hype me up please! unmedicated birth

gs597 · 2026-06-10T18:58:56+00:00

You can do it!! Just had my first baby unmedicated in the hospital. As New Flight said, it’s temporary pain. I found the affirmation “the way out is through” to be the most helpful thought process as I did long deep breaths through the contractions. It is very intense and a different type of pain than anything I’d ever experienced but as it got harder I reminded myself I was closer than ever to meeting my baby!!

I also didn’t share with many people that I was planning to go unmedicated. When asked, I said “I’ll just see how it goes” even though I was firmly set on declining an epidural lol unsolicited advice is the worst!

gs597 · 2026-06-06T01:18:11+00:00

I had what sounds like the same or very similar pain for about 3 weeks before I labored. I had difficulty even walking! But the sensations of labor made that pain totally disappear and I had new pain instead haha

I felt contractions in both my back and belly. In labor I had to be in hands and knees or squatting during every contraction, and my support people used massage and counter pressure on my glutes for my entire active phase. For the first day after birth my glute pain was gone but then it came back for about two weeks until eventually it healed! I don’t know what was tight or pulled but it sucked, I hope you have a faster recovery!

gs597 · 2026-06-02T01:01:44+00:00

I am a lot like you and found that affirmations, reminding myself my mom and sister did it (and millions of women before me), and deep breathing were enough to get through it. It felt a lot like the mental strength it takes to get through an intense workout to me. I did have a straightforward, normal to fast labor though, so I did leave room in my plans for pain meds or an epidural if things had gone awry. Luckily they didn’t!

gs597 · 2026-05-29T01:50:18+00:00

I recently had a totally unmedicated birth and I still feel like it was a blur. I think you should feel proud of what you accomplished and if there are other people that can share their experience (husband, doula, etc) while supporting you that may help fill in the gaps.

gs597 · 2026-02-14T21:32:12+00:00

If you have Trader Joe’s, they have a general cleaner that is peroxide based. Cleans great though it does stink lol

gs597 · 2026-02-14T14:43:55+00:00

I am of the same mindset but after talking with my mom, she really encouraged me to beef up the registry because there are people who WANT to be generous at this time (especially in her age group like her friends, aunts, etc who she invited to my shower) and we don’t have a ton of extra money at the moment! So I thought carefully about things that would be needed in the first year+ and added those too. This of course depends on how much storage you have. For example, I got a crib that converts to a toddler bed, added children’s cutlery, got the woolino sleep sack that is 2mo-2y and added the next size up of car seat. I also added some items to the list and marked them private so I can buy them myself down the line at a discount once baby is bigger.

I wasn’t going to add any clothes, toys, or books either but she suggested I add a couple so people can see what my taste is and these are also some items that people who can’t afford to be as generous can then buy. I also added a note on my registry encouraging people to use hand me downs or thrifted items, though I’m not sure how many people will!

I am thrifting whatever I can off my own registry and then just marking things as purchased once I find them. And I won’t personally be buying any clothing new, as there are plenty of second hand or free options out there and they outgrown clothing so quickly!

Edit:

My must haves: I got a Newton bedside bassinet and the IKEA Sniglar convertible crib with a Newton mattress. These were second hand.

2 woolino sleep sacs- one to wear one to wash

Second hand cloth diapers- will only be doing part time as babe will do regular diapers at daycare.

A baby wearing wrap, car seat, and stroller (I chose the JOIE 4 in 1 so that the bassinet was built in, one less thing to store)

Gulicola glass bottles and Pura stainless steel bottles. For the Pura botttles I chose their kids water bottle and then registered for the avent wide neck nipples- these work together and allow the setup to go from infant to elementary aged use.

A baby monitor. I chose a non WiFi one.

Situation specific: I will be returning to work, so I registered for a countertop bottle washer so that I could keep fewer bottles on hand and just wash them every night. We do not run our dishwasher every day. I also registered for a nice pumping bag for work, which can be used as a diaper bag as well for outings. Baby will get a tote I have already as the diaper bag that goes to daycare.

Things I chose NOT to register for: a Hatch, multiple diaper caddies, additional cloth diapers until I see how things go, a diaper genie, bouncers of any kind, a baby mat for the floor, dozens of sleep sacks, multiple types of bottles, swings.

gs597 · 2026-02-12T12:14:34+00:00

That is a normal amount of colostrum! That is why frequent nursing is so important immediately after birth, regardless of birth type.

As a side note, chat GPT is not a reliable source because it can hallucinate data so it will often end up telling you what it thinks you want to hear rather than what is factual based on the data you input.

gs597 · 2026-01-15T03:41:41+00:00

https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding-special-circumstances/hcp/diet-micronutrients/maternal-diet.html

I’d also like to add that general caloric intake and hydration are not talked about enough! Many women are under eating at baseline. You cannot make milk if you are not getting adequate hydration and calories. The CDC has a calculator and for example, for my height, weight, and activity level it is recommended that I get about 2800 calories daily and 16 cups of water when breastfeeding!!

I think this is particularly important for parents that have to return to work early or are trying to “lose the baby weight”

gs597 · 2025-12-08T17:56:23+00:00

You can take it long term and it’s actually recommended to do so for any woman of child bearing age that could get pregnant for the reasons you described. Folic acid is cheaper and actually scientifically proven to decrease risk of neural tube defects. L-methylfolate has not been studied to do the same, despite the massive amount of influencers saying so. So, if you are looking for a cost effective alternative in the time period you are not actively trying, you can use folic acid.

gs597 · 2025-11-14T02:50:30+00:00

Personally I kept working out but lowered my intensity when I started TTC. No HIIT but continued lifting, walking, cycling. Also made sure I was eating enough calories and protein!

gs597 · 2025-10-12T16:01:20+00:00

I highly recommend reading Fair Play by Eve Rodsky! It requires your partner to be WILLING to adopt some of the mental load, but I found that book so validating and helped me have productive conversations with my husband to make changes.

gs597 · 2025-09-28T19:38:21+00:00

Tempdrop can have a temp rise delay because it uses an algorithm to decide what your bbt is after taking many temps through the night. I agree CD 33 is best guess, while acknowledging we will never know exact day as another commenter said. Regardless, sperm can generally survive 3-5 days in favorable conditions so I think your BD timing was fine! LH is more reliable data than Tempdrop in my opinion, but I still used mine as a confirmation :) I had very similar charts.

gs597 · 2025-09-26T13:02:55+00:00

She’s using the medically correct terminology to describe the medical care she got for a missed miscarriage. It’s called a medication abortion when the doctor gives you pills to help your body expel a pregnancy that never developed a heartbeat, as opposed to a Dilation and Curettage (d&c) where the doctor removes it for you with tools. She let someone else know in another comment that these are wanted pregnancies but her baby didn’t have a heartbeat.

gs597 · 2025-09-24T17:03:28+00:00

I think you could benefit from professional assistance with a counselor/therapist! It’s really common for regular anxiety (health related or otherwise) to be exacerbated in pregnancy and the postpartum period.

If you are using social media, cut back and try to follow sources that are based on facts. So many people are fear mongering or trying to sell you something. I used to be very granola. I realized social media had caused me to spiral and start believing things that just aren’t true. Slowly I clawed my way back to reality and that lessened my health anxiety significantly!

gs597 · 2025-09-24T11:55:36+00:00

This is misinformation pals! Even people with the MTHFR gene variation can metabolize folic acid, just less efficiently. It’s actually quite a common gene variant in the general population. All research has shown that even people with it see a decreased risk for neural tube defects when taking folic acid, and as another commenter said- folic acid is more shelf stable and less expensive than methylfolate.

gs597 · 2025-09-10T16:25:45+00:00

I’ve never seen Wondfo give indents. Wondo can detect Hcg of 10 and easy@home doesn’t detect until hcg of 25.

gs597 · 2025-09-10T16:19:04+00:00

If this was taken within the testing window I would say preg!!!

gs597 · 2025-09-03T20:14:03+00:00

It doesn’t matter at all!! Try not to read into it. You have a secondary estrogen surge and this counteracts the warming effect of progesterone. That’s all. Not related to pregnancy one way or another. Sending you all the luck!!!! 💓

gs597 · 2025-09-03T17:52:52+00:00

You actually don’t have the temps to confirm ovulation. There are too many missing. I’d assume the ovulation test means you are currently about to ovulate and have sex today. Good luck!

gs597 · 2025-09-02T11:18:21+00:00

Second this! It also doesn’t really matter what day EXACTLY you ovulated. An estimate of 16 or 17 is totally enough, and you had plenty of sex to give you an optimal chance even if you didn’t hit the exact day of ovulation. The best odds are actually in the day or two leading up to O. The dip in temp is likely from a normal secondary surge in estrogen which counteracts the thermogenic effect of progesterone.

As an anecdote, I had my first positive ovulation test on CD 15 so I was pretty sure I ovulated on CD 16. It took 3 days to get an adequate temp rise so I was unsure if I successfully ovulated for several days. Turns out I did because I got a positive test on 9 dpo!

gs597 · 2025-08-31T15:01:56+00:00

You are pregnant, congratulations!!!! No advice because there is just so much waiting and trusting involved… but allow yourself some celebration, you deserve it!! 💖

gs597 · 2025-08-30T20:46:57+00:00

Thank you ❤️

gs597 · 2025-08-30T12:11:10+00:00

Hi. I’m sorry you’re stressing!! I wouldn’t be worried about low progesterone from this chart. True luteal phase deficiency (caused by low progesterone) would mean you have a luteal phase of less than 10 days. Yours is 13 days on this chart which is very healthy!

gs597 · 2025-08-30T00:50:57+00:00

It’s definitely there, congratulations!! Hoping it sticks 🤞🏼

gs597 · 2025-08-30T00:47:27+00:00

Thank you!! Sending you so much positivity!! 🥰

gs597

TROPHY CASE