Just out of curiosity

I know a lot of you fine ladies have kids, how bad is labor? Give me something to compare it to. Thanks, I've always wondered

 

i couldn't really compare it to anything. all i know is that now whenever i hurt myself, i just remember that it's still not labor. but then, i had no pain meds and a ridiculous amount of pitosin (sp?). when i started convulsing they decided to take me off the pitosin and do a c-section, because my blood pressure elevated so high, and it was too high when i went in.

then the anesthesiologist couldnt' get the needle into my spine since i have a curvature, and he kept having to give me painful numbing shots. he was really sorry, because they did sting, but all i had to say was "it's still not labor."

i dunno, maybe you've had a really painful bm, with gas and cramping. it's kinda like that, but much much worse.

 

hm.. i had cramps that made me black out momentarily, and another time i couldnt get up off the floor.. i hope it's not too much worse than that and i'm sorry about your delivery, it sounds like it was a hectic and painful time. but you got something out of it, right?

 

perfection! i got perfection! so totally worth it. with the pain meds it's not as bad. if you get healthy before your pregnancy and stay that way, barring pre-ecclampsia, you'll be fine.

 

I had 29 hours of labor with my first son and then I ended up having a c-section anyway because he was face up instead of face down. I spent the night in the hospital by myself in a closet room because all rooms were filled. I was vomiting and in such agony. It was a total nightmare for me.

My second child was another c-section. He was breech the entire pregnancy. He kept kicking on my bladder. I almost pee'd myself a few times while pregnant. His head was jammed in my ribs. I was only in labor for about 5 hours before I had my C.

Go for the drugs. There is no reason in this world to have to go without them. I did have an epidural for both however the first one I had to have it given to me 2x. The second time it missed a nerve and I had brusing in my rib. Never will I have to go through that again HOWEVER my boys are so sweet and such good lil' guys. They made it all worth it.

I think it is totally amazing what the body can go through and withstand. I have a low tolerance for pain. I didn't think I would come out alive but I did and I have two beautiful lil' boys because of it.

 

yeah, there's nothing to prove by going without meds. i never understood that. i mean, if your child can't handle the meds, then fine. mine couldn't, which is why i didn't have them until surgery. but for the rest, fuck it, take 'em.

 

Someone once told me that giving birth was like shitting a football. Just thought I'd mention it.

 

After my experience I wished they would of given me an ultrasound while I was in labor. I don't understand why they don't do that if the woman is having a horrible time. I think it would not only be beneficial to the lil' lady but also for the baby. With cords and such being wrapped around the baby they would be able to take care of the situation immediately.

I think they should do the ultrasound regardless of the the woman's condition. It would/could cut labor time and no one would be as exhausted.

 

After some of the horror stories I have been told more like a oversized basketball. Hemmroids are not a lovely thing. I didn't have them, well maybe a lil' but in my opinion any woman who gives birth deserves a high honor award.

 

haha that's a good idea- my grandma didn't have any, she told me she was doing dishes and she went into labor, so she had her neighbor drive her to the hospital (right by our houses) and she had her baby. She said it was just like bad cramps.. I suppose it does differ from woman to woman, though it sounds quite painful for most of you mamas. You can see how bad the pain is and then opt for an epidural right?

 

oh sure. but don't forget it's not just the extreme cramping, it's also the agonizing spreading of your vaginal canal with a bit of flesh tearing. not pleasant.

 

i have 2 children, and yet i have never experienced labor.


i guess i just tend to have unhealthy pregnancies. with damien i had preeclempsia, and to make a long story short, the hospital handled it very poorly, and it was the most horrible experience i have ever been through in my life. it was 2 or 3 days before they really let me see him. it wounded my early relationship with my son in ways that are still healing. it was something out of a nightmare, and i still cry or get angry about it occaisionally. i'd do it all again though, if i really had to, because my boy is beautiful and wise and almost other-worldly, my little elf-child.

the second pregnancy was also very unhealthy, and to make a long story short again, we lost that one.

with my hobbit-baby daughter, it was just the opposite experience. my OB was wonderful. i did not get preeclempsia, but my blood pressure was so dangerously high that people were tip-toeing around my room talking in whispers because they thought i might have a stroke at any minute. nonetheless, it was an empowering experience. my OB was so supportive
and encouraging, she helped make an emergency c-section in the dead of night seem like the most beautiful experience of my life. that was probably the strongest point in my relationship with my now soon-to-be-ex-husband. he was so happy he literally jumped up and down with joy when shakti was born. she was the smallest baby in the special care nursury, weighing 3.6 pounds at birth. she was smaller than damien's baby doll. she spent 3 weeks in the hospital.

i was not able to hold either of my children immediately after birth, which is a loss i will always grieve. as painful as i've heard that labor is, it's got to be better than that; it certainly is better than what i went through with damien.

btw, for both children, for some reason i was listening to the hoodoo gurus' blow your cool immediately before surgery. i imagine if i'd been in labor i probably would have given birth to "good times" or "hell for leather".

 

ah! how funny, i was just having a hoodoo guru's moment earlier today.

i didn't get to hold kai, either, immediately after birth. she had some strain on her from my long labor and needed extra attention. but 2.5 years of nearly continuous cuddling and attachment parenting made up for the inconvenience. sometimes things happen for a reason, and it just takes us years and years to figure out what that is. i just try really hard to find the good aspect of even every painful episode of my life.

 

I was born breech, and my mom still gives me grief about it. I was the first born child, and she says I ripped her open. She had me naturally.. They kept telling her to push and when they noticed that smile on my face wasnt actually a smile, but my crack, they told her to stop pushing, and once you start you cant help but continue. I dont know, they got me turned around though, somehow, and I was born.

 

i've never understood why parents "give their kids grief" over their births. i mean, it's not like they could have done anything to change it. there was somethin wrong with the position we were in when my brother and i were born, and we had to be born by c-section. my mother always accused me of "sitting on his head" because i was "imapatient" and "trying to get out first" or "getting in the way". as a little kid i internalized all this, and i was in high school before it dawned on me that there was no way i could have "screwed up" my own birth, especially not with malicious intent. twin births are always difficult.


i have a friend who had been half of a set of twins, and her twin died before birth. to this day she believes she "killed" her twin, because that's what her parents told her. wtf???

 

Well, I didn't feel the contractions until I was dilated 6 centimeters, but then it felt like the worst cramps ever plus someone punching you in the stomach as hard as they can every few minutes, and then an unbearable pressure when I had to start pushing, and then it felt like my body was going to rip in half, and then a gush of water and the baby came out and all was forgotten and it was beautiful. That was my experience.

Oh, and I did opt for the epidural but it didn't work. I had preeclampsia and I had gotten so much swelling on my back that the anesthesiologist had a hard time getting it in and by the time he finally got it and turned up the juice, it was time to start pushing. Oh well. I don't even think I'll bother with one next time.

 

that's a good description, thanks

 

my mother keept telling my sister that u forget the pain right away after its finished lol

pitty it didn't work out like that in the slightest might talk about it one day.

 

I was forced into giving birth with my oldest daughter because of that eclampsia shit. That was one of the most horrific moments of my life. Luckily, most people don't have to deal with that.
My other 2 births weren't that big of a deal...don't get me wrong it still hurt like crazy, but I think natural childbirth is almost indescribable and every woman should try it that way at least once if possible. I've tried to describe what it feels like when the baby starts crowning (besides pain) and I just can't. Maybe it's just endorphines or something? I don't know, but I got an insane rush from it.

Oh yeah, I was fucking FREEZING afterwards, every single time.

 

With my first, the cramps weren't too bad, kinda like my stomach hardening, then relaxing. After a day of that, my water broke (feels like you pee yourself-if your standing, it's not a gush, just a trickle) but no dilation. So they gave me the dreaded pitocin (avoid at all costs!) It feel like my stomach was being twisted, ripped, punched, etc. I finally had to get an epidural because it hurt too bad. I think I could have handled it without the pitocin.


DD#2, labor going good, a day and a half at home, went to the hospital, every thing fine, until the babies heartrate dropped with every contraction. They figured out if I laid on my right side, it didn't do it. So, finally pushing time. I pushed...umbilical cord pops out. Oops. The doctor jumps on the bed, shoves her hands inside of me to hold the baby in. She would have died on oxygen deprivation from the umibilical cord being prolapsed. Anyway, lots of scariness later, c-section birth.