Hi folks - I'm new to Mumsnet and am very encouraged to see that I am not the only one feeling traumatised by my birth experience (12 weeks ago). But, whilst the second stage was pretty horrendous (baby went posterior and finally came out 3 hours after the head first appeared, not to mention a bitchy consultant who told me to stop making a noise!!), it's the first stage that is really bothering me.
Once my waters broke, my contractions were more painful than I could possibly have imagined, especially down my legs. I had read that you are supposed to get a break from the pain between contractions, but I was getting no respite at all - the MW's answer was, well of course you won't! I was told it was too early for gas and air, and was offered paracetemol! They sent me out for a walk with DH, which I will never forget as I could barely put one foot in front of the other, and then for a bath as it was too early to use the birth pool. I got in the bath and couldn't even lie back - I just knelt at the end of the bath and ended up screaming in pain with the contractions so much that DH had to pull the emergency cord.
I think I need to know whether this was normal - I don't think my pain threshold can be that low since as I said I did manage to get through labour with virtually no pain relief. But it was in those early stages, from 2 cm until getting in the birth pool, that I really needed the pain relief and didn't get it. I'm so scared of having to go through that again that it's affecting my relationship with DH. I'd really appreciate any advice - did anyone else have a similar experience??