The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS, a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA

OK First Birth and Dream Waterbirth for Second Birth

your birth story reminds me so much of my first, but mine ended up very differently. i labored for three days with progress only to 3 cm. i was unable to lie down because the contractions were unbearable in that position. so i sat up while everyone told me that the "real" labor was yet to come. i puked every bit of food that was force fed to me and was just generally disappointed in myself. we finally ended up transporting to the hospital, where with a bit of pitocin and some fentanyl to help me sleep, my baby was born after 3 hours of pushing- which i still cannot believe i made it through.

when i became pregnant 3 years later i had a lot of issues to deal with. i was afraid of having a long and grueling labor again, and afraid of the hospital. one of my midwives reminded me that i had to really trust that my body knew what to do. i just gave up all expectations of what would happen, and put all my energy into relaxing. I practiced this using relaxation tapes throughout my pregnancy. during labor, after a long walk, i sat down on my couch and did mot move for the next 4 hours (except to pee). it took all the energy i ad to concentrate on relaxing so that my cervix felt free to open up. it worked, and after 4 hours, of "real" labor, i easily gave birth to my second son, at home, outside, in a pool of water. it was a truly magical experience.

i think that low or no expectations of what would happen, plus extreme relaxation are what helped me. plus, i had to trust my body. if i did it, i know you can. face your fears, you can overcome them!