Being nosey- did you scream or were you quiet when giving birth?

[Princesspowersparkle]

Just being nosey really. I imagine myself being really quiet but I know when I get there I'll probably be screaming my head off. Think it will shock DH! x

i'll qualify that - it wasn't my friends, it was aquaintances at post natal group.
ds1 hurt like hell, ds2 didn't have time to hurt really.

ChasingSquirrels - I'm sure you're right about it being genetic. My grandmother had two terrible labours, so did my mother and I've had one - not sure if there will be another at this point.

Hope everything's going well for you, wherever you are now Princesspowersparkle!
Started out doing the yoga-taught "buzzing bee hum". Rapidly progressed to the crazed mooing lots of others have mentioned. In one of those weird lucid moments of labour I distinctly remember thinking "I can be louder than this pain". Relieved not to have been the only one to keep the whole unit awake!

Screamed so much dp told me to shush!!!

No.1 & No.2 were very peaceful births, peridurals can be wonderful things (for me anyway) No time for ANY pain relief with dd2 No.3 not even the lovely gas and air and oh how I screamed and swore and fought with the midwife I think the whole of France knew she was on her way. I felt very embarassed after.

Well my 1st was only 2hrs labour and i moaned a little, my 2nd 25min labour and didnt have time to think about it, but my 3rd i screamed,grunted,groaned and cried like a baby! I say go for it, we should express ourselves in whichever way we want.

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Squirrel (if I may be so informal), i see what you mean about you still just have to go through it..... and yes, maybe I do wish I had it all just shorter, but am horrified that you were made to feel as if you had nothing to share My closest friend recently pointed out that she knew nothing about DS's birth, and that she didn't hear anything from me for the first 12 weeks (and I didn't take calls)... and once i'd told her I realised that actually it can take on story-like surreality (word?).

Anyway, completely diverted there! Lol beanbearer, you nearly made me heave mentioning the buzzing bee hum - reminded me of SIL who helpfully sent a note earlier this year, to me, 4 days after having her PFB to say that the "humming bird breathing" was all she needed and she was so pleased she hadn't needed any drugs and that PFB was already sleeping for 7 hour stretches

Ah, so that's it. Perfectly acceptable for others to have shorter/perfect labours, as long as they still sounded like they had a tough time! Therefore screaming is a useful storytelling inclusion for making others feel normal or superior (which we could all do with more of when newly hatched mummies).

Silent.
Except when necessary -"gasgasgasGASGASGGGAAASSS" when dh wasn't paying attention. The midwives raised the back of the bed for me, I hung over the end of it, shut my eyes and pressed my chin as hard as I could on to the metal frame.
So hard that for a full week after giving birth my skin had dried up and peeled like sunburn.

Dh didn't mind being ignored though, midwife's dh was a fellow lorry driver! They spoke diesel fumes all day!

screamed like a pig....... for the full 36 hours ..... weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Even though I was in labour for a day and a half, i just had to go ask dh what I was like!! First day on tens machine, then into the pool for about 3 or 4 hours till i got too hot and had to get out. Nobody warned me you heat up like crazy! Apparently i was much quieter than he expected (he assumed i'd be the sharp mouthy madam I really am times 10). A couple of low "fuuuuuuu"s during final contractions (too much work to add the ck on the end I assume) and a bit of "I can't do this, I can't do this" at the start of pushing until I managed to understand what the mw's were saying and got into the rhythm. Two and half hours of pushing, his head got kind of stuck so there was a couple of very loud "oh GOD oh GODs" then out he slithered like a little wet fish plop plop.

screamed quite a bit as well until my mum gently told me it was using too much energy. I think I was just so shocked at how painful the pushing stage was! Didn't have any stitches as a water birth and also my waters didn't break so that slowed down the delivery of the head. So much respect to those who had long labours without pain relief- I had just gas and air but it only lasted 12 hours from first contraction to birth.

I was induced with a pessary and had quite a quick labour - 4 hours or so. For the first couple of hours I was in the ante-natal ward and was trying to keep it down so as not to worry the other women. Every time a contraction came I gritted my teeth and just tried to breath through it. I seem to remember hissing "JEEESUS CHRIST" a lot, under my breath. Then later came the gas and air, so there was a lot of noisy breathing through that (by this time i was in the labour suite). The only time I really started making noise was on the midwife's instruction during the pushing stage - nothing was happening, no urge to push or anything, so she said it might help me to "get angry with the pain". I started bellowing my head off and my daughter was born 10 minutes later.

no epi, no pain relief, i screamed a lot...

apparently I mooed

what is that, with the mooing? Apparently loads of women do it.

My DH was shocked, I screamed like I have never screamed in my life. It really helped, I quite fancy a good scream now actually ..

I might try a bit of mooing too..

not sure why (obviously bringing up ghosts of labours past!) but I found Vole3's "Just goes to show what positive mental attitude, relaxation, breathing and just accepting that you aren't in control but your body is can do' a little upsetting.
I had a positive mental attitude, I was very relaxed until all hell broke loose and was absolutely aware that I was not in control but that didn't stop me being shocked at the pain, nor did it make him any smaller than his 9 1/2 pounds or make me dilate any faster than the snails pace I was travelling at. Breathing didn't remove that fact that my blood pressure dropped dangerously low after a failed epidural and that ds's heartrate subsequently dropped so low I had to have an emergency c-section under a general.
I cried, a lot, with pain and utter terror for my baby's life at the end but please don't tell me it was because I wasn't quite in the right frame of mind for the job.
Sorry, nothing personal vole3, comments like that just make me bristle - my stuff. I am genuinely happy and relieved when I hear anyone else has a trouble-free labour and a happy experience, silent or screaming!

Have been told I sounded like a Wooky. (mooing creatures from Star Wars). No screaming but I did get drunk on G&A!!!!

Went quiet when pushing as I decided to concentrate and get it over and done with, I had had enough by then and was peed off I had missed her due date by taking so long in Labour! Had really been looking forward to boasting that she arrived on time grrr! Apparently I had such a look of determination on my face - DP has never seen it before or since

Only had gas and air and I didn't make a sound.

Just closed my eyes and pushed!

And whenever I wanted to make a noise I just had a bit more gas and air instead! Great stuff!

I totally agree, MelbourneMum. I was lucky to have a quick and straightforward four hour labour - and that's all it was - luck. It's easy when you've had a positive experience to look back and think it was all down to your inner calm. Positive mental attitude will get you so far, but if everything starts going pear-shaped for reasons beyond your control, of course you're going to be bloody terrified. I'm sure vole3 would've felt much the same if things had started to go wrong for her.

Not much of a screamer. Sort of groaned and breathed hard with the contractions and then begged to be allowed to push when I wasn't quite ready.

was pretty quiet during the pushing then uttered the immortal line "oooh it hurts" as DD emerged...

Then had to have stitches for a 3rd degree tear (DD had shoulders like a prop forward, apparently) during which I complained about pins & needles in my feet caused by the bloomin stirrups...

and now I'm trying for baby number 2 so it couldn't have been that bad!

ha ha if vole3 had popped in and told me that i was lacking pma i think I would have murdered her!