I had a water birth with my son using the Bradley Method (husband-coached childbirth) and it was the most awesome experience I have ever had. In the class we took, we learned that birth is not a medical event, and does not need to be treated as such with unneccessary medical intervention (intervention does have its place, though, if one is having difficulty during delivery, and if that is the case then thank God we have the medical advancements that we do!). As long as the mother and baby are healthy and the pregnancy is normal, women can learn to work with their bodies during every step of labor for a healthy, unmedicated delivery where baby is born extremely alert and mom is up walking about in no time. (My birth story is at the end of this post.)
We learned what physically takes place in the body during labor, and we learned certain signs to look for to indicate what stage we were at. Complete knowledge of the natural birthing process was very empowering to us, and by the time I went into labor, DH and I knew exactly what to do (and what NOT to do!). We had learned relaxation techniques to work through each contraction; it took a lot of concentration, but it worked and believe me, I KNOW there are tons of women out there who think they can't do it (because of the engrained view that childbirth is a negative experience, as portrayed by our society), who absolutely CAN do it! I am a pain wimp and I did it!
The funny thing I noticed is how often I hear from the general public negative childbirth stories, some more negative than others, from people who give birth the 'medically accepted' way (inductions with pitocin, epidurals, scheduled c-sections). Yet while taking my natural childbirth class (and believe me, even though I knew I wanted to go natural, I was scared and nervous because I viewed childbirth as being a horrible experience from the views I had heard/seen during my life) I was absolutely FLOORED by the amount of positive experiences the visiting couples gave of their birth stories. I mean, how could having a non-medicated birth be a happy experience? How could these couple sit there with smiles on their faces as they recount their labor stories? How could they be so excited about sharing their experience that the husband and wife would keep talking over each other because they had so much to say? I was completely amazed and in awe. And I'm not talking just one or two couples. We heard from many, and it was always the same.
Before I go any further, PLEASE understand what I'm about to tell you... Natural childbirth is awesome if you decide to go that route, but there are no guarantees in childbirth. There ARE complications sometimes, some minor, some major. Even with the best intentions of having an unmedicated, non-intervention childbirth, sometimes situations arise where the best course of action is to have some kind of intervention and it doesn't mean the mother failed. Learning how to work with your body during labor is an attempt by the mom (and dad too, because he is a big part of helping her through it) to have a healthy, natural childbirth, as long as there aren't complications. If complications arise, she shouldn't feel defeated; it is merely having a goal of doing things as naturally as possible without immediately consenting to routine interventions that may not be necessary during the course of a normal labor. You obviously want to do what's best for your baby, and if intervention is needed, then you did your job at giving him/her what was best!
MY BIRTH STORY
Saturday-Sunday
Began losing my mucus plug litte by little. I knew this was not a reliable sign that labor was imminent, so I just went about my weekend as normal.
Monday
Went to work, continued losing mucus plug; no signs of labor. That night before going to bed, I told DH I was starting to feel mildly crampy, kind of like when I have my period. We went to bed.
Tuesday
I woke up around midnight, a couple hours after going to bed. The crampiness was getting a bit more intense, and I couldn't really sleep through it. I got up and started practicing the breathing/relaxation techniques and different positions we learned in class in different areas of the house. I didn't wake DH in order to conserve his energy so he could help me later when I would most need it!
I was up most of the night, but finally went back to sleep around 5am and slept for a couple hours. That morning, the crampiness subsided so I went to work with DH. We work at the same company, so we could easily leave if we needed to.
The crampiness returned and steadily became more intense throughout the day. I called my doula to give her an update. She said to just rest as much as possible to conserve my energy. I work at a computer and we ended up staying at work all day. By the end of the day, I was feeling a lot of pressure in my bottom, and couldn't sit down without discomfort. I was ready to go home to finish out my labor!
In the car, I reclined in the back seat since it was more comfortable; we began timing contractions at this point. At home, DH helped me through each contraction as we practiced the different techniques we learned. By evening, things were progessing enough that I called my doula (who was out of town) to let her know the status. She thought I was far enough along for her to start her drive back.
Each contraction started gradually, peaked in the middle, and then went back down, like a wave. The pain was definitely uncomfortable, but I knew that the worst of each contraction would really only last for maybe 10-15 seconds in the middle; I knew once I made it to the 30 second mark, the pain would only lessen from that point.
My doula got home around 11pm, but we agreed that we were handling everything fine for now, and she could get some sleep and come over in the morning. DH helped me the rest of the night through my ever increasing contractions.
Wednesday
My doula arrived around 7 or 8 am and I was laying in bed, deeply trying to concentrate on working through the intensity of the contractions. She had brought various things to help comfort me such as a rice sock which she heated to put on my lower back, a massage thingy for my back, etc. DH was playing a tape of ocean waves and surf which helped me visualize a calm retreat at the beach.
As the day wore on, my contractions became pretty intense, but with DH and the doula helping me (back rubs, pressure where I needed it, vocal encouragement, wet washcloths on my forehead), I got through them. Around 5pm we left for the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 6pm, and the hospital policy was to strap a baby monitor on my belly for 20 minutes. I hated laying on the bed; I just wanted to either move around or get in a more vertical position that was more condusive to helping the baby move down through the birth canal. They checked me and said I was fully effaced and 9 centimeters. Whoa, I'm almost there! Could that be right? Yes, the contractions were painful, but I felt in control the whole time. I had always imagined feeling as if I were going to die. Trust me, you DO NOT feel like you are going to die! (I only make this claim if you do not take pitocin, the drug that brings on contractions. Pitocin can cause contractions to feel a lot more intense than natural ones because the gradual build up is eliminated and it can jump to the intense level right away). They started filling the freestanding tub and 30 minutes later, I was able to get in.
Ahhhhh! Pure bliss! That warm water felt heavenly and eased the pain a bit. About 10 seconds after getting in the tub, I started to get a contraction, but this time, something strange happened... my body, as if it were being controlled by someone else, started pushing, and pretty intensely I might add! It was such a strange sensation to have my body doing something as if on auto-pilot. Anyway, the contraction initially was very painful but THE SECOND I started to push with my body, the pain went away. Don't get me wrong, there was still a lot of pressure, but I can't say that it hurt. It was more of a feeling of relief to push. Each time I began a contraction, it started to hurt and I thought, "Well, I lucked out the first few contractions, now it will hurt through the whole thing," but it never did. Once I began pushing, all pain disappeared. (Thinking back, I remember that a few of the couples who gave their birth story at our class mentioned something similar.)
The tub had molded seats like a jacuzzi, and after a few pushes my DH put his swim suit on and joined me. He sat in the molded seat and I sat on the floor, leaning back against him while he supported me. They had a mirror set up, and they told me to reach down because I could feel the baby's head. It was so neat! It felt squishy and wrinkly, not the way I imagined it would feel.
Anyway, I closed my eyes during each contraction, as I was focusing all I had on pushing him out. Since I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of true "pain", I began thinking about the inevitable "ring of fire" many women experience when the head fully crowns. I was trying to brace myself for it. There was a ton of pressure, and the most painful thing to me was when my midwife was trying to stretch me with her fingers a bit to avoid a tear.
Everyone was repeatedly saying, "Push, push, push, push..." and all of a sudden, I felt a quick movement down below and when I opened my eyes, my slippery baby was being placed on my chest. I was caught off-guard because I was waiting for that dang ring of fire; I had my eyes closed and didn't even get to look in the mirror to see him come out of me and into the water! That is one thing I am a little sad about. But I guess the water dulled down the ring of fire sensation, either that or I didn't notice it because of the midwife stretching me.
The pushing stage lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes and Jacob was born at 9:21 pm on 8/24/05. The entire process was truly awesome; my wish is for every woman to at least explore the option of giving birth naturally. Disregard your initial reaction that one must be crazy to do that. Many women do, and find out that yes they can do it. AND NOT TO BE A MARTYR, either. Many people misunderstand. I did it this way to have the healthiest birth possible, and because our bodies are made to give birth to children. Our bodies know what to do and are perfectly capable of doing it, if you work with it. Childbirth can be such a rewarding experience, I want people to know that it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom the way it is so often portrayed.
Please PM if you want to talk more or have any questions!
Laura
BOY IS IT WORTH IT! 
Actually, we only wanted one child. It's a good thing we only wanted one.
They brought me a bedpan, which was worthless. They got a catheter, which was fine. By 4 PM I was in transition and I was puking. Puking ice chips is not good. I don't recommend it. The nurse was shocked that I went from about 4 cm to about 8 cm very quickly. I was having excruciating back pain, but I was maxed out on the meds in the epidural. Did I mention that I was also crying? It never occurred to me that the darn thing might not work! I expected to not be able to feel my legs, but I am quite certain I could have gotten up and walked around. Nothing was numb, except the muscles I needed to push with. The nurses had me start pushing about 5 PM. Nothing happened. I pushed until 6:30 PM when the doctor arrived. She told me to push for 30 more minutes and if Baby wasn't out they would vacuum extract him. I told her to get the vacuum NOW. She didn't. She put these handles up on each side of the bed and told me to pull them like I was rowing a boat. 30 minutes later DS was almost out! But FIRST I needed an episiotomy! Doctor poked me with the scissors first to make sure I was numb. NOPE! (I also don't recommend being poked in the bottom with scissors if you aren't numb.) She then gave me an injection to numb my bottom. At 7:10 PM DS was born. 
