Please can someone just lie to me...

[pocopearl]

...and tell me that real labour and childbirth is far less uncomfortable and painful than these braxton hicks?

They are getting more painful and uncomfortable as I'm getting closer to the due date.

[teabagpleb]

My SIL had bad BH and says labour was much less bad.
I never had BH at all - thought I did eventually but was just slow labour...

While a 'whatever' mindset might help, some babies need more help than others - see how it goes but be prepared to make use of 21st Century healthcare if necessary.

[AnathemaDevice]

I've had 3 babies in just under 4 years, so it can't be that bad.

I've been in labour for a total of 23 hours altogether, and only the last 15 minutes of DS2's birth was awful (and that was only because he had his hand on his chin as he emerged). The rest of it was uncomfortable and painful, but really not that bad.

Try not to panic, and ask for gas and air as soon as you can-great stuff! It doesn't stop it hurting, but it stops you caring that it hurts.

[KFFOREVER]

Im also in favour of epidurals.

Looking back i focused way too much on child birth when the hardest bit was coming home with the baby. Sleep deprivation, after pains, breastfeeding and endless visitors were a lot harder to deal with than giving birth. You will be fine

[DawnOfTheDee]

You know what I liked about labour - being the centre of attention.

It was fab. It was a big fat (literally) DawnOfTheDee fest when everyone had to

a) be nice to me
b) do what I said
c) give me drugs when I demanded them

and at the end I got a big fat squishy baby.

Best. Day. Ever.

[MadeOfStarDust]

I'm a complete scaredy cat - with a VERY low pain threshold - if it was THAT bad I'd have stopped at one....

but I DID IT TWICE... some people even do it more often....

[TantrumsandBananas]

Much better and lovely descriptions above than I will give.

I ended up having a slow labour that didn't progress, emergency c-section in the end.

I was 14 day overdue.

I spent alot of my pregnancy worrying about giving birth, in the end, I just wanted her OUT.

[jammiedonut]

'gruelling' is the word I'd use to describe labour. It was tough, but not overly painful for me at least (although there are no words to describe crowning!). Look at it as a marathon - hard, relentless, exhausting and, at times, you'll want to give up. But the sense of achievement and surge of happy hormones (not to mention the beautiful baby at the end!) are all worth it. The biggest thing for me was the fact that I had no idea how the pain would feel, would it be like a cramp for example? But once I felt that first big contraction the fear sort of went away. Yes, it was painful, but I knew what to expect from then on with each contraction, and ultimately I knew that the pain would end, even if it did take 23 bloody hours!
Never underestimate the value of Positive Mental Attitude, even in the face of complications, you will get through it!

[igirisu]

Labour is painful but not as painful as the niggles of an unpleasant pregnancy or just the general waiting to meet your child, a day after giving birth i felt traumatised, a week on i was already planning my second so you forget the pain x

[firesideskirt]

my labours have been agonisingly painful!
BUT very fast and uncomplicated. No complaints here. And other than a wee bit of discomfort (stitches etc), the pain stops when the bubba is out.

[worsestershiresauce]

Personally I think it helps to be a bit scared before hand as when it actually happens you'll think 'oh, not as bad as I thought...' Worked for me anyway.

[ohforfoxsake]

Braxton Hicks might occur if you are doing too much. Slow down.

Try hypnobirthing (someone on here gave me a CD - very straightforward). Listened to it as i went to sleep each night. Helped a lot during labour.

DD popped out very quickly, so much so the cup of tea DH made for me and the MWs when they got here was still warm enough to drink. No tearing.

(I will fail to mention she is DC4, was 2 weeks late and I had two weeks of slow stop-start labour).

Honestly. That birth was a piece of piss.