What does it feel like.

[clarey]

Its only recently hit me that I have to get this child out into the world somehow, until now I havent really given it much thought, must have been in denial! lol
I'm not so much scared of the pain as of something happening to me or bean, I know its unlikey these days...
Also wont it be weird not to be pregnant anymore? I cant remember how that feels!

 

[paradysso]

ohhh this thread has got me all excited

i cant wait to try and push a baby out. its going to be so much more fun having a day of pain then suffering months of pain healing from a section

let hope i go into labour before 42 weeks

 

[Red_Fairy]

i imagined the worst...

and yet was still totally shocked how much it hurt!

i cant even think about this baby/labour

 

[trixipaws]

late labour is sooooooo hard to explain in words!

at first the contractions were just like BAD period pains magnified.

when i got to 5cm they were so painful i puked. they just keep getting worse and couple hours later my boyf said my eyes were rolling back in my head (and i didnt have any drugs!) its just like a warm, crampy pain in your tummy, like a wave. your mind kinda spaces out tho u dont really notice whats going on around you (so forget the labour cds lol u wont give a s*** about them!) ur kinda in ur own bubble and hav no concept of time (in a good way time flies really)

the last 2 contractions before pushing made me scream and cry! i just wanted it all to stop i wished i could go to sleep!

i always thought pushing would be the most painful bit but it isnt. felt slight burning when she crowned (and tore a bit) but it was a walk in the park compared to the contractions id just been having! it feels like ur only pushing 5 minutes, when really its more like 45!

my tummy still ached afterwards til the placenta was out, then it stopped.

it really hurts hun but its a strange thing afterwards u wont quite remember how it felt and youll be so glad u experienced it!

and yes i'd do it again! dont be scared

oh yeah, forgot to say, ur not permanently in pain while ur in labour. u get breaks in between contractions which are pain-free and a god-send!

 

[Minxy]

It's not always easy to remember EXACTLY how it felt as they say your brain blocks it our. Which of course is absolutely no compensation this side of labour

All I can say is the bearing down to push sensation is so strong. If you've ever had those double-up stomach cramps when you've had the runs and you can't control yourself, it's a bit like that!

The pain is intense but your mind becomes so channelled that all you focus on is the next pain and getting closer to the actual birth. I've had kidney infections that in their own way have been harder to deal with, as 'ill' pain is so senseless whereas labour has a purpose you're working hard towards.

Afterwards you'll feel like you've done 10 rounds with Tyson but there's no serenity like it. Think of that ultimate relaxed floppiness you feel after a workout and a bath. Then times it by 1000

 

[fran_23]

heres my advice: ok while its great to hear other ppls
experiences and prepare yourself to a certain degree-
i would say try not to let anyone elses stories scare you
because at the end of the day every labour is different,
as are pain thresholds.
i think a lot also depends on circumstance ie how relaxed you
are/atmosphere etc and if ur worrying about when so and so told u
they pooed themselves or your neighbour had a 3rd degree tear
then its gonna hurt more!!
labour is extremely hard to describe as its like nothing you
would have ever experienced before and its differs from person
to person. When the time comes your body just takes over
and i guess because you have no choice other then to just deal with
it- you do!! and by then you just want to get it done and see your
baby so u kind of embrace labour as a means to an end!
also remember that its pain with a purpose each contraction
brings you nearer to meeting your baby- its not like someone
just randomly rips at your uterus..you know why your enduring it
and you have a goal that focuses you.

thats my wise words for the year- lap it up there won't be any more

 

[Full of hope!]

What a great thread, it brilliant to hear everyone's experiences!

I have days when I feel so scared of labour but they are getting less and less now I'm starting to get more uncomfortable the bigger i'm getting and kind of getting tired of being pregnant so i'm thinking that once labour starts the end is near and I get to meet my baby I'm only 36 weeks tomorrow so by 40 weeks I think i'll be desperate to start!

 

[kellie80]

My labour with Nathan was fantastic. It didn't go completely smoothly but even the 1st day after he was born I missed it in a weird sort of way. It was a nice experience for me I think of it as my PROPER labour. With the other 2 I never had any let up in the pains or even had the urge to push. With Nathan I feel like I experienced it right and I was having gaps in-between the pains so I could compose myself even right up till the end and I felt the urge to push which made all the pain go away. Yes it was painful and I asked to be killed at the time but it wasn't that bad at all. The pain when the heads coming out is like a major stinging feeling like you have salt in a cut but its over quick.

 

[muppetmummy]

I can hardly remember. I think it's a mixture of pethidine, and the way in which our brains seem to be programmed to forget the really bad bits.
I remember the early stages being like bad period pains, and the head coming out really stinging, not sure what went on inbetween

I remember being on a natural high afterwards and being really happy and excited about it. It was such an amazing experience despite the pain and definately the high point of my life so far!

 

[Tillytots]

I cant wait to experience labour!!

 

[Foxxi]

Beforehand, like many of you on here I was petrified... But, for me it was nowhere near as bad as what I'd expected. When the contractions start... all your fears just go... and I actually started to look forward to the giving birth part... I found it a relief that the end of my pregnancy was finally here as opposed to being fearful!

The gas and air was fantastic...really helped...I had pethadine about 30 mins before Fynn came out and I dont think it had any effect at all... however my hubby said that he noticed the difference straight away!

My mum was holding one hand and my hubby was holding my other hand... and listening to them talk really helped.. helps you to focus..you cant join in the conversation but just knowing they where there was a great help!

For me it was quite a pleasurable pain ... like others said like waves ... just keep sucking on the gas and air... makes you high as a kite.. but you still know exactly what is going on around you... It was a very surreal experience..like someone else put on here 'like an outer body experience' ... I enjoyed the pushing part ...and as soon as he came out it was all over! I tore quite badly... but didnt feel a thing... the worst part of it all was being stiched afterwards!

The whole experience was well worth it.... the worst part was the pregnancy itself, I hated it... the birth part was a doddle! I feel quite sad that Im only gonna go thru it all just one more time!

Good luck to you all who are about to pop... and dont be afraid!

 

[Redshoes]

I cant wait to experience labour!!

That approach will ensure you have a great labour, fear is what makes labour so painful Very best wishes, I too cannot wait for all of it, and especially, finally breathing my baby into the world, missed out first time, damned if it's gonna happen this time

 

[Foxxi]

Redshoes - Just noticed you ticker....

Congrats!

Sorry for goin off subject!

 

[Redshoes]

Redshoes - Just noticed you ticker....
Congrats!
Sorry for goin off subject!

Thankyou
now you made me go off topic

I'll add more to how labour feels.. did you know anxiety and excitement feel the same, so if in labour you feel anxious, just flip it around and say no, I'm just excited, and those feel good hormones will help Also make sure you take lots of snacks!! From 3AM and being induced, until about 4PM the next day after coming round from all the prep drugs, I only had a slice of toast offered me by the MW, but they gave me lots of water.

 

[Becs]

Oh yeah, she's preggers. Congrats RedShoes x

 

[Hellokitty]

I was induced because of meconium stained waters breaking.

I have a good pain-threshold IMO (I'm tattooed all over and pierced my own tongue and nipple!)

At 1cm dilated I was in the worst agony I could ever imagine, my contractions were coming 2 mins apart and lasting a minute and a half. I begged for the epidural there is NO way I could have coped with that pain for longer (mind you no-one offered me any gas and air so i didn't try that).

But...

Talking with my ante-natal group, and we all had very different labours, a couple of them said it was no worse than bad period pains.

So ultimately I guess it depends on the individual. Although the girls that had the most pain-free labours seemed to be the ones that went into labour naturally and had a medium-length duration of 2nd stage.

 

[Tangerinedream]

Some people have said it isnt as bad as you think but for me it was worse than I could have ever imagined (you did ask....) but everyone is different, and Jake was back to back.

I was able to cope with the early pains, after about 3 hours I got the TENS machine which helped me cope for another 12 hours but after that I was begging for the hospital to take me in. They let me in another 9 hours later. Then I had G&A but didnt manage long with that. Eventually I had an epidural but while I was waiting for it to work the pain was, for me, unberable. When the contraction was coming to a peak I didnt feel like I was in my own body. The only way to describe is I didnt have a body, I just took up the whole room but the whole room was pain. Doesnt make sense now but thats how it felt. All I could see was blackness with stars. Wierd. But like others have said, everyone is different.

 

[leckershell]

I called my contractions cramps for the whole day I was in early labour as I was in denial that they were actual contractions!! To me they felt like cramps, as if you have bad period pain come and go really stong.

The actual birth, to be honest it wasn't that bad. The pushing the baby part felt familiar to me and I have no idea why, I've never had a baby before or anything but the feeling felt like something I'd done before. Difficult to explain. It felt like stretching but not in a thin stretching of skin sort of way, more in a deep down whole body stretching sort of way.

That was useless... that's the best way I can explain tho, sorry

ps- I had "cramps" for a day and a half, went to hospital, was 5cm, then had a bath, had gas and air, got transferred to birth pool, and then had Ryan

 

[trixipaws]

hmm i think i agree with leckershell there, it does feel a bit familiar somehow- how odd! lol

as u asked about pushing the baby out i just wanted to add- as i remember the feeling quite well- after the head's crowned u can feel it inching out- but when u run out of breath and hav a lil break from pushing, it FEELS like ur sucking the head back up! but ur NOT hehe it just feels like it. when i was doing the last bit of the head and the MWs were shouting "keep going, nearly out!" i could feel definate lumpy bits- i assume the nose and ears? i was so exhausted but it really inspired me to keep pushin i knew i was gettin somewhere!