hands up who thinks childbirth is awful

[candyfluff]

surely i cant be the only one who thinks its the worst thing that ever happened to them?????????

MrsJohnCusack - I hear you re your operation, I had a huge operation to remove massive fibroids and that recovery was oainful in the extreme.

painful

It might be painful but it is the most exciting thing I have ever done!

Didnt feel that DD1 and DD2's births were all that bad, it was DS (thankfully my 3rd) that was truly awful.

So much so that even 8mnths on I cant even consider doing it again!

Not the worst thing that's ever happened to me but one of the worst pains I've ever felt.

Without a doubt the worst experience of my life.

For the first five months I would have said it definitely wasn't worth it. But DS is 14 months now, and it was worth it, and I'm 7 months pregnant with the next one.

ok so my kids are 10,7 &23 months so you would think that two years after the fact i should be able to talk about without it making me feel ill????
1st and 3rd labours were 38 hrs long and 2nd was 17 hrs long

Yep, birth is quite appalling. Well-known for it in every single bloody culture there is. Ignore people who tell you that there are 'traditional cultures' where it isn't.

Quite, quite terrible.

whoever said contractions are orgasmic is lying or mad or maybe both. i just cant comprehend that birth can ever be painless or not that bad!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also humiliating, too often. Lying spatchcocked with half Kings Hospital clustered round my gaping fanny was not the best moment of my life.

3 of the 4 least pleasant events in my life have been childbirth.

I would feel sick and shaky at the thought of doing it again. even though births 2 and 3 were "natural" and 3 was a "good" home birth without tearing. It was still horrible. Compared to most other things in life.

Absolutely, humiliating yes.

eandz - IMO (and obviously a generalisation) the more relaxed you are about it the better it will be. If you tense up, then your muscles will tense up and your hormones will be all over the place because of your stress and that is more likely to hold you back and cause more complications and pain.

You must RELAX and go with the flow and try and stay calm.

I have given birth twice. The first time I had no idea what was happening to me and got shouted at by the midwives. Ended up having a jab of pethidine that I didn't really need because I was told that I was 2cm when in fact I was 9cm....!

The second time I really relaxed and looked forward to the labour. I am sure that helped. It was very quick and the major pain was only in the last 30 minutes. I swore my way through the last few contractions and thought about meeting my baby all the time. At the end of it I looked at my DH and said "was that it". I felt a bit cheated TBH.

Please relax - it is not bad for everyone.

My csection was a breeze compared to my vbs on gas and air. But then friends of mine who have had vbs with epidural feel they had a breeze compared to my csection, so I suppose it's all relative! I have to say though the high i got after delivering with my vbs was awesome! Yeah, childbirth hurts like hell... but I think it's also one of the most amazing experiences a woman can have.

(in case any first timers are lurking - anyone who had a bad experience please ignore)

My hands resolutely down. Would love to do it again. Really rather enjoyed it tbh.

does no one ealse really think it was ok
painful yes but not an awful experience

really?

crossed posts with ib

i am not the only freak then

I found childbirth fine (even quite enjoyable the second time around). However, I accept that this is a) unusual and b) pure dumb luck.

But yes, for any first-timers reading this and crapping themselves, it's not always awful.

Would do it all again, really didn't think it was that bad at all.

The only thing that would put me off having any more is pregnancy, now that was awful.

Absolutely horrific unless/until I got an epidural. At which point I morphed from screeching psycho woman into model cheery patient, with both ds & dd2.

With dd1 the epidural didn't work. That was fun .

(but did feel like Xenia Warrior Princess I Am Woman Hear Me Roar afterwards! . The endorphins were easily class A...)

I agree popsycal - thought it was ok - painful but manageable. Threads like this remind me how lucky I was. I always want to tell people that it really isn't so bad but am afraid of sounding smug.

I didn't think it was awful. Yes, it hurt like hell but, particularly the second time even without any pain relief at all, I felt strangely serene. I count myself lucky though.

2nd time round - v, v painful but a fantastic experience. Midwife allowed me to give birth standing up and it was all over very quickly. Not in the least humiliating

same here roobie

womdering whether i will get my 'turn' this time round!!

Bloody agony but really not as bad as you imagine. The fear is worse than actually being in labour as your mindset completely changes. You also get a beautiful baby at the end.

Nor did I find it in the least bit humiliating. I was stood up throughout and the MW just got on the floor and had a look/feel a couple of times.