I am no way near of giving birth yet but I am terrified of the thought what sort of pain that will be
I try to not think about it too much but sometimes I just can't help it.
Is it common here in the UK that you can just "request" to give birth in a pool? I am leaning very much toward this option as I read that this helped alot of women to cope with the pain.
I had my gorgeous little boy 6 weeks ago tomorrow (wow that's gone quick!), I sadly didn't get the water birth as the ward was so busy at the time I didn't even get a labour room at all until I was 8cm (even then they had to kick someone else out of a room to get me in as I progressed quicker), I arrived at hospital at 2cm so had to wait in a family lounge/waiting room with nothing but a sofa with no pain relief whatsoever and no choice over the matter! Luckily I did plan to try without any pain relief anyway lol.
The pain for me was not what I expected at all, mostly through my pelvis, legs and back. Yes it was the most painful thing I have ever experienced but it was a different kind of pain, one you definitely can deal with, you are made to cope with it. I was struggling but I managed just like every other woman has and would do it all over again in a heartbeat!
When I finally got into a labour room I had access to gas and that was just the most amazing thing on earth at the time lol, if you want gas and have the option I recommend using the mask, it was AMAZING and I felt nothing once that set in. I wasn't even completely sure if i was having a contraction or not and it made pushing him out a breeze. Plus its absolutely true when people say the pain stops and is forgotten as soon as they give you the baby, and it really is the most amazing experience so just try to relax and enjoy it! Your body knows what to do and you will be fine
x
Aaaawwww congratulations on your newborn!
May I ask...would you compare the pain to a very very bad period pain? I am trying to convince myself that this is what it feels like.
So let me get this straight...you gave birth and had only the gas mask?
I don't know what to say. I hope I can be strong as you and then 'laugh it off' right afterwards...
Thankyou, it's the best thing in the world!
The early labour contractions felt like strange waves of back ache and period like pain that gradually got stronger, though to be honest they weren't really painful and I pretty much slept through most of it (they started at 11.30pm after I did squats and used the breast pump for a short while to try inducing labour, pumping caused tightenings and they continued and labour started so I guess that worked for me lol).
Eventually the pains completely changed and it wasn't at all how it started, it suddenly started to become painful and gradually got more and more intense until you become convinced that you can't cope any more, but you can.
Established labour for me was really bad dull back ache, it felt like lightning was shooting down my thighs constantly and the majority of the pain was in my hips. It felt like somebody grabbed my hips from the back and was pulling them back stretching them almost to breaking point and like somebody was stomping a bowling ball down through my pelvis, stretching everything internally through each contraction. I do have quite narrow hips though compared to most women, I have a more boy like figure (inverted triangle build) so I imagine that had a lot to do with it. I think everybody has different pains so please don't expect your labour to be like mine. I hardly felt any pain in my stomach at all.
Because of my build and being generally petite everybody was always saying I would need a c section as I would be too small and he would get stuck etc so I was prepared for the worst but I proved them all wrong when I had a very easy straight forward, text book birth. I managed to get away with only a tiny tear that didn't need stitches and a small graze on each side internally. Everything went pretty quickly and it wasn't half as bad as I expected. My baby was perfectly healthy, I had minimal bleeding and was sent home just hours later.
Yes I just had the gas and air at around 8cm which was a god send at the time lol. I was told drugs are highly likely to slow down labour and make your probability of needing a section higher so wanted to go as naturally as I could.
Don't listen to horror stories and just brush it off if people try to scare you like they did with me, it really isn't all that bad and it's all over before you know it and definitely is worth all the pain
Oh one thing I did learn though was to try going to the loo before you need to push as when the time comes pooping is completely unavoidable, you really couldn't care less at the time but I felt a bit embarrassed about it afterwards when my dear husband reminded me about it 😂!
Also I would suggest trying to eat and drink a little as early labour starts because when it gets painful it's likely you won't be able to keep anything down, I threw up 5 times and couldn't keep water down so get something for energy whilst you can
x
Maybe next time
