Can you give it to me straight?

LillyBug923 · April 2009

Was labor as bad as you anticipated? Better? Worse?

PharmDmom2be · April 2009

Better.

eminbmore · April 2009

It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be (and I was induced with Pitocin). That said - everyone's experience is different, and we run the gamut on this board. You won't know how it will be for you until it actually happens.

Garnetbaby09 · April 2009

My labor was awesome. I can't wait to do that part again. Really, I'm being serious. It was way better than I was expecting. And I got my epi around 41/2-5cm. Delivery SUCKED. Lots of complications.

Oh and the name picked out for your DD is so cute. How very "Gone With the Wind." LOL

rease. · April 2009

It was awesome! i loved all 3 of my labors!

NatPhoto09 · April 2009

labor was worse b/c it went on forever and I was so tired...but the actual delivery was about what I expected. (by the way, I was in labor for over 24 hours and I pushed for 1 hour and 40 mins)

tcook23 · April 2009

Honestly, it was much worse than I imagined. I went into it thinking I could do it natural, but after about 4 hours and my water hadn't broken yet (it gets much worse after your water breaks) I was in so much pain. Haha...good luck. of course, once that baby comes you forget everything!!

laur1120 · April 2009

Better. It wasn't bad at all.

LillyBug923 · April 2009

Garnetbaby09:

Oh and the name picked out for your DD is so cute. How very "Gone With the Wind." LOL

Thanks

Lerxie · April 2009

Being induced, it was different than I had prepared for. It was harder and more intense right off the bat. I didn't feel like I ever got the chance to get into a good place mentally and that consumed me. However, once I got the epidural at 8cm....easy peasy

You are going to get every possible answer to this question and I don't know if that's going to help you or frustrate you, just know that we all made it out alive, most of us will have another baby, and a lot of us already forget the pain (well, some of it)

LawLove08 · April 2009

Better! ?I was so worried, but it was fast (less than six hours start to finish) and once I got the epidural it wasn't very painful. ?Contractions before the epi were very painful, I won't lie. ?But it's bearable.

cubsfan1 · April 2009

Better. And I had a sunny side up baby...that being said I had an epi, and it wore off when I was around 8cm and the pain was god awful until they boosted it again...kudos to anyone who did it au natural, as I could not imagine being in 20 hours of labor without the help of the epi! The epi was glorious IMO!

Sarah4806 · April 2009

I experienced painful contractions for 2 hours after they broke my water and then they brought be my epidural. The contractions were tough...I'm not sure what I expected. the epidural wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't get to pushing as I ended up hving an emergency csection.

margarita1365 · April 2009

Both. Better in that it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. Worse in that things did not go the way I had planned at all.

iris427 · April 2009

I had a Pitocin induction and back labor and it was worse than I had anticipated. I had back to back contractions at 4 cm--you would expect that more at 8 cm. They say you get a break in between contractions too and I didn't. It was just more pain vs less pain. And the pain was not only in my belly but in my back and shooting down my legs--it was hard to cope with the pain being in 3 different places and impossible to find any comfortable position to labor in.

But that's why epidurals were invented! Once I got the epi I was no longer in any pain at all. And remember that I had Pitocin AND back labor--hopefully you will have neither!

katlizabeth · April 2009

Both labor and delivery were much better than I thought they would be. I anticipated the worst and then really really tried to keep my thoughts positive during it. I had nubane (sp?) but no epi and I tore and it really wasn't bad. The worst was before I had pain meds and would get a contraction I would get so so so hot that I thought I'd pass out or throw up from the heat, not from pain.

TimingisEverything · April 2009

Way worse than I ever thought it would be.

ajanes · April 2009

It was better. I was induced with Pitocin. The hardest part was being up all night, walking and not progressing. BFing on the other hand was awful. Good luck to you!

Karen_77 · April 2009

Both.

Worse- were the contractions on pit (which I needed because my water broke and I didn't dilate at all in 5 hours). They were so intense and right on top of each other- coming every minute lasting a minute and half. I felt like I had no time to recover (mentally and physically) in between contractions.

Better- the epi. I was very afraid of getting an epi and had wanted to have med free birth because I was fearful epi would prolong labor, put stress on baby, and give me greater likilihood of c-section. Once I got the epi I was so relaxed I dilated very quickly, baby's and mine heartrate was fine throughout. Delivered baby 6 hours later. Baby's apgar was 8 and 9.

Quazel · April 2009

I had a planned c-section but it was a week early. It was much less scary than I expected.

iris427 · April 2009

Lerxie:

You are going to get every possible answer to this question and I don't know if that's going to help you or frustrate you, just know that we all made it out alive, most of us will have another baby, and a lot of us already forget the pain (well, some of it)

Yep, this is the take-home message here.

jls7284 · April 2009

both... the contractions were way worse than i expected!!!!! but the pain medication (epi) was waaaaaaay better than i expected lol.... cant comment on pushing tho, i had a c-section which i was completly happy with

Dan&Maggie · April 2009

It was much better than I had anticipated. Seriously, the worst part of the whole experience was getting up for the first time to pee after I gave birth. Standing up and walking was way more painful than I expected it to be.

Ally_S · April 2009

Way worse. Over 24 hours, back labor, sunny side up baby, pitocin, epi kept wearing off, she was stuck...but delivery was short and quick once I got there! That said, I'm pretty sure I'll want to do it again, it's totally worth it of course.

EveryNameIWantIsTaken · April 2009

Much much worse. Looong labor that wasn't progressing so they witheld the epi forever. I finally got it and still only progressed one more cm in cbout 2 hours bringing me to 3cm so I ended up with a c-section since my water had broken way before and I was becoming infected.

jgilesslp · April 2009

Mine was better and I had a 3rd degree tear! I labored for over 24 hours and pushed for some time time. I ended up delivering him face up too! It really wasn't that bad though. The worst part was the recovery for me due to the tear. 6 mos. PP and I am just starting to feel myself "down there." With that said though...will do it again in a heartbeat. Not worried about the labor at all....more worried about recovery! Good luck!

Kim-&-Chris · April 2009

worse until the nurses realized that my 1st epi had fallen out (for 5 hours)

much better once the epi was correctly given to me

laur1120 · April 2009

I would like to add that actual motherhood was WAY harder than I anticipated. More rewarding than I expected too but much much harder than what I was prepared for. L&D is really a day but the motherhood thing is forever. Seriously don't worry about L&D- prep yourself for your LO's actual arrival.

Impatientgal · April 2009

Labor = waaaayyyyyy worse than I expected (but I also didn't have drugs until I was 20 hrs in)

Delivery = FANTASTIC! I never ever imagined it would be that easy!

LeighMonkey · April 2009

Better - I had an epi and a very easy delivery, healed quickly

Worse - I had a pulmonary embolism when he was 4 weeks old and had to go back into the hospital for a week. That was just a random thing that happened to me, though.

Jackswife123 · April 2009

Lerxie:
Being induced, it was different than I had prepared for. It was harder and more intense right off the bat. I didn't feel like I ever got the chance to get into a good place mentally and that consumed me. However, once I got the epidural at 8cm....easy peasy

This is pretty much what happened to me. ?But my water broke ahead of time and I didnt go into labor naturally so I got induced. ?I went from minor cramping to major contractions in about 20 mins. ?I really didn't want drugs, but I was just so overwhelmed so quickly I ended up getting the epidural. ?I wish labor would have eased in slower for me, but no such luck. ?THat being said...when I was un-medicated labor was MUCH MUCH worse than I anticipated. ?Once I had the epi it was a breeze. ?Pushing for two hours though...not so fun. But, I survived. And I`d do it again.?

nurseamy · April 2009

much easier and quicker than i expected. i was 5-6 cm in the office when i went to my weekly appointment..and when i arrived at the hospital i was 7cm...and didn't even feel much. i only have one bad hr of labor an hr after my water was broken by my dr. after an hr i was 8cm, got my epi and it was nice from there. the only thing that suprised me is that my true labor was back labor...which didn't feel so good.

303jess303 · April 2009

Better!

TheFannins729 · April 2009

a little of both. but really, unless you know EXACTLY how I felt about L&D before actually going through it, my answer doens't mean anything. The only important thing here is that you have the baby and, while you may love or hate your experience, it wont matter once you have her in your arms.

me&mymonkey · April 2009

iris427:

I had a Pitocin induction and back labor and it was worse than I had anticipated. I had back to back contractions at 4 cm--you would expect that more at 8 cm. They say you get a break in between contractions too and I didn't. It was just more pain vs less pain. And the pain was not only in my belly but in my back and shooting down my legs--it was hard to cope with the pain being in 3 different places and impossible to find any comfortable position to labor in.

But that's why epidurals were invented! Once I got the epi I was no longer in any pain at all. And remember that I had Pitocin AND back labor--hopefully you will have neither!

I had a very similar experience to Iris except that DS was sunny side up and I ended up with a c/s after 18 hours of labor and 2-1/2 of those I was actively pushing. The pain before the epidural was extremely intense but afterwards I felt no pain. Good Luck!

NicoleOSU · April 2009

Much better!

runnergirl2008 · April 2009

I was induced with pitocin and the contractions by 4 cm were awful. They were back to back and I could hardly breathe. But once I got the epi (which I didn't even feel because of how bad the contractions hurt) it was awesome. I felt the contractions from about 8cm on and those hurt but I knew it was almost time. I was in labor for 13 hours and pushed for 23 minutes. The second he was born I forgot everything. :^)?

?Good luck!?

TeamK07 · April 2009

I really didn't know what to think before I went into labor. I tried to go in with as much of an open mind as I could and I think that was very helpful. My water broke but the contractions weren't picking up so I had to be on Pitocin. I did not have pain meds and right before they told me I was 10 cm (20 hours later!!) I remembered thinking to myself the pain/contractions are going to get worse than this and I can handle it. So I guess at that point I was anticipating the pain to get worse (even though it was already bad!)

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