What actually worked? - Page 2

[Friday13th]

Fascinating....I will add the Bradley class was infinitely helpful in preparing James and he was an awesome coach. I think his physical support and the midwife and nurse's emotional support really helped.

And I forgot about the water....it was the only place I could relax enough to get any sleep between contractions. The water, I think, was the only thing that got me through.

Note: I ended up with a csect due to fetal distress but I made it through 4 days of labor and 2 1/2 hours of pushing without any meds.

It's really interesting to hear all this because, at MDC at least, women are usually so prepared and educated on the process, seeing what actually helped versus what people thought might help is fascinating. And so different person to person.

[crsta33]

water
moaning
self hypnosis techniques I learned as a child

oh, and Muffun, I hate pushing too and have never pushed more than 10 minutes...it's just awful...like throwing up or something. I'd be screaming for forceps if it took more than 15 min.

Christa

[mama_y_sol]

crashing from the jan ddc.

Hypnobabies did NOT work for me! Sure, it was fine to use for the easy first 24 hours of labor, but then it actually seemed to make the pain worse. I am mad because for the past 5 months, I really believed hypnosis was going to work and was going to get me through labor very relaxed and painfree. I feel like someone lied to me, when things got more intense, hypnobabies was of no use to me, in fact made the pain of contractions worse. wtf? I had contractions every 4-5 minutes for 50 hours and was exhaused by the end of it. I so wish hypnobabies could have helped me get some rest, but laying down was agonizing. I practiced religiously too, never missed a day...something is not right and I am still mad that it was so ineffective for me. mad at who? probably myself...no aspect of hypnobabies really helped me. (I would love to talk with others who it didn't work well for- PM me)

What worked:

doula! a must for me

a really patient dh

water: hand-held massager in shower, shower and tub (both at home and hospital)

leaning over the birth ball while standing with the birth ball in a chair, in the shower- great position, spent over an hour here during transition

dancing with dh

kissing dh with loose lips, open mouth

focusing on my breath

deep moans, they felt great

(note: I totally planned on a completely drug-free labor like I had with dd, but after 50 hours, my body just refused to continue without rest...so Stadol helped me rest. It really helped me in this situation. I slept, it wore off, I awoke, got out of bed and continued laboring, things got very intense very quickly after resting. Because of this experience, I have to say: an open mind also helped)

[wholewheatmama]

having the right people there as my support team

mid labor -birth ball/hip compression

finding "the zone". actually it found me. i'd heard about it but wasn't sure what it really meant until it happened to me. in between ctx, i was just on another planet, no fear, almost dozing. i feel lucky to have experienced labor this way.

for pushing - which sucked - yoga. it helped so much toprepare my body for the many diff positions it would go through for those 2 hrs. squatting rocks.

[Code Name Mama]

i have to admit, i couldn't even finish reading this thread b/c i felt almost PTSD'ish. but i will echo all who talked about moaning - dp compared my low gutteral moans to an old raspy blues singer. other than that, i honestly felt like i wasn't going to make it most of the 4+ hours i spent pushing. if i didn't have dp and my birth coach encouraging me, i probably wouldn't have!

[sunkist33]

Visiting from the February due date club...but I wanted to answer this thread because what worked for me was not at all what I expected! I had my baby, Ocean Mary, after a very short (2 hours or so) active labour in the CAR on Friday night & it ended up being an amazing and perfect birth. We were brought to the closest hospital but needed no extra interventions besides one stitch for mom and it was just perfect. The recovery this time, too, is amazing...no swelling or pain (except for sore nipples!).
Most of the labour, I was alone with my five-year-old (waiting for my dh to get home), so she was basically my support system. She brought me my Gatorade & bowl to throw up in and lavender rice sock from the microwave whenever I hollered for them.
What worked for me, was going deep within myself. At first, when surges hot, I would envision swimming up and up a huge wave, reaching the peak, and then floating slowly down. That worked for quite a while while rocking back and forth.
After that, it was rocking back & forth on hands & knees during surges and pacing/ walking in between them. I was also VERY vocal, which really surprised me (I didn't think I would be) and I couldn't believe some of the noises coming from me...some were low, some were high, it was very primal.
When my husband finally came home, I was in the bedroom in the dark on my hands & knees. He tried some of the pressure points that the doula showed us but they did NOT feel good at all. I think when it comes to labour, I'm more of a hands-off girl.
At that point, I was past the point of control. I somehow managed to RUN to the car and ended up delivering her about 10 minutes from our house, pulled over on the side of the road. I was on my hands & knees with the front seat all the way down. I couldn't believe how FAST it all was. A far cry from my 30+ hour labour with #1! I didn't mean to write a book, sorry, guess I'm still high on baby endorphins
Stacy
Feb DDC

[kittywitty]

Hypnobabies helped me a lot.

I had HORRIBLE back labor, so it wasn't perfect, but definitely calmed me and made it easier. And counterpressure, walking a lot, and keeping hydrated.

[HappyFox05]

This was our first so I can't say if anything helped or not. It certainly didn't suck. I read one of the Bradley books ("Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way") and delivered in a military hospital w/the on-call OB, unmedicated, after a 25 hour labor (16 hrs in the hospital). I wouldn't say it hurt much, except for the crowning, and even that wasn't that bad. Intense, but not overly painful or distressing.

Anyway, back to your question, the stuff I learned from the Bradley book gave me something to focus on during the crazy "holy cow, I can't believe I'm not fully dialated because I really need to push now" contractions. We also had a 4.7 hour-long iPod mix of relaxing music. That helped TONS. I remember the playlist running out at one point, when we were close (8 cm?) and it was late, and I looked at DH and said, "PLEASE TURN THE MUSIC BACK ON". Then, the next day, after listing to that list for 15 hours or so, I swore I could still hear it.

[matey]

Originally Posted by crsta33

oh, and Muffun, I hate pushing too and have never pushed more than 10 minutes...it's just awful...like throwing up or something. I'd be screaming for forceps if it took more than 15 min.

That is what it is like...throwing up, that is what I tell friend who have not had babies. The nurses made me hold the baby in for an hour because the dr was late. i had to resist those pushing throw up urges. When they finally said "ok, push" it took 3 minutes!

but that feeling, I can still remember it!

[clintonhillmama]

nak!

water - pool and for drinking to avoid dehydration
doula to help me focus on taking advantage of "rest" periods with calm breathing
making all kinds of noise
amazing dh
wonderful hands off mw
my own bed!!!

[*MamaJen*]

Originally Posted by matey

The nurses made me hold the baby in for an hour because the dr was late.

Did you punch anyone? Jeez. That's so wrong.

[matey]

Originally Posted by *MamaJen*

Did you punch anyone? Jeez. That's so wrong.

He wasnt my dr, I was three weeks early and my dr. was picking up his kids from college. My dr. would have been there on time, had he been there at all. Damn doctors.

But the on call doctor's reason for being late? He couldn't find his car keys.

If it ever happens again (hopefully not), I will just give the nurses a big F-U and push the baby out.

[ivymae]

Originally Posted by matey

The nurses made me hold the baby in for an hour because the dr was late.

With my first labor I didn't feel a huge urge to push, so I may have been able to hold off for a little bit (an hour seems like FOREVER though), but with this labor I felt my body pushing, without me even telling it to, so those nurses would have been outta luck.

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by *MamaJen*

Did you punch anyone? Jeez. That's so wrong.

I had the same thing happen when I had ds. He started coming out as soon as they laid me down from my intrathecal. They literally pushed against him to hold him in until the doc could come back up and get fully dressed. No wonder I hemorrhaged so badly...