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I guess I'd say pushing too but I thought it was bad b/c I was soo drained, had been induced 2 days prior and hadn't been able to eat! I was just drained, had no energy. I was so mad that they wanted me to work and push when I hadn't been able to eat for energy. It was the only time I really thought "I can't do this".. but obviously I did do it and it only took an hour. But phew it was hard and totally draining!

The minutes before my emergency C-section. I was whisked into the OR while DH had to stay outside. I was shaking uncontrollably while they were preparing and was scared out of my mind. I couldn't wait for DH to get back in there.

I just wasn't prepared for being alone for that period of time and the shaking. No one tells you about the shaking!

Definitely the recovery the 2nd week home. First week home was totally fine. The second week though, omg! I was so raw and in pain down there!!! *cringe*

I had an epidural and it made my labor and delivery pretty easy. I felt so lucky. I definitely felt pressure and discomfort during transition, so I could only imagine what that'd feel like without the epidural...

Pushing! 2 hours and felt like giving up from the start lol. The epidural wore off just enough for me to feel that intense pressure, and I pushed & pushed and was sooo exhausted since I had been at the hospital for 24 hrs by then and had no food/water! Even tho they cut me and I had tearing, recovery wasn't as bad as I thought, and I'm a pain wuss!

Vomiting. I absolutely hated throwing up during transition.

Not being able to move after my water broke but before I got an epidural. I had to be induced due to high blood pressure and apparently LO was much more active and floppy than the average child. They told me I could move around as long a I kept the monitors on but literally every time I so much as sat up or shifted from one side to the other LO flopped and they lost her heart rate and they had to rush back in and find it again. Walking was out of the question, as was laboring in any of the ways I had hoped. I was basically strapped flat on my back and couldn't move and when my water broke I got super intense back labor contractions that were almost on top of each other and having to stay on my back was torture.

D's head got stuck in between contractions. I had to endure the "Ring of Fire" for much longer than any human should ever have to endure anything. I thought I was splitting in half.

For me pushing was a relief, though very exhausting and the hardest physical work I've ever done. The hardest part of giving birth for me was recovering from severe tearing. I had a hard time moving/sitting/functioning for weeks after giving birth.

Pre-epidural contractions. My water broke spontaneously and contractions were pretty bad from the beginning, but I had to stay in triage for what felt like a long time (I think it was like 4 hours) due to there being no delivery rooms available. Since I was in triage, I wasn't really allowed to move around at all and I had to keep a monitor attached to me at all times. Plus it was absolutely freezing in there. I had planned to use a self-hyponosis exercise but I kept getting distracted. By the time a room opened up for me, I was in so much pain, I requested the epi immediately and the rest of the labor was very easy for me (including pushing).

After 15 hours of unmedicated labor -- and my water broke four hours before my labor started, so the very first contraction hit hard -- my OB told me I was ready to push. That did not compute for me at ALL. I spent a bunch of time feeling confused with three people (OB, doula, husband) watching with great anticipation. Finally I was having horrible pain even between contractions and could not mentally get on top of the situation. I just wanted to escape from my body. So I asked for (or was encouraged to get? it's fuzzy) an epidural because I did not see any other way out*. I got one at the 17-hour mark and finally calmed down. My OB checked me again and found a lip on my cervix. That explained a lot!

Those two hours were definitely the worst part because they were so confusing and I had already been in so much pain for so long.

Note: It took another six hours and some pitocin before I pushed out the baby, so I'm glad I got the epi. I only pushed for about half an hour so that part was pretty easy. Everyone said I was "a good pusher" but I have no idea what that means. I credit my many years of yoga practice for that.

*My Bradley teacher said that everyone reaches a point in their labor when they think it will never end. In hindsight, that is what happened to me. No one identified that and/or encouraged me to push through it though. But it's ok. I mostly wanted a natural childbirth because I was terrified of an epidural. Otherwise I got exactly the birth experience I was hoping for.

the fear when my body started pushing, and I was only 6 cm dilated.

After 17 1/2 hours of unmedicated labor, baby was so low that my body was pushing him out without me trying - but there was no opening for him. The nurses kept telling me to stop or they'd have to surgically repair my cervix afterwards...but I couldn't stop because I wasn't doing anything. My doula helped me with relaxation techniques, and I got pitocin to try and speed my cervix up, but after 45 minutes of no change and total panic, I got an epidural to slow down the baby/speed up my cervix. The epidural felt like I had been hit by lightning from my right hip to my toes, and I screamed worse than anything up to that point, but then I fell asleep and woke up 4 hours later, pushed, and baby was here!

Oh, and the infected stitches that weren't fully healed until after 16w post partum (that was my last doctor visit, and I was about 80% healed)...those were awesome.

Labor - not a big deal
Pushing for 4.5 hours - whoa. I was not prepared for how much that wo uld hurt and how exhausting.

1st: My second (out of 3) failed epidural which happened during transition. I had snot, sweat, tears, and vomit all dripping down my face at once.
2nd: Spinal headache and resulting blood patch procedure

I am also surprised by the number of votes for pushing!! I pushed 3 hours with my first but I swear it felt like 20 minutes.. I think the adrenaline took me over. With my second I pushed maybe 10 minutes and she flew right out.

Both times the final contractions before I felt the urge to push were unbearable. Felt like my pelvis was going to split in two. Pushing was no walk in the park but it was a very welcome change!