Was labour as bad as you expected or were you expecting it to be worse?

[bubbles519]

Just that really

ive had four vaginal births with only gas and air, and my honest answer is that it was worse than I thought it would be. The feeling of the head coming out is the worst thing I've ever felt. But then again after my first i had 3 more so it can't be that bad

It was nowhere near as bad as I expected.

Much worse. I thought I'd be able to get an epidural or at least some pain relief but progressed too fast.

My inductions were worse but my natural birth was better than I expected.

Agree with pp who said it’s the contractions that are the painful part. I didn’t really feel the crowning at all despite tearing quite badly.

The sense of relief (from the pain ending) when the baby arrived was euphoric.

I'd underestimated how loooong it would take and how exhausted I'd feel, and how unrelenting the contractions would be towards the end. But the pushing/crowning part was actually not as bad as I'd expected. Really hoping second time round is shorter!

I am generally amazed that so many women go on to have another baby after experiencing horrendous births. Does your desire for another child overweigh what you went through?

I hated labour ... fortunately I had to have an EMCS (I was delighted ) and I absolutely knew I would never, ever go through pregnancy and labour again. That was 20 years ago and I have never regretted having an only DC.

Worse. I completely underestimated how painful it would be. I think I was in shock as it wasn’t what I expected, I had pains like I was being stabbed with searing hot rods in my hips on top of contraction that’s the way I can only describe it. But it really is different for each person. The head crowning is quick in comparison but it burned like hell for me. I actually told my husband if I had a gun I’d have shot myself or let someone amputate my legs to get the hip pain away lol It’s amazing though as crazy as it sounds when I say that and you’ll feel like superwoman. It’s a test of every single fibre of your being and the craziest thing in the world.

It was more painful then I expected but it was also a lot more straightforward than I expected to :)

Worse
Agonising pain
Indiffeeent midwives bordering on macho is tic
So much blood and gore
Took me months to get over each time

Worse than I expected first time.
Better the second time - probably because I knew what to expect!

Labour was better than I expected.

Looking after a newborn was harder than I expected.

The first one? More painful than I expected but also much faster. I mean I knew it would hurt, but my labour started with a bang and I was not expecting to go from nothing to full on big contractions with only a few minutes in between, I think I was in shock for most of it! Second labour was a dream, third labour shocked me again because it was not a dream and I was totally not prepared for it being hard work to get him out when my second had been so damn easy. But more than anything else the lochia after the first one shocked me. I was not prepared for how heavy that would be!

First time it was a doddle...I was left wondering what the flipping fuss was about...the second time round I learned what the fuss was about 🤣🤣🤣

Not bad. However I never got to active labour, so I truly can't say.
My waters broke on Christmas Day morning about 4am (36 weeks) blue lighted down the m1 to a specialist children's hospital (DD had chd) no contractions, they gave me 24 hours to see if labour progressed nothing happened so induced Boxing Day, contractions started and weren't particularly painful just more of an annoyance really. Got to about 4 cm dilated, then had a caesarean on the 27th due to waters being broken over 48 hours. I would say out of town the max my pain go to was maybe a 2/3.

Not as bad but certainly very different than what I'd imagined. I had very fast labours with both so there was quite a bit of tearing with the first (I'm 4'10 and he was almost 9lb) but the second was even faster at 20 mins! She was a tiny baby and early.

Mine was also worse as it went on so long. 48 hours before EMCS. I was just too tired after that long with no sleep. The pain was worse too as my pain was centred in my front, not my back at all so I felt it was more intense?!

1st was horrific, I was all set for Hypnobirthing so got a sharp shock. 2nd I was expecting a rerun of number 1 but was entirely different and an amazing experience.

Better. Before I didnt know how I could possibly push a baby out of my vagina without dying from the pain - I was team epidural all the way.
When the actual birth came to it I ended up having no time for pain relief and felt like superwoman afterwards.
The contractions were extremely painful at the end, but you are so focused on the end goal and know there is a purpose to them.

I still buzz about my labour now, it was the best part of my entire shitty pregnancy tbh.

Both of my labours were horrendous, honestly the pain was off the scale. Both back to back labours with contractions 30 seconds apart. It felt like my insides were being ripped out.

@BeautyAndTheBump1

Better. Before I didnt know how I could possibly push a baby out of my vagina without dying from the pain - I was team epidural all the way. When the actual birth came to it I ended up having no time for pain relief and felt like superwoman afterwards. The contractions were extremely painful at the end, but you are so focused on the end goal and know there is a purpose to them.

I still buzz about my labour now, it was the best part of my entire shitty pregnancy tbh.

Mine was quick too, no drugs.

However I did once have a miscarriage at 12 weeks and that was horrendous.

My first one was very long 32 hours from 1st contraction and 2nd was half that time. In my experience there's always a drama🎭one way or another. I would advise you to take all the drugs you want as not worth being a heroine😜make sure you get as much rest as possible before hand as it can be v tiring. T b h its painful but then you get through it and you have a baby to love 👶👩🏻at the end. Best wishes to you and lovely family to be xx

My first was just such a long, long marathon - I had an extended latent labour with lots of false starts and irregular painful contractions that stopped me sleeping or even resting for days before the actual event, which then also took a long time..

The actual experiences of contractions and birth were really really good though. I really enjoyed the sensation of my body taking over and knowing what to do, and I loved moving around in labour, and feeling the baby shift and travel during the process. I genuinely enjoy the primal nature of it all and feel on such a massive high afterwards. I'd love to do it again for the high and sense of strength. I truly loved the whole process each time.

I absolutely abhor the first few days after though. I hate everything being sore, leaking, stinging and bleeding. I hate being THAT tired and I hate the after pains, the hormonal depression, the vulnerability and the tears.

So you can't have it all! 😂

I guess it was better than I thought. 2x induction with epidural. I didn't feel any pain. After second birth I had to lay down for 24 hours on some drip. That was boring. Baby just slept.

So much worse. I was completely unprepared.