Honestly - tell me how painful childbirth is!

Bitsy_Beans

Am pretty sure after 6 pages of replies we've established that it's painful.
I didn't have a water birth but with my second labour (wasn't induced like the first) I must say I managed without pain relief at home by having a 3 hour bath in hot water. I know they said that it can slow down contractions but it was 11pm and I was tired so thought it would either ease the discomfort or slow things down so I could get some sleep. When it got to the point where I couldn't cope anymore we went to hospital whereby I went from 4 cm to 10cm in 15 mins and my body started pushing!!! That was the most painful part of labour and it was too quick for any pain relief (I wasn't even in a delivery room so didn't get gas and air til it was too late!). I've never known pain like it but the trade off was my beautiful daughter.

There are no prizes for suffering in childbirth. If you want pain relief then take it. It's not a contest. Trust me I was desperate for ANYTHING but it all happened so fast it was just too late.

*Louise*

fattyc wrote: »

We are about to start trying for a sprog of our own. Please tell me honestly how painful and humiliating childbirth is. Mum and sisters say "oh, you forget all about the pain when you see their little face", but am sure they are lying. It must be horrifically painful???? That is the only thing putting me off, I'm terrible with pain, and the whole experience is freaking me out. Am I over reacting, am I abnormal???

Best advice I can give you if you're scared of the pain- get yourself an epidural. My mum used to say that she had 4 of us with no pain relief. My reply: 'Did you get a medal for it? Then why bother suffering?'

I had an epidural with all 3 of mine, it didn't work too well with my 3rd but it took the edge off.

The contractions before the birth are different for everyone. For some it comes on suddenly, for me when I started getting pains, I went and had a shower, made sure my legs were shaved (lol) and my hair and make up was done. I didn't even swear at OH once while giving birth and I remember a doc coming in when I was having my first and telling me I was the only mother in the corridor that wasn't giving him any hassle :rotfl:

jackieb

Bitsy_Beans wrote: »

There are no prizes for suffering in childbirth. If you want pain relief then take it. It's not a contest.

Hear hear! :T

When I saw my GP after the birth of my son he had a look at the label on the end of his cot, read that I had 'Keillands forceps, rotation and delivery' and said that my next birth would be better as it couldn't be any worse. He knew that from reading a label! Yes it was painful. My epidural didn't take. Baby was lying the wrong way with his forehead coming first and had to be turned with high forceps. Dignity? What's that? And honestly I couldn't have cared less - and i'm normally very shy about showing my body. I don't even show my bare legs!
I wasn't prepared for the birth as I was very young. Read up on it. Go to classes. Know what to expect. Use drugs if you want. Don't be brave about it. There's no shame in it.
And it's true, you do forget about the pain. Of course you can bear it - us women are strong beasts. I went on to have 3 more babies. I'd rather give birth than have root canal treatment now. It's not knowing what to expect that's the worst bit.

Good luck xx

Geenie

It is very painful and not called labour for nothing! But as already said, you soon forget.....that is why you do it all over again often! The oxytocin, endorphin, and adrenaline left me as high as kite after, especially with my 2nd child who was induced and came 2 hours later! Sounds great on paper having a short labour, but it wasn't believe me!

LizzieS_2

1st was horrendous (can seriously see how murder victims suffer), but the reason had nothing to do with being the 1st. Deliberately omitting details, but you can see how much it really put me off.....

2nd I pushed out too quickly and tore (that hurts more than a cut).

3rd was a very quick labour (contractions 2 minutes apart from start), pushing stage was a whopping 3 minutes (normal is 20).

4th was a few hours with weak contractions (had worse period pain).

The most pain relief was gas and air (didn't even use that properly or for all 4).

To give you a tip, everyone fears childbirth until it happens, once complete you simply do not care whatever you went through.

*Louise*

jackieb wrote: »

I'd rather give birth than have root canal treatment now.

I'm with you on that one. I had one done 5 years ago, I was in agony for a fortnight, at least after giving birth it's only uncomfortable for a few days.

LizzieS_2

jackieb wrote: »

I'd rather give birth than have root canal treatment now.

Wouldn't we all :j

Childbirth rewards you with the 'present' of a tiny life to care for, whereas root canal treatment only corrects pain you haven't had at full force yet and there's nothing to show for it.

I can sympathise with the forceps, never had those as they refused to rotate.

elisebutt65

OMG - you lot!!! What are you like??? If I had read all these stories (well not all - just the gory ones) I would never had the courage to go through with my boys :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

As it is I have absolutely nothing to compare. 4 hours with the first and 2 with the second - tore a little bit with both so had a couple of stitches. I put it down to doing lots and lots of walking around and letting gravity do it's thing - don't let the bug@ers get you on that bed with your legs and !!!!! in the air!!!! My mum was a midwife and she said the longer you keep mobile, the easier it is - if you can - of course there will always be someone who has problems but these are very much in the minority.

The one thing however that no-one ever warned me about, especially after the first one - were the after pains!!!!:eek::eek::eek: These were actually worse than being in labour!!! I was on prescription painkillers after collapsing crying in Boots with the pain. HV thought I had an infection but noooo - just stewpid cramping!!!!

mandi

All I can say is that after a few hours of pain,, youll have a lifetime of pure joy :j

LizzieS_2

elisebutt65 wrote: »

OMG - you lot!!! What are you like??? If I had read all these stories (well not all - just the gory ones) I would never had the courage to go through with my boys :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

The one thing however that no-one ever warned me about, especially after the first one - were the after pains!!!!:eek::eek::eek: These were actually worse than being in labour!!!

Is the above not a contradiction

Whether during labour or after, surely I cannot be the only one who wanted to punch the midwife offering 2 paracetamol as a cure.

For after:

1) If paracetamol does not work (it is actually bad period pain), ask for something stronger

2) For cuts/tears, they will become painful as swelling does occur as part of receovery (and more painful for pees but not the other). Do not suffer, there is a cream that disolves the pain, but you usually have to ask these days