what hurt the most in labor?

christie.h

I heard that usually, after hours of contractions and waiting to be fully?dilated, when you actually start really pushing, the baby comes quickly.

So, what hurt the most? The hours of contractions, the baby's head pushing through, or the rest of the baby coming out after the head was through?

Also, did you do your kegals, and do you think they really helped?

TIA!?

brandonswife07

ChristieAnne:

I heard that usually, after hours of contractions and waiting to be fully dilated, when you actually start really pushing, the baby comes quickly.

LMAO @ baby coming quickly.

102503Natalie

The contractions, hands down.  Everything else was a cake walk compared to the contrax - even my level 3 episiotome.  Of course, I had an epidural once I was dilated to 5 cm, so I didn't feel anything else after that point with the exception of some pressure when it was time to push.  I never once did a kegal, and my bladder control is just as good today as it was pre-PG. 

LittleMamaB

The contractions. They are the worst pain EVER. Seriously...thought I was going to die by the time I was ready to push. By that time, they were unbearably painful and right on top of one another. It was a relief to push.

Did kegals, not sure if it helped during labor, but I'm 2 1/2 months PP with my second and I can sneeze without peeing. That's saying something!

**edit...I should add that I got the epi just minutes before I was cued to push, but I WANTED to push to reliev the contractions MUCH earlier. I labored naturally until I was 9cm, and five minutes after the epi, I was 10cm.

love.love

I was hoping for a natural birth, but after hours of contractions I couldn't handle it. I was too focused on the pain, and after I got the epidural, I was so excited and happy for the birth. So, the pushing part was a breeze as I had the epi. But, I had extremely intense heartburn and vomiting as a result of it during pushing, and it was pretty painful and uncomfortable. I also had a 3rd degree tear which I'm sure wouldn't have felt too pretty without an epi. Also, I did do kegels and I don't know if they helped or not, but I did only have 20 mins of pushing...

PAGAS

I went from 1cm to 10 cm in 20 minutes.  That was by far the most painful.  I didn't have an epidural.

exhausted_bride

For me it was the back labor as the baby was pushing down right before his head came out. Nothing was worse than that for me. It was bad, but not horrible.

mlkbride03

For me it was the pushing stage - the need to push combined with back labor. But... I never made it past that because I ended up with a c/s.

102503Natalie

PAGAS:

I went from 1cm to 10 cm in 20 minutes.  That was by far the most painful.  I didn't have an epidural.

 

littleittybitty

Are you planing on going med free? I had an epidural. After they broke my water my contractions were pretty strong. I lasted 2 hours then I wanted to get my epi.

And no - totally did not do my kegals and I am fine.

wishin&hopin2008

Back labor was a b!tch.  I was in so much pain and cried through every contraction.

June_Bug08

What hurt the most?

My loving husband digging his wedding ring into the leg he was holding saying "push, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 10."

kelbrian

The contractions hurt the worst, hands down. I had back labor and it was horrifying. I didn't get an epidural. I don't really remember what it felt like to push her head out, but I do remember that it did not hurt when the rest of her body came out. Oh, I also had terrible pain when my midwife had to go and get clots out of m uterus when I was hemorrhaging after giving birth. 

I did my kegals. I don't think they really did much. 

ilovemygirls

I had an unplanned unmedicated birth with my first.  Short summary- my water broke, no contrax 8 hrs later so they started the pitocin.  90 minutes later, I was pushing.  Surprised the heck out of everyone- especially the doc, who didn't even make the delivery.  So what I can say about my experience is that the contractions for about the 20 minutes immediately before I felt the need to push was the absolute worst pain. Because I went so fast, I can honestly say that I was only in really bad pain for about 45 minutes of my whole labor- those last 20 or so being the worst.

Once I felt the need to push, they were having me breathe through as many contrax as I could since there was no one there to deliver me (nurse ended up pulling a midwife from the floor who was there seeing another patient- have no idea to this day who she was!).  But once they told me I could push full force- it sounds weird- but it actually felt GOOD.  It was like my body was doing a job & it hurt much less than those contrax before pushing.  It only took me about 3 contrax of pushing to get her out. 

PAGAS

ilovemygirls:

I had an unplanned unmedicated birth with my first.  Short summary- my water broke, no contrax 8 hrs later so they started the pitocin.  90 minutes later, I was pushing.  Surprised the heck out of everyone- especially the doc, who didn't even make the delivery.  So what I can say about my experience is that the contractions for about the 20 minutes immediately before I felt the need to push was the absolute worst pain. Because I went so fast, I can honestly say that I was only in really bad pain for about 45 minutes of my whole labor- those last 20 or so being the worst.

Once I felt the need to push, they were having me breathe through as many contrax as I could since there was no one there to deliver me (nurse ended up pulling a midwife from the floor who was there seeing another patient- have no idea to this day who she was!).  But once they told me I could push full force- it sounds weird- but it actually felt GOOD.  It was like my body was doing a job & it hurt much less than those contrax before pushing.  It only took me about 3 contrax of pushing to get her out. 

I can SO relate to that!  She came so fast I had to have the random hospital on-call OB.

christie.h

littleittybitty:

Are you planing on going med free? I had an epidural. After they broke my water my contractions were pretty strong. I lasted 2 hours then I wanted to get my epi.

And no - totally did not do my kegals and I am fine.

No. I have no issues with getting an epi, but I think I'll stick it out as long as I can without it. I'm trying to do my kegals, but it always slips my mind!

JoshnEllen

I had an epi and was quite comfy.  My issues were heartburn (had it all pregnancy), my sinuses blew up when I started to push, and my IV kept moving and pinching when I would grab my legs to push.

Wassygirl

contractions were the worst. my epi kept wearing off. pushing was exhausting. i did kegals, but wasn't religious about it, so i don't think it did anything.

futuremrscrocco

Med free birth and the contractions were absolutely horrific.  Worst pain ever.  The actual birth was not bad at all.

I did minimal kegels.  I don't think they did anything helpful.

craziheazo

I went 9 hours on pitocin with back labor with no epidural.  I was tolerating it well until my contractions were only one minute apart. I begged for the epi then.  Once I got it, it was cake.

DH and I took a nap before she was born. I pushed 19 minutes. Ended up with a second degree tear. Didn't feel a thing. I didn't even feel pressure or the "ring of fire".

So, I would say the pitocin contractions right on top of each other was the worst.

citygirl_

contractions, hands down.  I was induced and it was freaking HELL.

mexicomatch

The contrax went from not that bad to REALLY painful while I had to wait for 1 hour for the stupid anesthesiologist! ?After the epi- i felt NOTHING! Even when baby came out- nothing. ?I loved the epidural!!

anniya77

For me, I think it's a tie-- the pictocin contractions, getting the epi placed after THREE FAILED ATTEMPTS and the incisional pain that I felt 3 days and 6 days later.

 

Mrs.Provost

I got a bit crazy from the contractions early on, when dilation was going reallllllly slow. it was hard for me to get out of my head and stop focusing on the pain and the lack of progress. But I got a handle on myself, and after I got into a good rhythm, the contractions didn't really hurt all that bad.

What hurt ME was that I was getting the urge to push when my cervix was only about 6cms dilated. So I spent HOURS trying to stop pushing when my body wanted to nothing else BUT push. That sucked. That took me out of my 'zone' and back into my head, and made things really awful. 

But man...when my midwife finally said that even though I was only 8cms, my cervix was able to stretch over the baby's head, and said to push whenever I wanted - it felt GOOD. I pushed her out in about 3 contractions. It was awesome, that feeling of juts being able to do what my body wanted to do. Although, I ended up tearing quite a bit because I just stayed on my back and pushed til she came out...so that kinda hurt too. 

Mrs.State746

Contractions hands down!  9 hours of contractions before I had an epi plus I had back labor.  I am surprised I waited that long.  went 8 at home before going in to Triage.  After that didn't feel much but still felt the contractions just not as painful.  I had a level 2.5 tear and that hurt after for about a week sitting was a hard thing to do.

Oh and he didn't come that fast either, I labored down for about 45 mins and still pushed for 2 hours.

brynners

I had a med free birth and the contractions were the worst. ?The healing of the episiotomy afterward absolutely sucked also. ?

Tinsleigh75

ChristieAnne:

I heard that usually, after hours of contractions and waiting to be fully?dilated, when you actually start really pushing, the baby comes quickly

LOL - uh yeah, the baby came really quickly. ?hilarious.?

Tinsleigh75

i don't get these questions.

having a baby f-ing hurts. ?who cares which part? ?it's too late for you to do anything about it or "prepare" for it - you are pregnant and it is coming. ?just stop fretting over it and don't ask for opinions. ?if people are honest, it is going to scare the shiit out of you. ?what's the point of that??

SarahDuff

The contractions really hurt until I had my epi and then the pushing hurt too.  I pushed for an hour and a half. 

brandonswife07

Tinsleigh75:

i don't get these questions.

having a baby f-ing hurts.  who cares which part?  it's too late for you to do anything about it or "prepare" for it - you are pregnant and it is coming.  just stop fretting over it and don't ask for opinions.  if people are honest, it is going to scare the shiit out of you.  what's the point of that? 

i pph you.

RHitch

The contractions hurt like hell and I had an epi so pushing was nothing.  The worse part for me was the healing of the epi along with the terrible case of roids I had.

jenbowman

Pushing definitely hurt the worst and I had an epi!!!

babyluv617

His head hurt the most! I went med-free so felt all of the contrax (18 hours worth) and that was nothing compared to him crowning and coming out. Did not do kegels. I only pushed for about 30 min.

christie.h

Tinsleigh75:

i don't get these questions.

having a baby f-ing hurts. ?who cares which part? ?it's too late for you to do anything about it or "prepare" for it - you are pregnant and it is coming. ?just stop fretting over it and don't ask for opinions. ?if people are honest, it is going to scare the shiit out of you. ?what's the point of that??

honestly, I've got a pretty good handle on things so I doubt any of it would scare the shit out of me until I was in the hospital room myself. Obviously people like to share their stories with the curious or there wouldn't be over 30 replies on this post.

And it does make a difference. How many posts on here say that the epi helped dramatically? And it's nice to know that almost all that pain is actually just your body fighting against contractions. Even if you can't prepare yourself physically to make it easier, I think a lot can be said for a strong mental state of preparation. Many women are most freaked out about squeezing a head through their vajayjay and don't realize that that part is quick and easy compared to the hours of horrific contractions.

lmdbww

The most painful part for me was the suffering the night before I went into labor w/back labor/pain. It was excruciating.

P.G.&A.M.

1st birth- medicated with epidural- The contractions hurt the most because I felt very little once I was numb. And the pushing wasn't fast for me. It was 2 hours.

2nd birth- unmedicated because baby came too fast for epidural- At the time of needing to push, the contractions were almost as bad as the pushing. The baby came out in about 4 pushes. For me the pushing did not feel good. It hurt.

?

ibbym

Contractions sucked, but once I got the epi, it was fine.  I went from 6cm to 10 cm in 15 minutes and the baby was out in three pushes.  The absolute worst part of labor was after I was completely dilated and not pushing while they were getting ready to deliver him.  He was about to come out on his own and they kept telling me to not push.

votive-vixen

For me the epidural was very uncomfortable - some people don't feel it though. I did! Also, when they were stitching me up because the epi was wearing off. Then they just gave me some local. Oh and babies don't always come out fast. I pushed for 3 1/2 hours...

d.f

When I got tho the hospital I was already 4 cm with a bulging bag and got an epi with in an hour of arriving.  The back labor was the most painful part.  For about 2.5 hours (including time at home) I could barely breathe through the contractions.  After the epi it was cake except DS's heart rate kept going down so they had to use the vaccum and that was a little scary but I was to focused on pushing to really think about it.  I only has a first degree tear so recovery wasn't too bad.

Honestly, L & D was the easiest part of it all.  The hardest part was when they unexpectedly took DS for over three hours after only letting me hold him for about two minutes .  DH went with and is the only way I got any info. (DS was a little early born at 36w 3d and had some temp regulation issues to start)

ETA: I only sporatically did kegals.

KristinaFaith

ibbym:

Contractions sucked, but once I got the epi, it was fine.  I went from 6cm to 10 cm in 15 minutes and the baby was out in three pushes.  The absolute worst part of labor was after I was completely dilated and not pushing while they were getting ready to deliver him.  He was about to come out on his own and they kept telling me to not push.

 

this was my story too! i sucked it up with the contractions for about three hours before i begged for the epi... after that it was rather pleasant.  didn't feel any pressure from contractions or the baby coming out.  (couldn't feel myself pushing either... that was weird and delayed dd coming out sooner.)  the MOST painful part was having the numbing med administered before the epi while having a contraction... felt like a mad bee sting in the back and getting sliced from within in the front.  no fun.

 hope all these replies set you up nicely for the big day!

KristinaFaith

oh... and did kegels daily.  don't know if it helped during delivery... but i was up and about walking fine with minimal pain and mild discomfort after two days.  could be the kegels?