates. But if your body stalls, or the baby has trouble, I don't think you can do a lot then!

Having a doula and a supportive provider is a good start.
An epidural CAN raise your chances of c-section, but occasionally they are very beneficial - like during a long labor where you are exhausted and worn out and need to rest to regain strength.

If you're planning on an epidural, get a peanut ball and look into positions that allow for more productive laboring with the epidural to avoid stalling.

I never thought I couldn't. Labor sucks but there is a means to an end. At the end of all that pain, you get something. I knew what I wanted (epidural) and let the doctors and nurses know I trusted them to help me. They've been through this a thousand times. I had not.

@DillonLion: hahaha, I second the "good pooper" analogy. Again, everyone is different, a lot of it is luck/baby's position/etc, but I've had many friends and my MIL say that pushing was tough, or that their doctors said they weren't doing it right, and I just can't relate to that, because in my experience, it just felt like taking the world's largest poop. So, maybe envision that while you push

Being open to interventions when I was struggling. I didn't want an episiotomy or vacuum, but they were really helpful. Also, I think being calm helps. I wasn't always calm, and it got harder when I panicked.

I agree, though, that a lot is luck. Hoping you have on your side!

Staying home for the first part of labor and the epidural! I had a 37 hour labor, and I stayed home for the first 24 hours, so the time pressure wasn't as big when I got to the hospital. ( I think that If I went in during early labor, I would have surely had a c section for failure to progress). Also, I only dilated 1.5 cumin that 1st 24 hours, but once I got the epidural, I was at 8 cm 2 hours later. Apparently I needed the epidural to finally relax and dilate!

@keepcalmcarrie: Hehe no worries!! I'm sure after I have a baby nothing will gross me out anymore either!

Staying at home during the early part of labor was good for me so I could just continue to do what I wanted. Labor with my first was really long, I would have gotten very antsy and nervous in a hospital room.

Waiting on the epidural. I'm glad I had strong contractions for awhile and saw how baby and I responded. My labor stalled and baby got really sleepy after the epidural and I think that might have made me more anxious if that happened right after I went into the hospital.

100% the team at my hospital. 24 hours in, I hadn't progressed, and I was just dying to give up and have a csection. They called in a surgeon to consult, and he told me that it just wasn't time, and that we had more things to try first. I even said, you know, shouldn't we just do the section? I'm exhausted here. And he said nope, we try to preserve vaginal birth here. And the further interventions worked, and I delivered vaginally. I'm really thankful to those people for encouraging me to keep going, even when I was ready to throw in the towel.