Several months before my due date, I decided that I wanted to have a natural child birth. Most of my girlfriends told me that I was crazy and said that I would change my mind when I went into labor. My due date was December 11th of 2016. That day came and past, and I was still pregnant. I continued to work full-time and while I was at work on December 16th, I started to have mild cramping and then contractions. The contractions were manageable so I stayed at work until 5 pm. When I left work, I decided to go home and pack a bag so that I could stay at my girlfriend's house for the night. Around 7 pm, my contractions started to become consistent and were 5 minutes apart. We were baking Christmas cookies and watching Kevin Hart's "Let Me Explain" to keep myself distracted from the pain. I decided to call my doctor around 9 pm, and he said not to come in until they were 3 minutes apart. At 2 am on December 17th, there was an ice storm coming so my doctor said I could go to the hospital and he would see how far I was dilated. When my girlfriend and I got there, we found out that I was only 1.5 cm dilated, and they discharged me a few hours later. I went back to my girlfriend's house and my contractions continued to occur but about every 10 minutes. I tried to sleep but couldn't so I drove myself to parents' house around 2 pm and just laid around. Around 1 am on December 18th (one week past my due date), the contractions got increasingly worse and I could barely talk or walk. I called my doctor immediately, and he said to come on in again! When I arrived at the hospital, I was almost 5 cm dilated. My doula and my girlfriend showed up about 30 minutes later to be my support people during my labor and delivery. I was determined to make it through without an epidural or any drugs. I didn't want my water to be broken either. I knew that I wanted everything to occur naturally on God's time. My pregnancy wasn't planned and nothing turned out as I expected. If God got me through the 10 months I carried my son as a single woman, then He could surely get me through the delivery process. I prayed about my labor for months and it turned out exactly as I had planned. I breathed through each contraction. I used a rice bag, lavender essential oil, a peanut ball and massage to help with the pain. I held the hands of two amazing women until close to the end when I chose to grip the bed rail with every muscle I had. I pushed for 3 hours to get my beautiful baby boy out. I never screamed and I only cried during the last hour when my body started to shut down from exhaustion. I prayed to God to get my son out safely and He did! When I saw my baby boy and held him in my arms, I knew my life was never going to be the same. I was completely in love and at that moment, I knew I made all the right decisions and had ZERO regrets. My body was so much stronger than I thought. My mind was so much stronger than I had realized. When you are committed to something/someone, anything is possible. You just have to stay focused and follow the plan your heart desires. Every time I exercise, I feel amazing afterwards. However, the exercise during natural child birth gives you the greatest reward ever - a beautiful living soul!
~ J. Lynn
