If you had a pain-med free birth...

LuckyH

The birth plan post below got me thinking.  I got to the hospital at 6 cm, was in quite a lot of pain, but still walked all the way to L&D by myself (DH was parking-long story).  I was at 8 cm by the time I was able to get the epidural.  Right before the epi, the pain was horrible, much more than I ever imagined.  My contractions lasted about 90 seconds and were about 2 minutes apart.  I really didn't get much of a break.  I also had only back labor (don't know if that really matters).  I can't imagine it getting any worse than it did and me living to tell about it. 

All that said, I would like to try without pain meds if we have a second DC.  It's true that you forget the pain.   While your labor progressed into transition, did the pain get more intense or stay the same after a certain point?  Was the pain of pushing and DC coming out worse or the same intensity as the contractions or do you even remember?

I'm just curious how a med-free birth would have gone for me.  I'm not sure I would have made it.

lanie26

I got to 9 cm and was feeling the urge to push before they had to do the section. I wonder this same thing as well. I'm interested in the answers.

Ms.Annabelle

Honestly, the contractions did not get much worse between 8 cm and 10 cm.  Once I was fully dilated, I no longer had contraction pains, I just felt a pressure like I had to go to the bathroom.  I hated the pushing part though because when the baby is crowning and you have to push through the pain, it is so intense.  Then after I had my baby, they had to put in a few stiches and that was painful.  When they came in to massage my uterus every ten minutes for an hour, that pain was horrible, too, and it would have been nice to have an epidural for that alone!  But if you got to 8 cm with no epidural, then it is totally do able.  Most women say the pushing part didn't bother them as much so I know I am in the minority when I say I thought the pushing was worse than the contarctions.

angelsmile

I had narcotics early on...but that stalled me so they gave me pitocin which sped things up like crazy...so I couldn't get an epi.  ANd btw...narcotics don't do SH*T. 

It's like being strapped to a force of nature that you just have to deal with.  At the time, you aren't really thinking of ANYTHING.  I don't know how anyone focuses, seriously, I couldn't think anything through my contractions except "Dear God let this stop".  And the pit contractions come right on top of each other even when you aren't at a later stage...at least mine did.  I was so exhausted I would pass out in the less-than-a-minute b/t contractions.  Hard to imagine but I promise you it's possible.

I don't remember much about pushing other than I would have sworn I was having DD out of my butt b/c I felt it nowhere else.  I pushed for 2.5 contractions and she was out...so I don't remember much about it. 

 As soon as she was out, everything STOPPED.  Nothing hurt, I felt euphoric and totally relaxed.  I had a local (didn't even feel the needle) to sew up my tear (which I also didn't feel) and was in a GREAT mood.  I was joking with everyone and just so happy.

Now that I've gone through it "med free" which is what I consider b/c the narcotics did absolutely nothing, I would totally like to do it again b/c I felt so good afterward with no effects from any meds.

nosoup4u

I've only heard good things from women who used Hypnobabies/Hypnobirthing methods during childbirth. I labored in a tub for a while with DS, and the relief from that was really good, it made the pain much more bearable. Can't help you besides that, since I ended up with a c-section myself.

thomas&lynn

I believe the mind has alot of influence over pain. I started contracting at 8am and had Alaina 6hrs later. I thought the crazy pain I was feeling even as MH had to convince me it was time to go to the hospital at noon was just the begining and that I had better buck up or I'd be in for it.

So my mind was telling me that pain at 4hrs after first contrax did NOT deserve me complaining. So when we got to the hospital at 1p and they said no epi for you, now push, I hadn't considered the pain in a relative sense.

I do remember crying for the first time when they told me I was NOT getting the epi though because that promise was my saving grace while I was laying in the back seat trying not to (what I thought ) evacuate my bowels.

And after that it was an hour of pushing and me being too freakin' tired to do it well so her heartbeat would slow and I'd freak out and, again, that mind thing kicked in so pain was decreased again..............I don't know. In retrospect I probably started out in freakin' active labor or something because It was mind blowing, can't speak, need to get on all fours in the shower, screw rinsing conditioner from your hair pain from about 9am on...........Yeah, if you really don't get the build up, you have no reference that a pain level of, say 9 out of 10, IS a 9. You kinda think it must be a reeeally screwed up 5 because, shiiiiit, you've got at *least* 10 more hours of this hellllll.

So my answer probably doesn't help. For the next baby, since I seem to have quick babes, we will be leaving about 2hrs after first contrax starts so I hopefully have time to have what I hear is sweet relief. See, cuz this time I know the pain curve and I know that I'm not being a wuss. That probably made NO sense at all. But I still hth.

Temp146997687502158

I arrived at the hospital at 7cm and stalled out for almost 5hours in transition. The pain was crazy, but I was lucky and had almost 5min breaks between contractions which made it really doable. I really cannot imagine getting an epi at 8cm. No way could I sit still or be confined to get one at that point.

Once I was at 9-10cm, it was more of an out of body thing. I couldn't really feel pain, but was in pain. wierd I know. Once I pushed the contraction pain was gone, but the burning or "ring of fire" was really there. They did some litocain on the area and that really helped.

I ended up with a spinal to fix my tear(whole other story) and I would never get one of those again. I hated the "dead" feeling of it. I really liked being in control of the feelings and being present in the experience.

GeoffreytheGiraffe

Yes, my contractions got worse at the end.  At 9cm w/ a lip I was screaming like a banshee and hanging off the bed upside and an hour later at 10 I was thrashing and begging for help.

THEN and only THEN did I feel the urge to push.  Which was better.  I had some good pushing and felt the baby moving and then sweet Jesus on a stick the crowning.  That's the Ring of Fire.  Holy Hell.  Usually, once you've been through the ring of fire, it's one more push and baby's out.  But that's when mine got complicated.

amygauntt@windstream.net

To me, once active labor started, there wasn't much of a difference in the contractions, just closer together as labor progressed. I also had all back labor. And to me, pushing didn't hurt AT ALL. It was such a relief, really. As DD was coming out, it burned, but that didn't even hurt.

I also had pitocin for 6 hours, was taken off 1.5 hours before I started pushing. Not sure if that made a difference one way or the other compared to labor without pitocin.

Temp174496125006552

I had back labor with my daughter and no pain meds.  It hurt much, much worse than my labor with Ben (also med free).  I don't remember the specifics of how the pain changed while in labor with my daughter (it was 15 years ago)...but once I got to transition with Ben, I don't remember the contractions being any worse.  I do remember with both kids that pushing their heads out is really the worst of it.  But it didn't take long (in my case, anyway)...and once their heads were out, the rest of them just slid out. 

Yes, it hurts.  But you really do forget.  And if I were to have another baby, I would go med free once again, no doubt about it.

Temp174496125006552

nosoup4u:

I've only heard good things from women who used Hypnobabies/Hypnobirthing methods during childbirth. I labored in a tub for a while with DS, and the relief from that was really good, it made the pain much more bearable. Can't help you besides that, since I ended up with a c-section myself.

DH and I took HypnoBirthing classes when I was pregnant.  This made all the difference in the world for me when I was in active labor.  We walked the hallways and once a contraction started, I stopped, held onto the guard rail, closed my eyes and would just breathe through the contraction.  As soon as it was done, I'd open my eyes, start talking to DH again and resume walking.  I only wished I had known about these classes when I was pregnant with my daughter.

ironmommy

I honestly can't even read the responses to this post without feeling like I'm going to throw up. Labor was so much harder than I thought it would be (I know, I know) and the pain was incredible. My labor was extremely fast -- we were at the hospital 2.5 hours before L was born -- and I also had back labor. I first started feeling contractions around 9:30 and when I arrived at the hospital 45 minutes later I was at 8 cm.

I planned to use HypnoBirthing, but my labor was going so fast there wasn't time to "relax." I was totally tense, in a ton of pain, and crying for pain meds. They offered me something "to take the edge off," which I turned down.

I guess to answer your question, the memory of this whole thing has not worn off for me. I'm afraid to do it again. I pushed for a LONG time and it was incredibly, incredibly painful. I remember people telling me that once you were dialated there was no more pain, just pressure, and that's absolute bullsh*t. It HURT.

After L was born, my placenta wouldn't come out. It took 30 minutes and I ended up pushing just as hard to get that thing out as I did to get her out. That, honestly, was the worst part. Incredible pain, very brutal procedure -- it was horrible.

So no, as you can see, it doesn't wear off. But, I am very proud of myself for doing it, and I do think it's possible that I will do it again. The pain feels like it's lasting forever, but when it's over, it's over. I had a super, super easy recovery.

funchicken

I was still at home when I went into transition, and I think it made it easier because I was more comfortable and relaxed (our hospital was only about 10 mins away).  Right after going into transition I had bloody show (sorry if TMI) and that actually relieved a lot of pressure.  My contractions slowed down and got easier, so I was able to walk and talk through them.  I was at 8cm when they checked me at the hospital.  My contractions stayed 6 minutes apart, which was awesome because I actually was able to rest in between them.  The pushing part was definitely the hardest part, and it hurt a lot, but my body had taken over at that point.  The only thing I was focusing on was getting the baby out.

The midwife who delivered S was great.  She massaged my back and put hot packs on it to relieve some of the pain.  I was very happy with my birth experience, and I hope that if I have another baby, I'm able to have things go similarly.

Mrs.Donkey

Contractions, while painful and frequent, were totally manageable until I reached about 8 cm and my MW got me out of the tub to break my water. Transition started right after that and, I'm not going to lie, it was the worse pain, ever, ever, ever. However, I knew it was a "good" pain because it meant progress. I was only in transition for mabe 20-30 minutes (I think?) until I felt the urge to push.

Pushing was pretty effing painful, too, but it just made me really focus and push hard because I wanted it to be over. ?K was born after about only 20 minutes of pushing.

I also think a big thing for me was that I wasn't able to deliver in the tub. The next baby I have I'm definitely pushing for a waterbirth.?

As far as forgetting the pain....meh... yeah, I think you do a bit. ?I think you HAVE to or the human race may just die off ?I still remember that it was painful, but I can't tell you I remember exactly what it felt like. ?And that can't possibly be a bad thing.?

augustjam16

For me there was definitely a plateau of pain. I had pretty bad back labor but at somewhere around 7-8cm the pain didn't get any worse, it was just more frequent and not having time to rest was hard. I also felt pushing was a huge relief. I wasted a lot of energy pushing "wrong," and once I figured out where to push it was better (bowel movement push, not stomach push). Then the burn comes (lol at "ring of fire"...so true) which I thought was a more bearable pain than contractions. At that point you know you're getting close and can handle it.

All I wanted to do was get in the water but once I was in there, I couldn't handle being "confined"...I needed to walk and wanted out!?

In my experience, you don't forget the pain but you forget what it felt like. For months following I thought I would never have med-free labor again but a year later, I feel I could do it again. If I could be?guaranteed?no back labor, I would definitely do it med free.

**Re-reading your post...if you were 8cm, there is a good chance you were at the peak of contraction pain. All you had left was the "burn burn burn...the ring of fire". I can't stop laughing at that.?

14years

I also did Hypnobirthing, and it was completely manageable.  I did notice an increase in the "intensity" of the contractions once I was pretty far along in labor, but I wasn't even sure I was in labor for the first 9 hours.  (I wouldn't really describe that intensity as "pain," though.)  I got to the hospital at 9 cm, so I think the increasing intensity was probably a combination of transition and being in the car.  I was working really hard and started having to vocalize to get through long contractions, but I never once felt like I just couldn't go on.  

After I was dilated, everything was really calm while I just waited for my body to be ready to push.  I also didn't think that pushing or delivery hurt.  I did think it was completely and totally exhausting.  I only had a bit of the "ring of fire," but it wasn't the searing terribleness you hear about. 

So, I think 8 to 10 cm was the most intense time, more than pushing and delivery, and it did seem to increase once I got to that stage.  But, after than, it was all OK.

I highly recommend hypnobirthing if you want to do med-free next time.