“I had my baby all-natural. What? I gave birth drug-free. I swear it. No epidural. Am I psychotic? Maybe.
I felt my labor starting on Friday. It was Mary’s birthday party at Las Palapas. I really thought it was time. You’d think that on baby three I would be able to tell real labor vs fake labor. Contractions…Everyone slept over. I was fucking miserable. So pregnant…hot…hungry…tired. Come Saturday – no baby. Annoying…
I tried everything!! I walked miles, ate spicy food, ran up and down the stairs, had awkward huge belly sex, and NOTHING.
Sunday, I told myself this is the day. I met an angel from my oils group at the gas station who gave me some Clary Sage. It was honestly such a nice gesture. I didn’t even know her and she just hooked me up. THANK GOD. Clary Sage is an oil I had read about on Pinterest and heard about in my oils group. Other pregnant women claimed it helped their bodies naturally go into labor. “It promotes relaxation and pain relief during childbirth.” I was into it. I would do anything at that point…plus my oils did me right throughout my pregnancy. I loved them and trusted them. I was in labor by the afternoon.
I labored at home for a few hours. I didn’t tell my husband how far along I thought I was. I didn’t tell him I had called my doc at 3 and she told me to get to the hospital. My sister, husband, mother, daughter, and I arrived at the hospital around 4. I was 7cm.
Wearing my gown, I waddled around the hospital feeling pretty damn good. My contractions were hardcore, but only during a contraction was I in pain. I could feel the pressure of the baby in my pelvis, but it felt awesome…get out of me! I walked up and down and up and down the labor and delivery unit.
Too soon the nurse made me stay in bed. I don’t know why, it was annoying. The thought of lying in bed, paralyzed, scared me. They told me if I wanted an epidural, I had 5 minutes to get one. I felt like I didn’t need one but I was afraid to do it without one. WTF why would I get one if I didn’t need it? But I also knew what was coming…I knew I would need it…I thought I would need it. I got anxious and started diffusing Stress Away and Lavender.
No epidural. My back pain was extreme, by far the worst part. I used Deep Relief. My sweet friend applied to my bare backside. THANKS, NAY! Doctors and nurses all commented on how good it smelled and how cool it was that I was using natural essential oils instead of an epidural. They were so much cooler about it than I thought they would be.
They later broke my water. Baby girl made her first poop in my uterus. Sick sick. The water was green and yucky. I guess the fear was when the baby comes out she will take her first breath and get dookie in her lungs, so there were several extra medical people in the room. The situation was more serious than they let me think, but that was for the better. I was trying to make light of the situation by making a few jokes. Wrong time, I guess. It’s so weird being on blast like that -under the brightest lights in the world with literally all eyes on you, well on your china that is.
I felt good. I felt strong like I was doing something so cool. The moments between pushing and contractions were almost euphoric. The smells of labor are not good, but my diffuser covered them up. Labor is such a mind game. Your head needs to be outside of your pain, and my oils got me mentally there. I was calm and after 5 pushes, she was here. She was perfect. Healthy. No poopy lungs.
Scarlett Charisse made her debut around 8 pm. I should know the exact time, but fuck man I was busy. Blonde hair, blue eyes. She was so cute.
The best part about not having an epidural was I didn’t have to shower off with a nurse stranger. So awk. Instead, I showered off with my bestie, haha AND I got to go home early…well, on time. The soonest you can leave the hospital after vaginal delivery is 24 hours. We left at 9 pm the next night.
When I got home, I made a spray for my china town…clary sage, lavender, and frank. Thank you, Jesus! That was the jam. SO GOOD. That with my water bottle and witch hazel pads…just what I needed.
So basically, I rocked it. I probably won’t ever do it again- mostly because the hubs isn’t into more kids… FOR SURE I won’t give birth without my oils. Thanks, Young Living for helping me bring my baby girl into this world like a boss.
The above post was written in 2015 on an old blog, after the birth of our 3rd child. I am currently expecting and plan to follow this method again!
