what was the worst bit of giving birth or afterbirth for you?

[ogri]

mine was, had to have an emergency c section, so had a drain in the cut. the next day i was in agony , felt like the drain was rubbing on something inside me. i couldnt move.
i couldnt let the doctor or nurse take the drain out as it was so sore. i had to eventually pull it out little by little myself. it was in a good 6 inches, not 2 inches like i was told. as soon as it was out i was like a new woman. i was up and about. couldnt believe a little tube could cause so much pain.

Coping with my internal tear afterwards. Having the stitches put in did not hurt - I was so pumped up with adrenaline and distracted by watching DH cuddle our brand new baby.

I was most uncomfortable whilst sitting up in bed, feeding DD. I could not move position without causing myself horrid pain. Walking distances proved painful too. I was uncomfortable like this for 5 weeks.

seeing how upset dp was when i opened my eyes after collapsing when they took the epidural out. he was holding newborn dd, was crying and looked terrified. he said he thought he was going to lose me.

Being catheterised 4 times made my urethra hurt like hell for a few days......
Felt terrible that after all that time (43 hours)of being quite in control I had to have an epidural and ventouse and that Dh got to hold DS first whilst I fought to keep awake!
But the absolute worst thing was that Ds had to be resuscitated and had the cord round his neck...at the time it was v much a blur but it still gives me nightmares now..

The worst thing about both my Births was my milk coming in and drying up. (i bottlefed).
It was AGONY and reduced me to a crying jibbering wreck both times
I think it's because it's a slow torture where-as the births were fast furious agony and i had no time to think.
Mind you, i want another one so how quickly we forget

Ds - had terrifying transition phase - student mw kept telling me I wasn't in labour (I had gone in to be induced, was having strong contractions 3:10, induced me anyway), and I should stay on the ward rather than going to delivery - when I hit transition she after a while conceded I was in labour, was 7-8cm, so she transferred me to delivery in a wheelchair - was JUST awful. Immediately got an epidural, and labour was then slower and more manageable, though more complicated than it needed to be.

Dd was homebirth, worst bit about it was the after pains which were excruciating for a day or two.

trapped wind and constipation for days after c-section. I told everyone on the ward, all midwives, even the tealady when I finally did a poo.

Like tortoiseshell, I found the afterpains when breastfeeding came as an unpleasant shock - didn't realise it would hurt so much!

snap Miaou, was really unpleasant. I kept having mini-flashbacks about labour pains too, particularly in the shower room. Which was weird because at the time it hadn't seemed that bad.

gingerbear, I was so tired I didn't notice that I hadn't pooed for 3 days after my cs. Took my mum to point out I looked constipated (!) - she could tell by my puffy eyes apparently.

afterpains - horrendous and in dd2's case so bad I went into shock, passed out and had to go to hospital by ambulance (dd2 was born at home)

It was all horrific tbh!

The fear and shock. I was having contractions that were screamable through, then one hit me that I tried to climb up the wall to get away from, and after that I wasn't screaming through the contractions, there was just a hurricane pouring through me and I was screaming because there was nothing else to be done. Only respite was getting into the pool - everything muffled for a bit - then the pain got past me again. Had linking pains too sometimes, so there was no break between contractions. Birth was very quick but I assumed it would be hours long, so I was absolutely terrified.

Vaguely contemplating TTC at the moment but am already lying awake thinking about having to go through that again. I do assume that the fear would be less, even if the pain were the same.

the smell

The pain of internal and external stitches, i didnt dare sit down for 4 days and the pain lasted 4/5 weeks, i couldnt take a bath and i couldnt pee unless i was stood up and bent forward with my face to the floor! horrible!

when the epidural didn't work the first time
breastfeeding

It was all pretty horrific in a lot of different ways but the physical pain is nothing compared to the emotional pain of not being able to remember the first time I saw, held and fed my dd. It's a complete blank - I was so tired and out of it that I can't remember anything from looking at the time as dd was delivered by CS, to being in the recovery room a couple of hours later. I can remember the blood pressure monitor on my arm, and I can remember removing my oxygen mask to have a cup of tea, but I can't remember anything in between - including meeting and feeding my dd.

Stitches. Two MWs came and fiddled around for hours and sighed irritatedly and said, 'Look, I really can't do this unless you relax, and if you don't relax, I'll have to call a doctor.' Bcs I didn't you don't, do you relax the doctor finally showed and did it in a flash.

Oh and first 2 mths of breastfeeding

The Pain.

lochia - yuck

and the afterpains - worse than contractions during labour i think esp when you get the afterpains with each suck baby takes

ooooooouuuuuuuuuccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Haemorrhaged after ds3 - pains worse than giving birth defo!!!!

sore nipples.

actually, excruciatingly painful nipples. for WEEKS.

give me childbirth itself any day

Having a pph straight after giving birth - due to retained placenta. Had to have an epidural so doc could remove it & aneasthetist took ages turning up whilst I lost over 2 litres! Then she couldn't get the epidural sited - awful. After felt so weak & my legs swelled up. Took a few weeks to recover. I thought at the time there is something worse than childbirth & it's happening now.

Dinosaur - what a difficult time. Can't imagine how you must have felt.

soreness. everywhere. esp nipples and c/s scar.