I wanted to be out of bed too for the majority of my labor. Unfortunately, things didn't go completely as planned, but I still got to have the natural labor and delivery I wanted. I found leaning over the head of the bed while it was all the way up (resting my knees on a pillow) helped for the longest time. The birthing ball helped too as I swayed and rocked on it. Also, just leaning forward, either while standing next to the bed, or in bed...for me, leaning back was the worst way to deal with contractions. If you have the chance, hydrotherapy works wonders for pain, either using the shower or a tub. And, if you can use a heating pad during contractions where the pain is the worst...that felt amazing to me!

I did hypnobirthing and it was amazing!! I definitely plan on doing it for the rest of my labors as well. It was very relaxing and easy. But, I also was only in hard labor for about 3 hours. I had prodormal labor for two weeks though.

The only thing that would have made it better would be to have a cooperative hospital staff. They did NOT like the idea of whatever I was doing and they were really difficult. Other than that, it was really a great method.

Here is my son's birth story:http://xxfirexboltxx.xanga.com/weblogpreview/?nextdate=6%2f11%2f2009+9%3a48%3a0.813&direction=n if you want to read about it.

I loved hypnobirthing!!!!

Birthing pool was the best thing EVER.  Really it was just a kiddie pool that the midwives and my husband kept nice and warm/hot (we had a homebirth).  My midwife also did a good job with applying counter-pressure on my lower back when I was pushing.  I did almost all of my labor in the pool, but before that walking around and sitting on an exercise ball doing hip rotations was wonderful and kept things moving.  I did a lot of mental relaxation between contractions (so much so that I snored between all of them).  Not bad for 16 hours of labor and 3.5 hours of solid pushing.

i wish i wouldn't have been stuck laying in the bed they wouldn't let me up at one point they were trying to hold me there

I found that if I could keep my mind elsewhere the pain would not be so bad because I was not focusing on it or on trying to make it lessen. Focusing on stopping the pain in effect made me focus on the pain more and so it hurt worse. I hated the disgusting messiness of the birthing pool thing but I loved the freedom of walking around. Soothing music didn't manage to keep my mind off the pain but something with a nice beat did help. Also focusing on a video game or knitting or a board game with the kids helped. My last labor was three days long and right before Christmas so I spent most of it cooking and setting up for Christmas day waiting until the very last possible moment before going to the hospital. For some reason hospitals make me hurt ten times worse. Probably all that poking and prodding around they do every few minutes and the fact that they get really nervous when you start walking around. 

With my first one, nothing helped.  By the time I got to the hospital it was too far along to give me anything.

DH and I took a Bradley Method class where I learned a few different relaxation and breathing techniques and was educated on the whole labor process. More importantly, knowing what my body was doing and being prepared for almost any situation helped me deal with the pain. It kept me from being afraid. My birth story is in my blog. http://alextebow.xanga.com/714979826/birth-story/

For the early stages of labor, chilling in the shower or sitting/bouncing on an exercise ball and leaning on my bed was great. When labor really got going, I just wanted to be on my feet and leaning on the bed with DH rubbing my lower back. I was able to tune out everything going on around me and just focus on my breathing and DH's touch. If his hands weren't there during a contraction, I would start to panic and it would hurt more. Visualizing myself in some other place or trying to distract myself from the pain didn't work. Instead I just took one contraction at a time and tried my best not to anticipate the next one. Telling myself that each contraction got me closer to the end result helped too.

hydrotherapy was huge for me.    But I also believe that education is key.  There's more to labour pain than meets the eye!  

@KiraWuzHerexD@xanga - I 100% agree that midwives are the way to go. I wish I had done that with my first, but I wasn't as educated on childbirth then as I am now. You can also get a doula - they can help you soooo much through your labor with massage and encouragement etc. You can even get one for free if necessary through their schools. Ask a midwife or a doula, they would know how to direct you to that. I wish I had done that, too. A little encouragement goes a long way as far as natural pain management - most hospital personnel will push narcotics and epidurals because that's all they know.

I used a midwife and hypnobirthing.  I also stayed out of the bed.  I only lie down to have my cervix checked.  It was an induced labor without pain medication.  Another thing that helped was rocking in a glider rocking chair.  This time I'm staying home with a midwife and a birthing tub.

I tried au natural for my first, but with the pitocin and the back labor (he was facing the wrong way) after six hours and barely any progress I went for the epi.  I had tried everything I had learned about, focal point, shower, walking.  Nothing helped, not even a little.  Plus, my hubby had bronchitis, so we were both relieved when the drugs kicked in. 

With my second one, I went into labor on my own, he was facing the right direction, and labor went much more smoothly.  I was already more than halfway there when I got to the hospital.  I found that for that labor focusing on my son's kindergarten picture helped immensely.  It helped me know through the pain, how very worth it it really was.  Plus, it was such a great picture I actually came out of my contractions laughing.  It was a great experience.  I did end up getting an epi, just because I had fond memories of it taking away all the pain from the first time.  This one, however, only worked on one side of my body.  So, I still needed that picture.

This time around, I have a mid-wife, and I know, so long as things are going fine that I can do much more than I thought.  However, I have a habit of tearing badly and needing stitches after, so I'll be having conversations with my midwife about all of that and those options.  I would like to not be flat on my back to push this one out. 

@MommyGEM_RN@xanga - I'm sorry. For some reason when I wrote it, I marked it as private, I'm not sure why I did that. Anyway....here is the link:

http://xxfirexboltxx.xanga.com/704368286/the-birth-story-of-andrew-marshall-graves/

i had intense back labor so being in bed did not work for me. I basically straddled a chair and my husband pressed a large hot water bottle into my  lower back with all the strength he had.