As a first time mom I really didn’t know what labor and delivery would be like. During my pregnancy I did tons of reading and research to try to prepare myself, but it’s true that you can’t be fully prepared for childbirth. I’d sometimes get anxiety knowing that I couldn’t prepare for the unknown but I knew that there were some things I could control. For me these things were:

1. How much I educated myself on my options in the hospital

2. My mindset

I’m so glad that I focused on these things during pregnancy because I think it made a huge difference in my childbirth experience.

Towards the end of my pregnancy all I knew was that I wanted to labor as long as possible without getting an epidural (ideally going medication free), and that I didn’t want any medical interventions unless they were totally medically necessary. Other than that I wanted to have an open mindset to the whole experience because it was something I hadn’t done before!

On the morning of 4/12 (40+5 weeks) I lost my mucous plug started having pretty regular contractions that were lasting about a minute and occurring (on average) 5 mins apart. There was a part of me that didn’t think I was truly in labor but I figured we could go to the hospital to be checked anyway. To my surprise I was 3cm dilated when we got to the hospital and after walking the halls for an hour and I half, I lost the rest of my mucous plus and had progressed to a 4, so they admitted me!

Almost as soon as I was settled in my room the nurse came in and said the doctor could come in in 15 mins to break my water if I wanted him to. Knowing that this wasn’t medically necessary at this point and would likely make my contractions much worse in a short amount of time, I chose for them not to break my water.

I labored for about 7 hours (with the help of my amazing husband), my water broke on its own, and I finally got to a point where the pain was getting unbearable. I struggled for a little while with the decision to get an epidural but with an open mindset and the support of my family I decided there was no reason to continue to be in so much pain if I didn’t have to be. I had made it to 8cm on my own before getting the epidural, and I gotta say, I am SO glad that I made the decision to get one. It took effect immediately and I was able to relax and get some rest. I was having back to back contractions on the monitor which made me feel even better about my decision. After about 3 hours I had progressed to 10cm and and hour later I was ready to push! I had the most amazing team of doctors and nurses who kept the mood light and fun. We were even joking around between pushes! After 2 hours of pushing my sweet baby boy Easton was born! I guessed his weight exactly at 8lbs 12oz and he measured 20.5 inches long. At all my appointments he was measuring ahead and the doctors thought he might be close to 10lbs (but momma knows best 😉). I tore a little bit and had to get some stitches but I didn’t even care what was happening down there after my little boy was on my chest haha

Looking back, I truly enjoyed my childbirth experience and I believe this was partially due to having a flexible mindset and knowing my options. I also got lucky having such amazing staff and a very supportive family.

To all you first time moms who might be having some anxiety about childbirth, I hope my story helps and that you can have a positive experience too! Being flexible and going with the flow is really all you can do when the time comes. Expectations will just set you up for disappointment. You all are stronger than you think and built to do this! You got this mommas! ❤️

Some other tools that helped me....

1. The book Mindful Birthing by Nancy Bardacke

2. An awesome hospital playlist (I play it now and it gives me tears of joy)!