There really isn’t a word to describe how I felt when my husband and I found out that I was expecting. We had been trying to conceive for 6 long years at the time and finally took the EXPENSIVE leap to begin our IVF journey. With that being said, I had plenty of time to daydream about being pregnant and to fear what my birthing experience would be like. Neither experience was how I envisioned; somehow, they were both amazingly better than I could imagine.

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"I began listening to positive birthing affirmations EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.''

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I was so afraid of giving birth but I knew I wanted to do what was best for my baby; which to me meant an unmedicated, vaginal birth. I wanted to avoid any birthing interventions but I dreaded the birth since all I had heard were horror stories. To make matters worse, the few mothers that had unmedicated births made it sound like it was unbearable.

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I began listening to positive birthing affirmations EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. I didn’t say or allow those around me to say negative things about their birth experiences anymore. I fed my soul with positivity only. I wanted to change the narrative around birth. I also began learning about what is actually happening within your body when you give birth. During Birth, all this accumulated knowledge including my studying of Hypnobirthing helped me understand what was happening.

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I birthed a 7 lb 11 oz baby with only a bit of discomfort and zero medication. I labored at home, walking and sitting in the shower. Until the time came for me to go to the hospital.

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I believe the most important factor that contributed to my peace during birth is the fact that I only had my husband and mother in the birthing room. I did not want a lot of commotion in the room so I knew less was best. My husband everything that I wanted during my birthing experience and asked that he communicate to the nurses as much as 

possible so that I can just do my thing.

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"The advice I’d give to expectant mothers is to know that your body was literally made to do this...''

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For example, I did not want to be asked about my pain level. My goal was to birth without pain medication, so I didn’t I want pain brought up. Therefore, for pain management I used the peanut ball and stayed on my side the whole time I was laboring at the hospital. Truly, a positive mindset and the people around me contributed to this great experience.

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The advice I’d give to expectant mothers is to know that your body was literally made to do this. Your body has everything it needs to keep your baby healthy and to birth your baby safely. When I started looking at my contractions as the thing that I WANTED to come because that meant my baby boy was closer to being in my arms, my entire mindset and experience changed.