My decision to not have an epidural began after our birthing class. The video was enough for me and I made the decision on my first delivery to not have anything invasive – not even an IV. I did read the Bradley Method book in preparation.

Fortunately on my first delivery my water broke at home and the doctor on call said, "I will see you in 12 more hours." My son had other plans. When we arrived at the hospital I was already 3 to 4 centimeters dilated. It is a fog but I do remember walking around until I could not walk any longer. The most I remember is just being uncomfortable as if it were a cause of cramps and a huge load on the lower portion of my body. My son (we did know the sex at the time) was born 4 1/2 hours later.

Our next child was born last Thanksgiving (three weeks early). I proceeded to cook the night before so we would have a nice dinner for the three of us. On Thanksgiving morning, I woke up feeling a lot of pressure. As the evening approached I felt crampy and uncomfortable, even after walking and the feeling not passing. My husband suggested I call the doctor. Since I did not have a long frequency of what I thought were contractions, she suggested I wait a little while longer to see if the pains went away. My main priority was to finish my Thanksgiving dinner since the hospital restricts what you eat when in labor.

I called the doctor back to say the pains were not going away so I headed to maternity. When I arrived the nurse examined me and I was about 3 centimeters dilated. Never in my wildest dreams did I think she would come three weeks early. Oh, my water did not break prior to arriving at the hospital. This is one reason I thought it was a false alarm.

The nurse did suggest I do an IV to prevent dehydration as I elected not to have an epidural again. When I could no longer walk, I went back to my room to do squats and she was taking a little bit to drop down.

Finally I was given the go ahead to start pushing. How exhausting. It was over an one hour of pushing and she still had not dropped, nor did my water break. The doctor examined me and asked if I wanted her to break my water. Being a trooper or trying to be one I said no. She told me, "I will see you in another hour."

She never had that hour. Shortly after she left, my water broke and the baby proceeded down the birth canal. My OB/GYN barely had time to get into scrubs. This delivery was a little over five hours.

One lesson learned: No two births are the same. I do not regret my decision for no drugs and would do it again in a heartbeat. Physically I felt great and was able to walk around and eat whatever I wanted. I must admit it felt as if I had run two marathons. One thing in my favor is the short delivery times.