So if you're one of those people who can honestly say "labour didn't hurt that badly"...

[Jacksmama]

... REALLY???

Honest?

How is that possible?

I am not taking the piss, I really honestly want to know. I've heard from one RL friend that it felt like "strong period pains" all the way through but that was as bad as it got. And I've read a few more posters on here who say the same thing.

I am utterly jealous gobsmacked. Granted, Jackbaby was stuck crookedly between my pelvic bones, and I had back labour, but nothing, nothing, could have prepared me for how agonizingly, horribly, unbearably painful labour was.

So if you're one of those people, come talk to me because I'm really curious.

first labour was induced and horribly painful, really bad
second labour i actually thought was wind for ages and drove ds1 to nursery quite calmly on my own, got mil to take me to hospital where i was breathing through te contractions by this point and stopping walking but bearable to be told i was 10cm!
I did panic at that point though when i suddebly felt the urge to push and dh was still an hour away plus i remembered my first labour and how terrible the pain was, so i told mw i didnt feel like i needed to push and wanted an epidural
she let me have one to delay things as dh wasnt there and i just relaxed for an hour then pushed out ds2 soon as dh arrived an hour later!
second time i felt fine straight after too. First time i felt like i'd been hit by a truck for about a week!

My labour wasnt bad whatsoever, woke at 1 am with a contraction, by 4 they were lasting around 50 secs or so and 6 mins apart. Went to hospital at 6 am, admitted 6cm dilated.
Waters broke at 8:43 am, baby arrived 9:17am. Only had G%A for around 25 mins, I didnt ask for it, was thrust upon me but I did take some, midwife telling me off for not taking it consistently enough to work, didnt ask for it, pain wasnt that bad. Felt like real strong period cramps and I get v painful periods so pretty used to the sensation and abdominal pain.

DS weighed 7lbs9oz, no tear. Didnt require any further analgesia whilst in hosp and discharged 24 hours later. Was shopping in tesco 30 hours after giving birth.

I do have a positive outlook though so think that maybe helped as I focused on the end result ie DS!

Cant wait to do it again, just need to persuade DP

bran, I'd have slapped her... what a thing to say!!!

I do realise how lucky I am and have nothing but sympathy for those less fortunate than me when it comes to giving birth. Just need to remember we are all individual and no two births are the same.
x

With dd the pain was bearable as long as I kept moving. With ds it was bloody awful

namechanger, that is so awesome. Don't know if you've read the entire thread but my labour wasn't like that at all ... pretty traumatic. I was so, so angry about after (especially since with a little more bad luck, it all could have ended a lot worse). I'm still angry that it was mismanaged so badly, but when I hear a really terrific labour story, most of the time all I feel is relief, that it actually went right for someone else. Sort of like "phew, it doesn't always have to be complete crap". Don't know if that makes sense...

My second dd's labour was lovely. So quick and smooth and very close to the big 'o' at times!!!! DH was a bit aroused too. Sorry if that's a bit much but was so amazed that i loved it so much. I'd do it again tomorrow!!

I hope my 2nd labour is as good as yours Melmog!

My first labour was incredibly easy - it did hurt a little but all very manageable. The puching and crowning stage didn't hurt at all - just a slight stretching sensation and baby was out! It was over in 6 hours.

DD2 a month ago - I wasn't worried at all - infact I was quite happy to go through labour again as I quite enjoyed it the first time around. However - this labour (a month ago) only took an hour and it was overwhelmingly painful. I remember telling my midwife before dd2 shot out of my pelvis - 'help me, I'm going to die...'. I kept hallucinating that I was under water and I was drowning - although I was off my head on the gas and air...

I think we all handle different pain differently as I said earlier labor pain not that bad for me. But give me a stinging nettle or paper cut or graze and blubbering baby nursing poor infected hand or foot or whichever oriface has been inflicted. No jokes I would rather a gaping cut requiring stitches than a small graze, my dh laughs at me.

jacksmama I had head the thread and it must have been awful for you, did you ask for your mat notes and a debrief? You should if you havent already.
I know I am lucky and am so thankful for that.

(hugs)
x

First labour was an horrendous 50 hour affair. 2nd was 5 1/2 hours from start to finish and painful but bearable. The worst pain I have ever had was from an infected wisdom tooth, I just wanted to die! I find it hard to believe people that say labour was almost pain free though.

Another one who had an easy time here.

First birth was ok, but with the second one, it really was a genuinely positive experince. I was still on the ward, just about being able to talk through contractions when a passing midwife asked if I was feeling like pushing. I suddenly realised I was.
Cue exciting push-through-corridors, complete with midwifes yelling, "don't push yet, dear". Dd was out about 10-15 mins after that - pain, yes, but nothing that really worried me. It was only after I was passed my daughter I realised I hadn't had any pain relief. Gutted - I love G&A

I would love to know more about what determines pain levels in labour - there are obviously physical things like your position/baby's position, as well as environmentla factors, but one can't help but feel that there must also be a genetic component, as women seem to experience labour SO differently.

funny - the thing with my labour that shocked me so much was that my own mum had me in 4 1/2 hours, start to finish, and was induced at 37 weeks with my sister because she was walking around 3 cm dilated and they were worried that the baby would just fall out . Whereas I had a super-terrific pregnancy, not a moment of morning sickness (whereas my mum was sick for four months with both her pregnancies), worked (my job is very physical) until 11 days before DS was born... we all expected things to go extremely well. And practically from the first moment it all went pear-shaped. Go figure. So my personal humble opinion is that genetics has very little to do with it, it's all down to luck.

LOL< I love the idea that a baby might acidentally 'fall out'...

I think 'genetics' may be my own personal way of saying luck/factors outside our control, jacksmum (Don't tell dh, he sequences DNA...)

When I was in labour with ds there were a few moments when it hurt horrifically but they were brief. As I was only in any real pain for 3 hours though overall it was much better than I expected. I didn't have any pain relief either. No stitches so was up & about the next day feeling quite alarmingly well. I'm currently pregnant & hoping for a similar birth this time.

I found birth very painful, but it was a sort of pain I could cope with. Not like a toothache or something, which hurts IMO less, but is more bothering, because I have no tolerance for it. I was induced and on synto for 14h, no pain relief. Am pregnant again and not worried about labour pain (but worried about all sorts of other things).

I can't comment on the whole labour as I had to have a spinal as dd was stuck but I got to fully dilated and wanting to have the baby before leaving the house - kept expecting it to get worse after all the stories about how painful contractions were - but personally they started like period pains and got worse but not so bad that I couldn't shower before actually leaving home and getting to the hospital. Midwife didn't believe I needed to push till she checked as I was so calm and able to talk easily. All the midwives seemed more upset than I was that I didn't manage to have her naturally in the end as I had got so far without any help. On the other hand if she hadn't been stuck she probably would have arrived in the car on the way to the hospital - so may be it was for the best. Oh and she was back to back but her head was tilted at an obscure angle and she still has a lump on the side of her head now from where she was stuck - 10 weeks later.

It's not the sort of pain which scares you.

Not like when you injure yourself in an accident, there's blood and guts and your scared becuause you know this isn't meant to happen whereas, Labour is.

I suppose if our body didn't make it painful, we wouldn't makthe effort to prepare ourselves fully mentally and physically, we'd just carry on watching telly or whatever while baby makes it own way out.

I wasn't scared anyway, though I had a straghtforward natural birth, I'd be having kittens if I knew a c-section was imminent cos I hatsurgery!

I contracted in my bottom and back, so like severe backache, then the pushing part was no more painful than shifting a very long-overdue poopy, the only real eye-stinging pain was when baby's head crowned, stings like heck. But that's what, 4 seconds duration?

First labour - awful; induced and I couldnt believe how painful it was - I had an epidural after several hours when the new evil midwife helpfully told me the labour would get ten times worse and last for ages (as it turned out DS1 was ready to come out about 45 minutes after the epidural, not that the midwife would listen to that, but that's a whole other story).

Second labour - totally different, pain didnt really kick in until the final hour of contractions (labour only lasted around 4 hours) but found it manageable with mooing - strange the things that help isnt it?

I think any women that go through childbirth, with good or bad labour experiences, are amazing.

yes, my DD1 was no pain and very quick , but my DD2 ... different story.

Oh my god, I am reading this absolutely terrified I am only 15 weeks pregnant with my first, but am so so scared. It sounds awful. Did you feel actually traumatised afterwards? Have also read something about shoulder dystocia which just sounds unbearable and am seriously wondering whether I could ask for an elective caesarean!

eth37 I had a shoulder dystocia with my second baby, who was 11lbs at birth.

It was dealt with calmly and if you see pictures of me 10 minutes after the birth I am smiling fit to bust.

Birth can be really bloody tough and complicated (all three of mine were in one way or another) and you can still come out the other end smiling. I'm testament to that.

It wasn't until I had dc2 that I actually understood about the uncontrollable urge to push. I didn't have any pushing sensations with ds (induced), just pain pain pain. I was pushing with all my might but my body wasn't iykwim? He was finally pulled out with a ventouse.

Labour with dd was spontaneous. Home water birth and the main thing I felt was an immense pressure, a feeling that made my whole body bear down. I couldn't have not pushed. It felt like my body was doing what it was supposed to and I was completely pain free between contractions, unlike the first time where as one ended another began.

Both labours were so different. First was painful, definitely. Second was overpowering but not what I'd call painful