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@grizz: wow! I am cringing for you!
For me, I'd have to say it was overall easier. I was able to walk and talk through contractions and the nurses told me it was probably too early because I was so comfortable. Then I was checked and they confirmed my water was broken and I was 4 cm. I got to 6cm relatively easily and my doc said we'd plant o have a natural med free delivery since I was handling it so well. She then disappeared (major influx of patients) for 3 hours and the contractions were not stopping and off the carts. I was 8-9 cm by the time she came back but begged for the epidural. 45 min later, epi came in, at which point i was shaking all over, sweating, and puking, so that was a lot more uncomfortable than anticipated. After the epi was in, doc checked me and I was 10 and ready to push, but DD was sunnyside up so my doc tried to turn her manually before my epi really kicked in and i was in so so so much pain. I then had to lay on my side trying to get DD to turn and it felt like a boulder was coming out of my butt. That was harder than I thought it would be. Pushing was exhausting and I only remember hurting when my doc "stretched" me. Out DD came, only 2 stitches, and Iwas up and walking after an hour or skin to skin. I am on video a few hours later, telling my sister it was hell and I'll never do it again, but 10 months later, I'm like "oh labor is not that bad!" -
I think I'm the first one with a c-section to reply!
My section was pleasantly and surprisingly easy, and I say that as the person who had tears at her flu shot the week before I delivered!
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Easier. I got a very early epidural because my platelets were dropping so it was my last chance. Was induced (36 weeks) at 9am, water broken at 1pm pushed fro 30 minutes and delivered at 5:07pm. I had bad pre-e and HELLP syndrome so they weren't surprised it went quickly. They say when the baby really needs to come out, she comes out quickly.
I had already been admitted for a few days with terrible referred pain from my liver. At least once I was induced I jnew what the pain was and that I was getting towards getting the baby out!
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Easier. I'm a prepared for the worst type. I got my epidural early, got antibiotics, and a good doctor through the night. he was the one where our initial meeting sucked, but he was great during labor. LO was delivered by the attending because of a shift change. so surreal when the next doctor comes in with a cup of coffee while you're getting stitched up. I got really lucky with my labor and delivery of 14 hours. It still hurt a lot, but was relieved I didn't get a c-section.
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@LazyLightning: I think a lot of women react to pitocin that way. I think we'd find an unmedicated childbirth easier, to be honest. That was a hellish 24 hours.
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Easier! But probably since I went into preterm labor at 30 wks....so DD was READY TO COME OUT! When I went to the dr because I felt funny she was like, "um, you're 3cm, don't you feel contractions?" I was like, "ohhhhh...."
Girlfriend popped out 5 days later (after being put on mag so baby could get steroid shots etc) with 30 min of active pushing. I did get an epi and it was great. Because she was small I only got one little tear and recovered really quickly.
For me the emotional part was a lot harder than the physical part...I was not expecting to have a preemie.
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Harder! At first I thought contractions were a breeze and could handle it no problem. Yeah, I was wrong. It hurt. And it was a lot of work.
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@Mrs. Jump Rope: Do you mean the first with a scheduled c-section? Several of us on the first page had unplanned sections and talked about it.
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@LittleFox: I must not have read all the replies well! But yes, I had a scheduled section.
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Harder, for sure - and I thought I was really well prepared. But, 48 hours of back labour was exhausting, and it got exponentially worse when they broke my water. I also stalled out at an 8/9, because my cervix started swelling.
I actually think I'm dealing with some post-traumatic stress surrounding the entire event. IF (with a huge capital I F), I get pregnant again, I am going to have a really tough time getting prepared for the birth, I think.
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Easier!!! I went past my due date and was induced with Pitocin...I spent the first few hours just fine. When I got uncomfortable, they suggested to start with pain medication in my IV, that was my biggest regret because it made me feel sick and SO out of it...I remember waking up and feeling so out of control. It also didn't help curb the pain. I wish I would have just started with the epidural.
Once I got my epidural (which wasn't painful AT all!), it was smooth sailing. The whole process took awhile (around 20 hrs but only 30 min of pushing) and while I was in pain, I totally went into it thinking I may or may not die hahaha.
The hardest part may or may not have been not being able to eat for more than 24 hrs. I totally was thinking of the turkey sandwich I had waiting for me while I was pushing
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I guess overall it went pretty smooth, luckily the worst case scenarios didn't come true, but it was still way harder than I expected. I thought my experience in sports would help. I can run a 5 min mile, bench more than I weigh and already been in situations where it's like I can't handle this anymore and come out the other side just fine so I thought that would have been good prep. But childbirth was like WTF was that, def more pain than I thought possible and still survive.
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A bit of both! The contractions were worse then I imagined - was induced and no epidural with horrible back labor so that sucked. But I went from 5-10cm in the space of 10 minutes, I pushed a total of 2 times and out she came, no tearing, just a labial graze so the actual pushing part was easier since I was expecting it to take at least an hour, and the pushing actually helped to relieve the pressure and I don't remember experiencing the 'ring of fire'.
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I was induced at 37 due to HELP syndrome. Med free- except for the pitocin.
The contractions were WAY easier, the pushing was exhausting but doable, the ring of fire SUCKED. I still remember how hard it was to push when I knew each push equaled a strong tearing sensation, ugh. I tore in all four directions, but luckily only like 3 stitches for each tear. Postpartum was hard and sex still hurts, though.
Regarding the contractions being 'easy' for me, I honestly think people have different amounts of nerve receptors down there and I lucked out with less. -
I think easier...I am really not sure what I was prepared for but I was expecting serious pain. I went into labor at 2am...contractions picked up around 3:30...the car ride to the hospital was the worst ever...
Once I got to the hospital I got some morphine pretty quick (amazing) which took the edge off. I was 6cm in just over another 1.5 hours and got the epi then around 9am. Around 12:45pm (they broke my water at 8cm, around 11am) the contractions really picked up. Bless my mom's heart for standing next to me counting through them with me - at 1pm I told my mom I thought it was time for her and my grandma & dad to leave DH an I alone (how we wanted it for pushing). The Dr came in at 1:05 and I told her I thought it was time to push - she checked me real quick and said "yup you're ready" I pushed for 15 minutes and she was out. I needed oxygen at some point in there - but didn't remember that until days later.
I agree with others that the placenta and stitches was worse than the labor. I had a second degree tear and a resident stitched me up which I think took a little longer than if my Dr would have done it. My placenta was being a bit difficult - so I feel like they pushed on me a lot and harder...
All in all...I am pleased with my experience.
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It was easier and harder than I expected. In a nutshell, because of how he was positioned, I suspected that things wouldn't progress. After a multi-day induction, indeed, things did not progress, despite enduring 9 hours of unmedicated pitocin contractions. Then I got an epidural just to see if "relaxing" a bit would help. So the c-section at the end sure as heck wasn't a surprise. All the ladies in my immediately family had c-sections, and I really, really wanted to avoid it. But the recovery was super easy and while I didn't get to have one rite of passage, I avoided others. And I got the perfect little budgie in the end. All worth it.
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Easier, it was the recovery that was so beyond anything I expected!
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