For my first, I had an obgyn, an epidural, hospital birth and it's pretty much what I thought it would be.
My second, I had midwives, no epidural, hospital birth and it was pretty intense pain - not at all how I imagined it but thankful it was fast!
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yep! both times.
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Ummmm... no?
But also yes?
I never really pictured the specifics beyond the fact that I'd want an epidural, which I did. I wasn't picturing a vacuum assist birth, which I had. Contractions were much stronger than I had any idea they could be. But I got my beautiful healthy girl at the end, and that was mostly what I had imagined. Although she didn't look anything like what I had been picturing! -
Yep pretty much, the intensity of the pain of labor was more then I imagined it would be (but I think part of that was being induced to it was drug-inducing contractions - ouch!)
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No - I wanted a vaginal birth and ended up with a c section.
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Only M. DS was easier than I expected and S was way harder. M was easy peasy...just as I thought it would be.
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The pain wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought (I got an epidural at 6 cm but even leading up to it the pain wasn't terrible). Pushing was way harder/more exhausting than I thought it would be.
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Yes, as much as I expected it to be. It was intense!
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I didn't know what to expect, but surprised at how quick they were! I was expecting and planning on 18 hours at least of intense labor.
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Both times were far better than I had imagined! The first time I had no idea what to expect, but other than pushing being very difficult, it went so well!
The second time I was super painful in the last couple weeks, but didn't go into labor like I had expected. Contractions weren't terrible and pushing was much faster and easier. Recovery was soooo easy too! Nursing wasn't too bad either, just a sore first couple of days.
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Yes and no - I never felt contractions in my abdomen, only in my back and it felt like my spine, neck to bum, was being electrocuted. None of the cramping everyone talked about. And it never gradually increased intensity, water broke, baby dropped, immediately fast and furious labor.
But it was all the "omg I have a baby!"-amazing that I imagined. -
Sort of. I expected the pain since I wanted to go med free, but not the length of time for labor or pushing. And I never anticipated how painful the postpartum stuff would be. Ouch!
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Definitely not. I was expecting a home birth and ended up at the hospital. I expected transition to last an hour or two and mine lasted for about 7-8 hours...it was terrifying and exhausting. I also expected to give birth without meds but at the hospital ended up with an epidural which enabled me to avoid a c-section.
This time, I'm just keeping an open mind and will do what I can to have a healthy baby!
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I got the vaginal birth I wanted. Didn't expect an episiotomy, but i didn't NOT expect it either. I had very minimal expectations because I didn't want to be let down.
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I thought I would have quick births because my mom did...I never thought I would have one standing up on the side of the road.
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I was way more tired during labor then I thought. But I think that was cause we were up all night due to my water breaking at 9 at night.
Pushing was way easier and faster then I was expecting. I was shocked that the doctor pulled her out when she did. -
Yes to both but the second was way faster than I imagined.
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It was a lot easier then I thought it would be honestly. I had a really easy labour that wasn't that long ( 5 hours. ) Recovery was more uncomfortable than I thought it would be though.
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Yes and no. The pain was bad, but not nearly what I had been expecting - even with a 10 1/2 lb baby. Also, everything went much faster than I thought it would. I tried to be prepared but not have too many expectations and I think that helped a lot with my experience.
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The first time I was induced and it was exactly how I thought it would be--super freaking crappy. Recovery was much, much harder than I ever thought it could be.
The second time I went completely natural and although there was a scary hemorrhage at the end, it was 100 times better than I ever imagined birth could be. IT WAS INCREDIBLE.
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Way easier! I was terrified. I don't deal with pain well. The pitocin contractions were a huge B, but I didn't wait very long to get the epidural, so I didn't feel anything at all for most of my labor. I was extremely nervous for the pushing (ring of fire - ahhh!), but that was super easy, painless, and quick!
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Nope! I imagined a natural hospital birth with no interventions! And I ended up with every intervention possible. I did get to labor with no pain meds for a while, on pitocin even and I kicked those contractions butts! I did awesome! I imagined pitocin labor to be much more painful than it was.
I ended up with a c section but overall it was still a pleasant experience. I deal with some issues like I will probably never have a natural birth and I also don't feel like I "gave birth" to LO but I'm still good. Especially since I got the exact opposite of the birth I wanted. Lol -
No with how bad and scary everyone tried to make it seem, it really wasn't as bad as expect and I made it through it naturally
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#1, no...I went in saying I was going with the flow, but not really thinking id have a csection. But I was ok with it.
#2, yes, because it was a scheduled csection.
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Nope, not even a little bit. I had a really tough labor and the baby was having complications, it was a lot more painful and difficult than I had imagined. This time I'm not even really bothering to have expectations on how it will go, just rolling with the punches and making the best decisions I can as things roll along.
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Not at all. I had planned for an unmedicated birth, labouring in the birth tub, using my music to relax, etc.
I ended up with a stalled labour and swollen cervix, an epidural after 40 hours of labour, and more intense back pain than I could ever possibly imagine. And 35+ stitches.
Not disappointed with how it went though - it was just different than I expected. -
Still mulling this over, but not really. It was a good experience, but it hurt differently than I thought it would. Also, I never expected to labor with dislocated hips and having just been diagnosed with strep. So that changed things. Overall, it was good but intense!
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Sort of? I read up on the basic facts of how labors usually go and what interventions may occur, but beyond that I didn't think much about it. I feel like I didn't really have an expectation or imagined scenario in my head, so it wasn't what I "thought" it'd be since I didn't think about it!
I felt like I had a great experience. I was induced with pitocin, didn't get an epidural, and pushed for 4 hours. I'm sure I remember it differently from how it all really went down - it was sort of out-of-body for me. -
Better than I imagined.
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28 comments