Post by moopoint17 on Mar 27, 2015 19:44:37 GMT -5
With the first one I remember telling H that contractions felt like that time i had a milkshake ... and I'm lactose intolerant. But, like 1000 times worse. The cramps, the feeling like i was gonna crap my pants, not being able to find a comfortable position. It was awful.
And then i went into labor with #2, which was a lot quicker. Based on the descriptions above, I'm gonna guess i had the epi before i reached transition with DS1. I was not that lucky with DS2. It felt like the sun was trying to break free from my abdomin.
Post by imojoebunny on Mar 27, 2015 19:45:36 GMT -5
I had essentially no pain with ether of my kids. Really. The doctor couldn't believe it. With DD, I had no problems at all, no pain, was able to get up within a few hours and shower, and generally felt great. With DS, my only side effect was being very shaky right after he was born. He came very fast though, like 4-5 hours after my water broke and 3-4 after I went into labor.
Clearly, I had an epidural. I could walk a mile when both my kids were three days old. I pulled my DD out and cut the cord myself.
The pain was so intense it actually scared me. I thought all things different parts were going to fall out. I started my contractions 5 minutes apart for 1 minute and they only got closer and longer so I never actually got a break between them. I also had serious back pain and all the muscles seized up which I think made it so much worse. I actually begged for a c but by the time they consented and I iflled out all the forms he was almost out. Pushing was like nothing
Post by teatimefor2 on Mar 27, 2015 19:49:51 GMT -5
I actually didn't mind them with DS2, they weren't bad at all. With DS1 I was induced. They were surprised I was 10 cm upon arrival at the hospital because I didn't seem to be in pain. It just felt like pressure and then it was over!
Sort of like riding a roller coaster, lots of peaks! And when it was over, it was over. I felt pretty normal within a few hours of giving birth.
For me, it felt like an uncomfortable muscle cramp in my stomach. My stomach would harden with pain, and then it would subside. I was lucky both times though. I did not go into labor on my own and was induced. They gave me the epidural before breaking my water both times, so I never experienced really bad contractions. I am not disappointed.
It is interesting to read all the different descriptions. Then again, I would describe each of my labors differently even though they were very similar overall.
My labors were fast and furious. There was no time to adjust to contractions or for them to ramp up. The only words I uttered while pushing with DS1 was "this is ridiculous." It was just so intense. I know it was painful, but I don't remember the pain, just feeling totally consumed by the experience.
While pregnant with DS2 I was not scared of labor pain, but the feeling of not being able to control labor. It was just so fast with DS1 and that was terrifying to think about. (PTL didn't help the anxiety.) However, in the moment it wasn't as uncontrolled as I had remembered. The transition contraction, however, I can still feel if I close my eyes and think about it. Like being squeezed by a vice and being unable to stop the impending doom. *shudder*
When I was pregnant with DS3 I was most dreading that damn transition contraction. It wasn't as bad with DS3 though, and I found crowning to be the most uncomfortable part. I felt like I was a dish cloth being slowly ripped apart and I swear I could hear it.
But really, it was short lived in the scheme of things and the purposeful nature of the pain made it bearable.
Also, the natural high after delivery was amazing!
I had about six hours of contractions before my epi. They hurt. I grimaced and cussed. Then again, I react the same when I stub my toe lol.
I think I've already forgotten about labor pains. I can't believe I'm in here all "it's nbd y'all!" I did get lucky, though. Ten minutes of pushing ftw!
My contractions felt like WHO CARES BECAUSE I GOT AN EPIDURAL
Sometimes I feel lame that I got an epi 45 minutes after the pain started, and then I'm like...fuck that, lol. Best decision!
(Obligatory "but I had pitocin" defense.)
My contractions started and literally went immediately to 1 minute apart. I told H on the way to the hospital that I gave up and couldn't do this. I got checked in and when the nurse asked me my pain management plans, I said, "Epirdural. NOW." H was all, "You wanted me to remind you that you wanted to try other stuff before the epidural." I said, "NOPE."
Okay, so the epidural is supposed to keep you from feeling contractions? It did not do that for me. I got the epidural around 6 am, and by 10-11, I felt like my abdomen was being run over by a car. I felt every bit of them. They upped the dosage once, but it didn't do much at all. It just made me feel a little bit loopy/drunk at first. I was relaxed so I could rest, but I hadn't even gotten my pitocin yet. I'd only had Cervidil.
My first epidural was great, for a few hours. I could still kind of move, but it definitely dulled the contractions, even though I could feel them. Then it wore off and they had to give me more. I couldn't move at ALL and like @vicmo, needed lots of help moving my legs and switching sides. That one wore off too.
I seem to have some sort of aversion to the paid meds, because they couldn't get them to work for my C-section either. That said, apparently I was running fully on adrenaline at that point, because I literally felt every cut of my C-section on my left side but it seemed way less painful than my initial contractions 60 seconds apart before the epi.
Post by DarcyLongfellow on Mar 27, 2015 20:08:46 GMT -5
With DD1 I was induced, so I couldn't move around. I got the epidural pretty early on (around noon after a 9am induction, and she was born just after midnight). But the epidural had worn off by the time I started pushing (at 9pm). The urge to push was so fascinating to me. It was this absolutely overwhelming takeover of my whole body by this primal urge. Pushing was a relief to me -- it didn't really hurt. My OB cutting an episiotomy with no anesthesia because she assumed my epidural was working, though -- that hurt like f'ing HELL.
With DD2 I went into labor on my own. I kind of thought maybe I could handle it without an epidural. I thought I'd be able to use that time in between contractions to recover. But there was no time in between. They were coming right on top of each other (even though I was only 3 or 4 cms) -- we could watch on the monitor and almost as soon as one would end another would start. I thought something was wrong with me! I don't remember the pain well enough to really describe it, but I remember the only thing I could do was stare at the ceiling and repeat "f*ck" over and over. LOL
My contractions felt like WHO CARES BECAUSE I GOT AN EPIDURAL
Sometimes I feel lame that I got an epi 45 minutes after the pain started, and then I'm like...fuck that, lol. Best decision!
(Obligatory "but I had pitocin" defense.)
I had to wait and wait. I threatened to send my h to Gerrard street to find me some good drugs. I said that allowed to the nurse. In the end, my nurse camped out in the hallway and wouldn't let the anesthesia dude walk by without getting in my room. My H thinks back to my contractions and has so much pity and sadness in his eyes for what I went through for a couple hours and I never got passed a few cm. csection.
I am very quiet and was pretty quiet during most of my labor, except I remember at one point yelling fuck very loudly. I'm still embarrassed about it, lol.
Just went back to read LO's birth story. Yep. Totally blurted out a few expletives. The water did help relieve some of the pressure, but it was still pretty intense.
I was induced and didn't feel any contractions until the dr broke my water. I think I felt like 2 contractions and had only a few minutes of intense pain. It did feel like my insides were being crushed and twisted so I asked for the epi right away after refusing earlier. The anesthesiologist came in and I was pain free in about 15 minutes. She was like, "I told ya so." There was some light pressure down there because I kept thinking that I pooped. My h assured me I didn't. I took a nap and when I was fully dilated, the baby came out in like 3 pushes. I'm a wuss but it turned out surprisingly well.
I thought my epidural was awesome. I could feel light pressure, so I knew when I was having contractions, but no pain.
I got a morphine button after my c-section and angels descended from the heavens. I was all DING DING DING MORE PLEASE like I was a desperate Jeopardy contestant or something.
I never really wrote up my birth story for DS. The short story was: induction with a failed epidural. The slightly longer story was: started pitocin around 7am. Asked for the epidural around 8. They started all the prep but got called away to do a scheduled c-section around 8:30. I almost cried.
They didn't get back to it until 9. By now things were much, much more painful, but they told me I had to stay flat on my back if I wanted the epidural to work. Which I DESPERATELY did. But it didn't, so they came and did a second one around 9:40. Again, flat on my back, praying for it to work.
It never did, and he was born at 10:17am. Going through pitocin-induced contractions and transition flat on my back, without being able to change positions, was, seriously, terrible. I am NOT a tough person. I'm so thankful that the labor was speedy, because I don't know how I could've handled several hours of that pain. I like the description of your internal organs being pushed through a wringer.
It is interesting to read all the different descriptions. Then again, I would describe each of my labors differently even though they were very similar overall.
My labors were fast and furious. There was no time to adjust to contractions or for them to ramp up. The only words I uttered while pushing with DS1 was "this is ridiculous." It was just so intense. I know it was painful, but I don't remember the pain, just feeling totally consumed by the experience.
While pregnant with DS2 I was not scared of labor pain, but the feeling of not being able to control labor. It was just so fast with DS1 and that was terrifying to think about. (PTL didn't help the anxiety.) However, in the moment it wasn't as uncontrolled as I had remembered. The transition contraction, however, I can still feel if I close my eyes and think about it. Like being squeezed by a vice and being unable to stop the impending doom. *shudder*
When I was pregnant with DS3 I was most dreading that damn transition contraction. It wasn't as bad with DS3 though, and I found crowning to be the most uncomfortable part. I felt like I was a dish cloth being slowly ripped apart and I swear I could hear it.
But really, it was short lived in the scheme of things and the purposeful nature of the pain made it bearable.
Also, the natural high after delivery was amazing!
I can empathize about the anxiety when previous births were as you described. I planned a homebirth with #3, was curious about a water birth, but didn't really consider it because I didn't think there would be enough time to set everything up and fill the tub. #2's "labor" was 47 minutes, and my midwife with #3 lived an hour away. It can take 1-2+ hours to set up the birth tub and get it filled and at the right temp (longer if hot water runs out). So I didn't plan for one.
I did decide at 37.5 weeks with #4 to go ahead with the water birth idea. I was skeptical about it, but since we were inducing labor we figured it would give us enough time to prepare and set things up. It took 2.5 hours to set up and fill the tub I used, and we *still* had to boil water since the hot water ran out. We induced labor, but nothing was happening... for hours. We waited and waited. I walked around my neighborhood, and sent my older two kids to my mom's because they were getting restless, and my midwife and her apprentice left to get dinner, returned, and waited some more. I did get BH very late in the evening, and then as I was talking to my mom on the phone, venting to her about my impatience, I noticed a mild, crampy contraction with a low, dull backache. It just felt achy. We continued talking until I noticed what my midwife thinks was bloody show. I walked back into the living room and told my midwife. She had me lay on the bed to get checked. Heart tones were great. I was still 6 cm, but my cervix was swollen (from pressure) and I had a cervical lip. (I had been 5 cm and 80% effaced for a week by the time we induced, and got to 6 cm after lots of walking).
My midwife had me turn on my left side to help my cervix rest. That was the point where I told my mom I'd call her once labor started to have her come over. He was born two minutes later. It was absolutely crazy. Shortly after I got off the phone, maybe a minute, I felt an intense crampy contraction, and less than 10 seconds later, another hit. With the third one I told my midwife, who was sitting on the couch watching Christmas movies, that he was coming. Panic mode! She rushed over, opened my right leg (they were mostly closed), and there was a head. My membranes ruptured and the rest of him shot out. No water birth.
I was NOT expecting that. It took me a while to process because there was no easing into it. My second birth was crazy fast, but that, that was insane. There was no labor. Both he and I were in shock. My body was shaking.
So, yeah, the fifth time, I was pretty anxious about baby just falling out while running errands or taking the kids to school. But thankfully her birth gave me something to process, and there was some easing into her birth. The cervical lip held her back until my midwife helped her clear it. And I got the water birth that time.
Post by daisybuchannan on Mar 27, 2015 21:09:09 GMT -5
I think the most interesting part here is just how different everyone's experiences are.
My contractions started to become almost on top of one another (so no real time in between) and that's when it was just unbearable. I had an epi with Connor that made me feel nothing. Pushed for almost 3 hrs. I had an epi put in (didn't kick in) with Cameron, but by the time he was done I felt a pop (water break) and the nurse announced that the head was RIGHT THERE lol. Pushed for 15 mins with no real pain. I feel like the pushing that time was an out of body experience.
I almost want to try for no epi at all next time because I felt physically amazing after my 2nd, no tearing at all.
Well, we check your fundus and do fundal massage, mostly the hour or so after birth to help it contract back down to control bleeding and make sure there aren't big clots forming in the uterus.
After the initial Recovery period, we check the fundus but don't typically massage unless it's boggy.
Ugh, mine was being massaged for almost 24 hours post birth, every few hours. Shudder.
I had about six hours of contractions before my epi. They hurt. I grimaced and cussed. Then again, I react the same when I stub my toe lol.
I think I've already forgotten about labor pains. I can't believe I'm in here all "it's nbd y'all!" I did get lucky, though. Ten minutes of pushing ftw!
Breaking my ankle was so, so much worse.
Really? The nurses kept saying "you don't seem to be in that much pain" when I broke mine and I was all, "Psh. I've had two kids. This is cake compared to labor."
I was in excruciating pain when the anesthesia wore off after my ankle surgery. I was screaming at H "why did you let them do this to me?" And asking him to get me a saw so I could cut my leg off. I'm not even kidding. Hence my admonition for you to take as many pain meds as possible! But maybe you're not as much a wimp as I am
Contractions > postpartum "uterine massage," especially after a c-section when they're basically punching your fucking incision repeatedly.
My H is pretty stoic and I remember him turning ghostly white when they did it to me after my section, before the pain meds kicked in. OMG.
What is this massage? I didn't need this. Why did you opt for this? Is it the new milk-bead?
Fundal massage was done after all of my births, more often with #'s 2, 4 and 5 to help the uterus contract and close off open blood vessels. It was more uncomfortable this last time due to uterine displacement.
I think, if I am remembering correctly, that it was like I had all these bands strapped around my belly and back and they just kept getting tightened and then loosened a little, then tightened more. But I had pitocin and had no rest between contractions. Even after my epidural I still felt them pretty strongly.
Ok. So, I'm kind of scared. At or near the height of contractions did you feel like you were going to die?
No. Remember I slept till 8cm and didn't really work through contractions til 10 without drugs. Not saying what I had was typical but i think labor is inbetween for most people. Expecially if you get an epi
Well, we check your fundus and do fundal massage, mostly the hour or so after birth to help it contract back down to control bleeding and make sure there aren't big clots forming in the uterus.
After the initial Recovery period, we check the fundus but don't typically massage unless it's boggy.
Ugh, mine was being massaged for almost 24 hours post birth, every few hours. Shudder.
Same. I massaged mine a lot after my last birth due to PPH, but it wasn't boggy. I had worried about uterine atony leading to excess bleeding, but my uterus was contracting and firm, but took longer to stop bleeding. It sucked. The first 24-48 hours it was really uncomfortable. I hadn't really experienced after births pains the way others talk about until after her birth.
Well, we check your fundus and do fundal massage, mostly the hour or so after birth to help it contract back down to control bleeding and make sure there aren't big clots forming in the uterus.
After the initial Recovery period, we check the fundus but don't typically massage unless it's boggy.