Labor and Delivery as an Oxyciser!

We honestly receive a lot of great feedback from Oxycisers who used Oxycise! throughout their pregnancy and especially in Labor and Delivery. I was pretty excited to try it out for myself.

I’ll try to steer clear of mentioning the weight side of things in this post, and will get to that in another more detailed and focused post about weight management during and post pregnancy.

I attended a series of 5 childbirthing classes. It was pretty fun looking forward to our Tuesday evenings going to our 2 hour long class that was just so exciting. Every class meant I was that much closer to having my baby and it was so fun to feel prepared for the hospital experience of labor and delivery. They say that knowledge replaces fear, and for me, that was totally TRUE!

I gained so much knowledge and felt ready to give birth. They said that 1 in 3 women have C-sections. To be honest, I would zone out here because nobody in my family had ever had a C section and I just knew that I wasn’t going to be one of those. I would look around the room and feel sorry for the others in there because I knew 1 in 3 of them would have C sections.

Little did I know.

I also felt really confident about the breathing. I learned their breathing techniques, but when it came down to it, I didn’t use their “huffs”. I didn’t feel a need. They call it “huff” when you exhale, while I just used the Oxycise exhaling techniques and actually felt better. Oxycise teaches you to exhale as if blowing through a straw or a trumpet. I liked the feeling of this because it tightens my stomach more than the huffing, and I knew it would help strengthen my ab muscles so that I could push harder and longer, if needed.

I felt like I was getting more oxygen my way, so I stuck with it. I’m grateful they teach their excellent breathing techniques, because oxygen does help with stress and pain management, and for those who don’t know Oxycise, that breathing technique works well. I just had my own way of getting the oxygen in me, that was more rejuvenating.

My due date of July 15, 2010 came.

I had an ultrasound that morning because I had been measuring pretty big and they were concerned about his size. The hard thing about ultrasounds at this point in the pregnancy is that they can be way off. I mean, waaaaay off. My little baby boy was measuring at 11 pounds 6 ounces, just shy of where they do an automatic C section because of the size. I had been told the week before that he was really big and that I might have to get a C section. I about had a panic attack. After I calmed down, I still thought there is no way I will have a C section.

The doctor recommended that I get induced immediately so that I don’t have to get a C section. We were so excited. We ran home, finished packing the hospital bag (way overpacked btw, I think I used maybe half of what I brought), grabbed some Subway, as I knew I couldn’t eat at the hospital… doctor ok-ed it.

Once in the hospital bed. They hooked up my IV (which took multiple, PAINFUL tries). The doctor checked me and I was already dilated to a 4 and hadn’t felt a single contraction yet. This was good news! As this is my first baby, I don’t know if that can be attributed to Oxycise, but it was great.

He started some Pitocin to help the contractions get moving, I’m sure he didn’t want to be there all night either. After about an hour, I was dilated to a 5 and I started to feel the contractions. This was when I really started to do the breathing exercises. I tried the huffing and the Oxycise breathing techniques. I preferred the Oxycise, and maybe that’s just because I do it all the time and was more comfortable with it. Either way, it helped me through the contractions. Once again, this is my first, so I have nothing to compare it to.

When I was about a 6, I wanted to walk around (they finally let me), and about half way around the loop, I about collapsed in pain. The contractions were suddenly so  powerful that I couldn’t think straight. I kept breathing, my husband helped me back to the room and I begged for the anesthesiologist to come and give me an epidural. I was only a 6, and I knew there was no way I could make it a few more hours with this kind of pain. It hurt so bad, especially with the Pitocin pushing it farther and harder.