It's not the labor that terrifies me, it's after

noah-bear · March 2010

when they come in and push on your uterus to expel everything. I cried and shook with pain every time. It got so bad that 10 minutes after I was still shaking from the pain.

I'm hoping it's less painful this time around. From what I hear, my pain was certainly not the norm.

lilmgirl · March 2010

They do what? Indifferent

eandm0826 · March 2010

Holy crap. I didn't even think about that. Crying

noah-bear · March 2010

lilmgirl:
They do what?

Oh yeah...NO ONE EVER TELLS YOU! Be warned! Most of the time it doesn't hurt but it's to help your uterus go down and expel all the fluids and any placenta that may be left.

Oh, and clots will randomly fall out. Mine happened at BRU. Golf ball sized, down the pants...sexy

DLD102 · March 2010

Way to scare everyone, Noah....

From my personal experience, the afterbirth wasn't bad at all. My weird labor experience is that I was allergic to the epidural so when it was administered, I started itching myself all over the place, like someone addicted to crack. And I only know this from what I've seen on TV....

Pretty comical, if you ask me.

nicholswife · March 2010

I really hope that is not the case for you this time around. I've never heard of that part being so horrible. I didn't feel much once I gave in to the epi so by that point I was just focused on the baby on my chest. I did almost puke when my dr showed me the placenta and my mom started taking pictures of it!

noah-bear · March 2010

DLD102:
Way to scare everyone, Noah....
From my personal experience, the afterbirth wasn't bad at all. My weird labor experience is that I was allergic to the epidural so when it was administered, I started itching myself all over the place, like someone addicted to crack. And I only know this from what I've seen on TV....
Pretty comical, if you ask me.

Haha. Like I said, mine wasn't the norm. Last time I was here on 1st tri everyone said it was weird I had that much pain and they didn't feel a thing.

ctana · March 2010

DLD102:

Way to scare everyone, Noah....

From my personal experience, the afterbirth wasn't bad at all.

This. I hardly noticed the afterbirth experience. Seriously it is not that bad.

I had a weird reaction to epidural too - I was freezing and could not get warm enough.

noah-bear · March 2010

nicholswife:
I really hope that is not the case for you this time around. I've never heard of that part being so horrible. I didn't feel much once I gave in to the epi so by that point I was just focused on the baby on my chest. I did almost puke when my dr showed me the placenta and my mom started taking pictures of it!

They took mine away too quickly :-( I wanted to see it though.

Maybe it was because I didn't have an epi that it hurt? I also had a special case because I gave birth at 34 weeks, induced with Pitocin and had no meds other than one dose of Staydol early on. My MW said my body was put through the wringer so fast and unexpectedly it was in shock.

Gummybear · March 2010

The contracting after and the pushing actually felt good to me! It's weird how it's different for everyone.

Jinsy80 · March 2010

Okay, posting under my new name now...the afterbirth wasn't nearly as bad as the stitches. That was horrible! My mom said that the afterbirth was the worst for her too, so you're not alone.

lisaohgee · March 2010

ctana:
DLD102:

Way to scare everyone, Noah....

From my personal experience, the afterbirth wasn't bad at all.

This. I hardly noticed the afterbirth experience. Seriously it is not that bad.

I had a weird reaction to epidural too - I was freezing and could not get warm enough.

I also couldn't stop shaking from the epidural, but this is a normal reaction that happens to a lot of people. It went away by the time I had to push.

The afterbirth was uncomfortable, for sure, but not painful. And it felt a little odd coming out.

TravelinMama · March 2010

It only gets worse with each child, and if you're bf'ing than the uterine contractions get worse as well when feeding.

Jody81 · March 2010

None of that hurt for me, actually I didn't even realize they did it because I was so focused on baby. I didn't feel them stitch me up or anything. This, I'm sure, thanks to the Epi.

And the bleeding in the weeks after baby wasn't bad at all for me, it was done within 2 weeks and I never had any bad clots...it was just a super heavy period. I just made sure to use super heavy overnight pads until it was done.

Moobear10 · March 2010

The afterbirth was not painful but certainly not comfortable. Lots of pressure and felt like someone punching me in the stomach. I had so much going on down below thought that pushing on my stomach was nothing. I remember laughing so hard and it hurting when the Dr. asked my husband if he wanted to keep the placenta and DH said, "Oh yea! Just put it in a jelly jar."

eml569 · March 2010

They didn't touch my uterus afterwards. The nurse just hung a bag of pitocin to make it clamp down (directly against what I wanted them to do, but whatever - it's in the past).

noah-bear · March 2010

MarieGranados:
It only gets worse with each child, and if you're bf'ing than the uterine contractions get worse as well when feeding.

Meanie

CelticWife · March 2010

Umm... what? They pushed on my stomach a little bit, and told me to push a few times, but it wasn't painful. It felt nasty, but it wasn't painful. (And my epi had stopped working, so it was all med-free for the last 2.5 hours.)

That would be horrid.

noah-bear · March 2010

CelticWife:
Umm... what? They pushed on my stomach a little bit, and told me to push a few times, but it wasn't painful. It felt nasty, but it wasn't painful. (And my epi had stopped working, so it was all med-free for the last 2.5 hours.)
That would be horrid.

I think I confused people. I meant the hours and day or two after. It wasn't about the placenta. When they did my check-ups.

DLD102 · March 2010

lissasue3:
DLD102:

Way to scare everyone, Noah....

From my personal experience, the afterbirth wasn't bad at all. My weird labor experience is that I was allergic to the epidural so when it was administered, I started itching myself all over the place, like someone addicted to crack. And I only know this from what I've seen on TV....

Pretty comical, if you ask me.

Are you sure it's b/c you're allergic? I was itchy too but no one told me I was allergic.
In any case, I still plan to get one this time around.

I'm allergic to morphine and apparently the epi is similar. The nurses said I must be allergic to the epi as well. We're not talking an occasional scratch, we're talking full-blown need benadryl because EVERYWHERE needed to be scratched. It was more annoying than anything.

And yes, will probably get it again...because I'd rather itch than be in extreme pain.

nic326 · March 2010

you're right..labor for me was so intense it went very fast, except for the part when my first epidural wore off. Afterwards, when I could gather my senses somewhat - was a different story. The expelling of the placenta, my feet and how I thought any minute they would burst like water balloons and how painful it was to go to the bathroom. Every time I went I felt like I was preparing for surgery - Tucks pad, giant maxi pad, horrible mesh underwear. Thank god it didnt last very long