Could someone describe what a contraction/tightening feels like?

[victoriascrumptious]

I've never had one. Had an c-sec with no labour last time.

Can you describe them to me so I can live vicariously?
I'm sad that I may never know what they feel like-expecting another cs due to bp this time round.

my only advice to the first time "is it or isn't it?" mummies is - you can take more pain than you think. My labor for DS1 lasted about 35 hrs -and i remember thinking in the first few hours - OMG this hurts. ANd then thinking around the 15 hours -No, that didnt hurt at all... THIS hurts.
Best advice i was given was, when it starts to hurt, go and bake a cake (takes your mind off it). Then EAT the cake! Don't go in to hospital too soon as they will want the bed back, and try to speed you along.
And try not to lie down (if you are not trying to sleep through the contractions - who ever said you should try to do that clearly has never had proper contractions) if you can be upright or squatting or leaning forward over the sofa it will take some of the pressure off your back. GOod luck.

This thread has made me laugh my socks off! I remember coming home from the hospital and seeing women in town pushing pushchairs etc and marvelling that they had all just been through what I had been through. It is an everyday thing, but it's an everyday miracle - and a freakin' miracle that we do it again! I think the worst thing about having your first is not knowing just how much more painful it's going to be. I kept thinking - holy f if it gets any worse than this I'm going to die! Then there was the pushing and then there were the forceps with no epi. Yes, it did get much worse! I had quite a bit of pethadine which did nowt apart from making me (and I think this is the medical term) completely ripped off my tts. I remember at the pushing stage being 'encouraged' to push when it's a contraction and actually lying to the MW when she said 'are you still having a contraction?' 'No, no,' I replied ernestly,'it's gone!' - just cos I couldn't bear to push any more - totally irrational! I also remember what a weed I was about the start of labour - I know now that was the easy bit, but at the time I was v proud of myself for coping!
I used the TENS machine for a bit but actually found it a bit distracting. I found that when I stopped totally panicking and concentrated on the contraction, doing breathing etc it really was much better ('better' being a relative term of course!). Finally, I know it sounds cheesy but console yourself with this ... you made an actual human being all by yourself (virtually!), there's no way such an amazing thing can happen without some kind of a momentous experience!
Oh, and PS - if you give birth in Derby City (lovely place - I was genuinely impressed!) and a doctor who talks just like Arnie in 'The Terminator' says to you 'you have pushed too long, now I must use the forceps' punch him in the face and run for the hills!

Both my births were incredibly straightforward, with my second DS I managed to sleep through most of the contractions which started Saturday evening, got to hospital 10 in the morning and DS born just over an hour later. The contractions were painful but not unmanagable, gas and air rules, but I think it was more having something to bite on than anything else! From my experience they felt similar to if you clench your fist as hard and tight as possible, and hold it much longer then you think you can stand, but over the whole of your belly and down into your pelvis. I was very lucky, contractions well spaced out and I remember talking to the two (lovely and calm/reassuring) midwives, after DS head was born, waiting for his body to follow 'oh, what a way to spend Sunday morning', with hindsight I suspect I should have shut up and concentrated, but heyho, not a rational situaiton really. So, painful but bearable, and you know it's going to stop. Having moderate sized babies I suspect helped too....

I've had many laughs on here!
Labour! Definitly something im trying to forget! lol. My journey started on Sat morning and ended on Wednesday! My boy was in a pp position, only dilated 1cm per day so the early labour was sooooo painful. It ended in me having an epidural, pushing, having an epis and forceps delivery,son wasn't breathing, taken to special care, collapsed the next day from an infection, transported to heart specialist hosp, prolonged stay in PICU for 8 weeks and then finally home!

I had the perfect pregnancy and i heard a lot of horrors stories, which i ignored because i honestly never imagined i would have such a horrific time! Funnily enough, i couldn't describe how the pain feels? Its just v.v.painful and i will never, ever, have any more children. There are a few women i know who are pg who keep askin me about the labour but i just dont go into it because i dont think its fair or necessary to scare the expectant mothers.

x

Derbydolly - Totally agree with seeing other women pushing prams etc. I still see new mums and think - well done, however you did it. You did an amazing thing.

And that other thing isn't pethidine, that is fear! I have a very clear memory of being fully dilated and thinking, 'Now I remember where the baby comes out' and 'I don't like where this is ending up'.

I lied about having contractions, and bizarrely pushed when there were no contractions cos I suddenly thought - oh let's get this over with.

I was induced, but the gel didn't work so they inserted a foley catheter (sp?) into my cervix and inflated a balloon with water up there. Labour started immediately and I went from no contractions to full on agony. I went from 0-5cm in 90 minutes before the anesthetist (lovely, lovely man) arrived with my epi. I just stood swaying the whole time, moving from one foot to the other. It was like diarrhea pain (x100) plus the worst case of cystitis combined. I didn't even feel the epi needle, and when it kicked it I was so indescribably grateful. Once I had my epi, I slept for 3 hours, woke up with baby crowning, pushed for 10 mins and then baby was born. Next time, I want my epi before labour starts. Maybe about 37 weeks to be safe?

Yes, I loved the man with my epi! His name was Dr. Martin, and I remember telling DH quite earnestly that we would be calling our son Martin when he finally emerged. (Thankfully he held firm on Sam ) After hearing some of the stories on here...CRIPES! My labor was not nearly as bad as I expected. My mother told me that it wouldn't be, because apparently the women in my family have notoriously fast, easy labors. It was definitely no walk in the park, but it was just like really bad cramps. They broke my water at 10 in the morning, I started pushing around 2 and Sam was born at 4:15. My comments, in order: "Oh he's so beautiful!" "Oh, he looks like my dad!" "Oh, that wasn't nearly as awful as I thought it would be!" As the Dr. was stitching up my nethers, I kept telling her, " I could do that again! I could!" She was laghing hysterically while piecing my hoo-ha back together.

DS1 was a three day pre-labour as the health care professionals like to call it. It felt pretty much like labour to me though. Strong contractions every 5-10 minutes and no sleep for three nights. The pain was bad but it stopped in between contractions and I was able to rest. It ended up in an em-cS as DS had heart complications so I never got past three centimetres. In my mind though, I had experienced labour so I knew what I was letting myself in for.

Errrr, perhaps not...with DS2 I decided to try for a VBAC. My waters went with a gush at 4am after a particularly vigourous sweep the day before (I was a week overdue). I got up and thought, great..here we go..oh, i need a poo. Got to the toilet did a poo and had my first contraction. It was strong but I thought, yep I can cope with this. I know what to expect. All I can say is that I was very very naieve!

I went straight into full on mind blowingly painful contractions lasting a minute and happening every two minutes. The pain was like someone shoving a hot knife up my fanjo, twisting it and trying to rip my insides out. I couldn't speak and DH said I didn't actually open my eyes for 12 hours. I was in some kind of zone where the only thing that mattered was keeping control of my breathing as I knew if I didn't do that then I'd loose the plot. Not only that but I wasn't painfree in the time inbetween contractions. All that happened is that the pain got a bit less intense.

I laboured like this for 12 hours before I managed to communicate somehow that I'd had enough. I felt like I'd experienced 'real' labour, done my duty and I think I'll get my coat now. Three hours later and I finally got my epidural and ended up with a cS for 'failure to progress' having only got to four centimetres. Seriously, all that for four centimetres!

If there is ever going to be a DC3 then it's elective all the way for me.

My DD was born at home. I can't remember any of this, but according to my husband I spent about ten hours tramping up and down the stairs crying "Oh my poor bum!". So I guess that means all the pain was up my arse.

I am really surprised that you can all remember this, and in so much detail. My little one is only 7 months old but the birth experience is a complete blank.

It's interesting that you can't remember definitelygotascrewloose, I've had a lovely waterbirth in a birth centre and a quick (gel only) induction in a hospital, the more relaxed setting of the first was definitely nicer. I can see how if you are not supported it can be all about the pain, but if you are supported well you can focus on the birth as a more positive experience. Although I still maintain that it is a bit of a lottery. But if you are relaxed (for example when you are at home) it makes it somehow feel less frightening and more normal, which in tur helps with how you see the whole experience.

And my second, more medical and less supported birth was less painful because I felt more in control/ focused on breathing/ knew what to expect. It being quick helped too - I think contractions can be painful or feel like your muscles working hard, but whatever they are like for you they are tiring. The longer the labour the harder it can be to have the energy to cope with it all.

Venus I am with you on the 'wishing I had never opened this thread' thing!! Also pregnant for first time, and 37 weeks. OMG, it sounds absolutely blo*dy scary!!

Katster some of us have posted our good experiences, they have been ignored in favour of the bad ones The problem with these sorts of threads they understandably attract people who have had some horrific experiences. Labour is a continuum some people have pain free labours, others have excrutiating labours and everyone else is somewhere on the scale in-between.

For what its worth I know lots of women who have found their contractions manageable and even enjoyed their labours. They don't talk about it much as no-one ever believes you

Sorry Starlight I didn't mean to offend you, I appreciate that horrific experiences as are 'real' as the other ones What I was trying to say (badly) was that some of us were lucky enough to have comfortable, manageable and dare I say it almost painfree experiences but it is easy for these to be dismissed as hogwash or boasting or not recalling correctly. I was trying to offer some comfort and hope to any first time Mums who might stumble across this thread and think EEK!

Have a manly pat starlight! I live in dread of sounding smug because I am aware for every good story there is an equally horrific one. I agree preparation is the key and acceptance that you need to be aware of all eventualities - good and bad.