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I was no med because it was fast.

Water broke at 12:30
Contractions started around 3pm
Contractions got intense around 4pm
Pushing at 6:30pm
Birth at 8:30pm

Once it's push time it's too late for meds.

From 4-6 I dealt with it by being on the toilet (felt good), being in the shower (hot water on my back labour), and just breathing and trying to stay as upright as possible.

6-6:30 was so intensely painful in my back I thought I was going to die. I dealt with it by gripping the bed, closing my eyes, and burying my head in my pillow. Would have definitely taken any pain meds offered at this point, but we were waiting for a doc to check me.

Birth story here!! http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/quickest-birth-story-ever
I had a precipitous birth so not much choice!

For the first, I decided early on to give it a try with no meds but was open for the epidural if I couldn't take it. Labor started at 10am. It started getting painful around 1-2pm. By 3-4pm, it felt like too much and was only 6-7cm dilated. So shortly after, I asked for the epidural. But it took the anesthesiologist half an hour to get to the hospital. By then I was ready to push so I never got it. I pushed for half an hour and my son was born at 6:41 pm. My daughter was more or less the same except I never asked for the epidural. The epidural felt more like the unknown, scarier option for me then. Both times my husband coached me through all the contractions. The birthing classes really paid off for us.

I ended up doing it med free which was the original plan.

We arrived at the hospital when I was 3cm and in alot of pain. At first I was able to breath threw them and use the birth ball to rock my hips. My contractions progressed quickly and soon were lasting 1.5 minutes 45 seconds apart. I went from 3cm to pushing in 2.5 hours. I don't think I succesfully dealt with the pain towards the end. I was screaming crying and just wishing it would go away. I tried to get an EPI at 8cm but it was to late and I was pushing 30 minutes after asking for an EPI. Pushing was very painful for me and I also don't think I dealt with that well I was screaming and crying the whole time. Thankfully I only pushed for about 5 minutes and she was out. After she was out it obviously was all worth it and I would do it again. I will have a better plan for pain management next go round though. I wasn't prepared for the intesity of active labor and transition.

Went without an Epi by choice.

Thurs 9pm- water broke, contractions few and far between, easy to deal with
Fri 2pm- went to hospital to get checked, I was 2cm and thick, contractions still not regular or killer. I decided to go back home and labour in my comfort zone
Fri 3am- waking up for contractions then falling back asleep. I'd been doing natural induction stuff all evening and was exhausted. I was still able to work through contractions without much effort.
Sat 10am- back to hospital, I was 3 and thin, but decided it was time to check in.
Sat 2pm- I was stopping to breathe/rock through contractions, and we decided to hook up pitocin to get things moving along.
Sat 5pm- officially in active labour, contractions are coming every minute or two and intense. My doula kept reminding me to relax through the contractions instead of fight them. Allow them to dilate me. There was a lot of head rolling, cold washclothes on my neck and deep breathing.
11pm- transition- the room was spinning and I felt super high, Didn't even notice the contractions because I was so spaced out.
11:45- 3 pushes and we had a baby

Best advice, remember (or have someone there to remind you) not to 'fight' the contractions. You need to allow your body to do it's work. The more you resist, the longer and harder your body has to work.

i did not choose to go natural! my biggest fear was not getting an epi because my mom had such a fast labor with me.

my water broke at 4:50p (3 cm)
contractions started at 5:20p? 1 min long, 1-2 min apart.
left for hosp around 6:30p..
got there at 7p,
checked into triage at 7:30 p & 6 cm
got a room at 8:20p and was 10 cm, +3 station.

I got the epi to push, but labored naturally. i coped by squeezing the life out of a balled up paper towel and crying that I couldn't do it & why wasn't I upstairs yet? also, 'ow ow ow ow ow!' LOL.

it was painful but honestly - i thought it was going to be worse!!

@Mrs.B: You had your baby! Congrats!

Chose a natural birth both times and the first time was 26 hours with 7 hours of really hard, transition-type labor. That time I swayed my hips, sat in the bathtub, vocalized, and just tried to focus on relaxing and letting my body do what it had to do. My second labor was 25 hours long, but only 2 hours of really hard labor (makes SUCH a difference if your water stays intact longer- the contractions were MUCH easier to handle!). That time I did pretty much the same things to deal with the intensity, except I didn't have a bathtub available to sit in, so I ended up on my hands and knees in the shower, with the water spraying on my back. That helped some, but it would have been better if the water was hotter and the pressure was harder, lol.

My total labor was 9 hours unmedicated, starting from the first contraction.

7:30pm - real contractions began and labored at home for awhile
10:30 pm - got to the hospital and was only 3 cm dilated
2 am - 7 cm dilated
4 am - 10 cm dilated and waited for doc to get there
4:15 am - started pushing
4:29 am - baby born