Yes, you read that right. My labor was two days long. If you have never given birth before, I am not intending to frighten you in any way. I want to share my story as inspiration — mostly for myself as I am about four months away from my next birth story.

Here’s the long version if you’re interested in my full birth story experience with baby A.

The short version is basically this: my water broke as a slow leak on a Saturday evening with no contractions. Contraction started coming a few hours later, but not consistently. We did our best to sleep as we stayed overnight at the birth center, thinking labor would get going any minute. Well, it didn’t. We stayed overnight, and the next day we tried everything we could think of to get things going. I walked laps upon laps around the parking lot and basketball court, used the birthing ball, and I even used the breast pump every hour to stimulate contractions that were more consistent. Nothing. Night came. I couldn’t sleep. My husband knocked out. My family got a hotel after spening the day with me. I was in labor limbo.

Doing endless labor laps with my husband

My saving grace was a dose of castor oil I drank the next morning out of sheer desperation. My midwife was sure it would work, and if it didn’t, she said I would have to go to the hospital. I had to be sure it would work too. I stopped feeling sorry for myself, put my walking shoes on, and I did countless laps speed walking outside. I kept repeating to myself something one of the midwives said in a birth class: No one stays pregnant forever.

After hours of speed walking, sitting on the toilet (castor oil is serious business) and finally getting in the birthing tub, I gave birth ten minutes before midnight to our perfect 6 lbs, 2 ounces of joy. Phew.

Baby A’s First Picture

I remember going home and thinking, I never want to give birth again. That was a nightmare. Don’t get me wrong, I was on cloud nine that first week from all the oxytocin flooding my body. I was furiously in love with my baby. But seriously, I did not want to go through that again. I mean, come on, I had heard of labor going on for a day, maybe a little over a day. Two days?! What was wrong with me? Never again.

Well, here I am. Just a few months from now I will be going through it again. But this time with experience. So I came up with a plan.

#1 Exercise

It’s embarrassing, but I honestly did not exercise with my first pregnancy. I was a barista, so I figured being on my feet all day was enough. We did some exercises in the four birth classes we had and I tried to do some of those from time to time, but I didn’t make it a priority. After A’s first birthday, before we even planned to have another baby, I finally got myself an online yoga subscription. I was a little mad at myself for feeling so weak during my birth and I wanted to change that, even if we didn’t have more children. I felt so passionate about yoga and sharing my experience with yoga as a mom with other moms, that I even signed up for yoga teacher training. It has been difficult to keep up with a daily yoga routine with this pregnancy since I work full time, have a toddler, and was learning to teach yoga. So, I got an exercise ball to replace my office chair at work and I try to do at least a few home practices per week in addition to “mini-practices” throughout my day when I think of it. I also swim and go for walks when I have the time.

#2 Tea

Now I haven’t done this before, so we will see if it really works. I bought a bunch of red raspberry leaf tea after doing some research and *supposedly* it helps for a shorter labor. I drink several cups a week.

#3 Affirmations

I have to admit, with my last pregnancy I was either very lazy or overconfident or both. I was so convinced that I would be just fine and my body would know what to do when I gave birth that I didn’t think I needed to read any pregnancy books or use affirmations or even a doula. While I’m still not using a doula this time, I did recently buy some natural birth affirmation cards. When summer break starts in two weeks, I’m planning to make my own affirmation recording, as cheesy as it sounds. My accidental mantra of “no one stays pregnant forever” was helpful to some extent so I want to try being more intentional with my mantras this time. You can laugh at me if you want. I probably would have laughed at me too a few years ago.

#4 Labor at home

I love my birth center. The midwives are wonderful and it’s extremely home-y. And I enjoyed having some family there with me through my first birthing experience. But, this time, I’m hoping to be able to stay home for most or all of labor with no one except for my husband and my daughter. It was hard having people watching me all the time and asking me how it was going, if I needed anything. I love them all dearly, but I really need to be able to get into the ‘zone’. So, if my midwife can’t make it to me (my birth center has only one is on shift at a time), I want to labor for as long as I can at home.

#5 Meditation

I almost didn’t add this one in, but I think it might be helpful to mention. I never thought of myself as a meditation type of person. However, I started meditating because meditiation videos came with my yoga subscription, and I figured it couldn’t hurt. I have developed a meditation practice that I’m actually very happy with because it does help me relax. In my experience, even just sitting still with a tall spine for a few minutes every day is helpful as a pregnant woman because it helps with your posture and just getting enough breath. I know I easily feel out of breath and even at five months along I’m feeling awfully compressed in my abdomen already.

I know none of this is a guarantee, but I certainly feel more prepared for what is to come. And I want to mention that having such a difficult first labor has permeated confidence through other areas of my life as well. From exercising, to graduating, to getting a job, to even handling my daughter’s tantrums, I tell myself, if I got through that, I can get through any of this.

We all have our own path to carve out. This was and is mine. Moms-to-be: don’t be afraid. Maybe none of these tips are for you. But I encourage you to find a ritual that helps you feel empowered to have the best birth experience possible. I believe in you. I really do.

So, what do you think? Any more tips or things that worked for you? I’d love to hear from you.

https://robinkoogle.wordpress.com