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I had a natural birth with my second baby but with my first, my doula wasn't there and I caved at 9 cm and got the epidural. The second time around I realized just how freakin close I had been (like seriously would've had that baby in 20 minutes or less). The reason this happened the first time was good old fashioned FEAR. Just putting that out there in case it might be useful for anyone. I really had prepared and whatnot, but fear about what was about to happen really got me. Good luck!!

I had a natural birth (well, I got an episiotomy, so does that mean it wasn't natural?), but not by choice! I was planning on getting an epidural, but then couldn't! So I would say that I WASN'T prepared! But everything went smoothly and we all survived it!

@MrsStormy: I think they might've put some local anesthesia down there before making the cut, but honestly, I was in so much pain, I'm not sure that little snip would have even registered! Plus I tore anyway, haha. Xander has a big head!

@jetsa: I don't know about other people, but I think being unprepared actually helped me, because I didn't spend any time being afraid or nervous (since I was planning on getting an epidural). When I was in the middle of my labor and found out I couldn't get an epidural, it was kind of like "Umm, okay then!" and I just had to go with it! And by then, there was no time to think about anything except getting through each contraction!

That being said, I had a fairly quick labor, so I'm not sure it would have been as easy (hahahah, easy!) if it was longer. I was in labor for 14 hours, though the first 6-7 weren't that bad, and then I only had to push for an hour. Pushing was probably the hardest and most painful part, but it didn't really last long for me. And everything went smoothly (besides baby have a gigantic head).

I hope your labor goes smoothly too!

@jetsa: you will do great! I hope you have a beautiful labour & delivery!! Your doula will be a god send, mine were fore at least!

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My plan so far is "not to have a plan" i.e. accept that birth is unpredictable and I have no idea how I will react, so to go into it with an open mind, but also knowing that my preference is for as little medicated help/intervention as possible.

I'm hoping my birthing classes will help me weigh up strategies/options a bit more, but all I feel strongly about right now is I don't want to be "tied to a bed", as I know being able to move around is one of my biggest coping methods for pain.

I love @looch:'s comment - so true... we were BUILT to do this ladies!!

I had a natural birth (at home). We took Bradley Method classes and I read several books early on in my pregnancy. My labor was 8.5 hours from start to finish and I had no tears. We had two midwives and a doula, who were all so wonderful and supportive. Once my water broke the contractions really became much more painful for me and I remember thinking...get me the hell out of here and give me some pain medication!!! LOL. But, then I remembered what I had told myself over and over again throughout my pregnancy--you can do this and I thought of people in my life who had natural births over the years, like my grandmother who had 14 babies at home. A few minutes later my midwife asked me to reach back and touch my little girl's head and that gave me the strength to keep on going when all I kept saying was that I couldn't do it and was so tired. I went from 5cm-9cm in 40 minutes once I really gave into the pain and stopped fighting it. I think the Bradley classes and reading I did really helped my nerves. I knew what to expect and it was easier to let go and let my body do its thing because I knew it was normal. Regular massages towards the end also made a difference for me (I was having a massage at least once a week) because my body wasn't tense at all.

ETA: Surrounding myself with positive people and people who had gone through natural births especially towards the end was also really helpful. And I always told myself it was going to be ok if I ended up at the hospital or needed medications or interventions, because I wasn't doing this to prove anything to anyone, I was doing what I felt was best for me and my baby.

I love this thread. We are planning to go all natural ( at home). We are only 12 weeks, so this thread is very inspiring. I'm a birth photographer, which has been a big influence in my choice ... I've seen so many amazing women deliver babies, and I love the empowerment I feel for all of them. I found myself being more drawn towards the natural births based on my personal beliefs of pain management and our bodies being made for this.

@jetsa: Yeah, I'd love to do a home birth, but a) my husband wasn't comfortable with it, and b) I didn't want to feel responsible if my midwife was arrested/fined for attending my birth (currently, midwives are not legally allowed to attend home births in Kentucky, but a woman my choose to birth outside of a hospital).

@jetsa: I would probably be more comfortable with it too if I lived in a more rural area. I have a friend who just had an amazing home birth and I am jealous! It would be awesome if I could find a home birth midwife in Indiana who would open her home like that, but I'll be at a birth center in Indiana.

@jetsa: It's a hospital-based birth center that is known for being mom/baby friendly, breastfeeding friendly, and low-intervention. I live just across the river in Kentucky, and on a good traffic day I'm 20 minutes from the hospital.

Is it ok I jump in if I'm only a November mama? I'm planning my 3rd unmedicated birth and 2nd home birth and I'll tell you FTMs that it's not easy, it's intense, but it's also entirely worth it. My own experiences and my obsession with birth is what's spurred me on to pursue my doula certification and making the support of birthing women and families my life work.

ETA: I'm not really actively "planning" an unmedicated birth, but I am expecting my body to do its job and since I've managed unmedicated labor twice before, I'm pretty sure I can do it again.

@jetsa: Ha, I don't how ready I am, there's one book I want to read and I'm looking into HypnoBabies, but I have few months yet. And if I don't get those things done, oh well, I'll manage anyways, lol.

ETA: Yes, a marathon is an excellent parallel! Honestly, it is. I'm too wimpy for anything that intense, but from what I've heard, labor is very similar, down to transition being like the last few really, really hard miles.

I'm hoping to have a natural, med-free birth!

@FarmWifeGina: one other question, about Bradley. Did you eat the rec amt of protein? I remember you saying on another thread about your water breaking late in the game and being thankful for that, glad the bag of waters was able to serve its purposes as a cushion and then as an accelerator after it broke. If you ate the rec protein, do you think thats how your waters stayed intact for so long?

@citymouse: Oh, I have no idea. I probably didn't eat as much protein the first time as I did the second time and I guess there could be a correlation. But I also was a lot more faithful with taking my RRL and started it earlier the second time around and that's supposed to help build a stronger sac too, so who knows. This time I'm taking in even less carbs and more protein than I did last time, as well as already taking RRL AND liquid calcium magnesium citrate (for muscle cramps, but is also supposed to strengthen the bag of waters), so just maybe this sac will be so strong that the baby is born in the caul, lol!

@evenstar982: That is EXACTLY what I did! I didn't have a set plan. I knew that things happen, and sometimes if you're married to an exact plan, it doesn't go your way and that can be upsetting.

I had to be induced, and wanted to try for natural, but when my pitocin-induced contractions were a minute long and a minute apart, and I had back labor on top of it, I got an epi for the last 1.5 hours of my labor and don't regret it for a second. Listen to your body, go with the flow, and really, I loved labor (even pre-epi) and delivery, and can't wait to do it again!

@char54: I had a super similar plan to yours and had no meds. But, I loved having the nurse with me. She did or helped Dh do counter pressure on my back and suggested diff positions. I took it one contraction at a time too and didn't want to have to lay back, but surprisingly had no desire to walk around anyway.

@FarmWifeGina: I was so lucky bc I totally trusted my hospital and providers. They are very pro natural birth and brag about their low intervention rates so if they suggested any interventions I would have known they were necessary. I'm sad that not everyone has access to care like that.

@jetsa: no iv for me. They thought I was gbs positive and I would have needed one then, though just run it for 15 min then lock it off so I could still be moving without wires, but the test was wrong and I didn't need it anyway.