Hellobee Boards

I didn't go natural, and childbirth was still the most painful thing I've ever experienced. While waiting for my epidural I kept telling my hubby "I don't understand how people go natural!" over and over again. And I got my epidural pretty quickly.

I thought I'd be able to handle the pain a little bit better (not that I was planning on going natural, I always knew I wanted meds) because I get pretty nasty migraines. Like send me to the ER migraines. And I have to deal with them all the time. But I think childbirth just made me realize that I have a very low tolerance for pain.

Blushink does bring up a good point.... as much as it sucks it's not going to stop me from doing it again 3 weeks after my baby was born I was already begging my hubby for another. He thought I was crazy, seeing that I just went through pregnancy and gave birth. But so worth it!

Yes, it was. I've never broken a bone, been in any type of accident or had any kind of surgery, so I am probably not the most experienced with different kinds of pain though.

It was hard having a natural delivery, but we used accupressure to help and it actually did. Labor and delivery was hard, but the second degree cut to my eyeball was for worse. Oh, and labor was only really hard during transition.

Yes. But it wasn't like any other pain I'd felt before...it had a purpose which made it easier to deal with. And then the endorphins kick in, which was amazing. When it was over I was in zero pain. I'm definitely going to try to go natural with all of my kiddos.

I'm a pretty healthy person, so I had never been through many physically painful experiences in my life prior to giving birth, except for one minor same-day surgery when I was 22. But yes, active labor was a very intense and painful experience for me when I had both my babies.

The first time around, the contractions were very painful, and I wanted an epidural right away. However, I wasn't dilated enough so I was sent home without one even though the pain was worsening. It was horrible and I labored at home for another 4hours with no meds. I finally got my epidural 9 hours after I initially wanted it. I don't know how I did it, but I am glad I persevered through that.

It gave me the strength to say to myself that I could do it again with the next baby without any meds... And that's just what happened. The contractions again were very painful and intense... Probably more so the second time around because I dilated much quicker. Contractions were very strong and frequent... I had my baby in 6 hours from start to finish. I think I was able to deal with the pain better this time though because I was mentally prepared to do so. A great support system, deep breathing, and being very informed about the process helped a ton too. Got to the hospital at 9cm, and pushed her out in a few minutes after seeing the doctor. I honestly felt no pain when pushing... Just a ton of pressure. I'm very glad we went natural, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat for the next one if I could.

I had an epidural at 8cm (they didn't check me first due to my intense cintractions and pain), I didn't get the full effect if it. It was so strange I couldn't feel the contractions anymore, nor could I move my legs, but I could feel every push. For me the pain is not something I'd like to go through again. It was almost not manageable for me.

I went through 17 hours at home and those really weren't that bad.... I prepared, learned to stay relaxed, and took one contraction at a time.

I didn't get anything until after I got to the hospital and they literally would not take no for an answer.. I ultimately just wanted to shut them up. lol

Then got an epidural to prep for a cesarean (not for pain)

This go round I'll be having a home birth so it will be completely natural.

I believe that moms who use hypnobirthing generally have a very good experience and speak of very little "pain". My friend used this with both of her births & is what I'll be using with this next one.

I would have to say probably not and I have a pretty low pain tolerance. I did have the epidural but it wore off (I could move my legs and got up to use the bathroom an hour after delivery). Don't get me wrong I was screaming in pain, but other things have brought me to tears (such as breastfeeding with a blistered/bleeding nipple).

I'm convinced that every woman's contractions and pain level (and pain tolerance) are different because I hear of women who just describe contractions as "uncomfortable", but also hear of women (like me!) who say the contractions were even worse than the pushing. I had 2 epidural failures, so when each of them wore off (at 6 cm dilated and 8 cm dilated) I literally thought I was going to die. Holding the bed rail wasn't enough to react to the pain-- I had to hold onto the front of Rob Sr.'s shirt and pull him down into the mattress. I had sweat, snot, tears, and vomit running down my face all at once and I was screaming at the top of my lungs every 2 minutes, and I had 6 anesthesiologists in my room at once, with their arms crossed and shaking and scratching their heads. It was the most awful, painful experience of my life.

That being said (and sorry to scare you so badly), I never really dreaded the pain of childbirth and, looking back, I'd go through it again because I always knew that THAT pain has an end. I was really scared of recovery and breastfeeding, and looking back, those two were worse because even though the pain level was nowhere near the same as delivery, labor was only 24 hours while those both lasted more than a month.

Whenever people ask me "well didn't you forget about all the pain as soon as you saw the baby" or "don't you forget about the pain" I say HELL NO! I remember it QUITE clearly. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to do it again to have another baby... after all, it's just a maximum of 24 hours (I'd ask for a c-section if I ever had to go longer) and at the end, the relief of not being pregnant anymore and seeing that the baby is healthy makes it all worth it.

Again, another novel from Tina.... :T

Warning, this post may get a bit graphic, but please don't let this freak you out!
The contractions were pretty intense, especially the pushing contractions, which to me felt like I needed to push out a 10lb poo that had been stored up for 9 months! However, non of this really compared to the feeling of having the doctor's hand up in my uterus, manually removing the placenta (it was not coming out on its own and I loosing a lot of blood). I did not have an epidural so this was pretty painful.
However, going into non-medicated childbirth, I told myself that yes, it will be painful, but pain will not kill me. There were times during labor when I thought, "now I know why people get the epidural." But, there was no time during my labor when I wished I had one.