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Natural Birth
AmandaNic87
member
Whats it feel like?..
AmandaNic87
member
a contraction, that is..
I just switched to a midwife, and want to go without any pain meds.. I'm just wondering what does a contraction really feel like??
Sorry if that sounds strange, but all I've ever been told is that it's really painful.
Is there anything you can liken it to?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Whats it feel like?..
Just like menstrual cramps for me, but they have a definite peak, and then get weaker. It still gets really intense towards the middle and end, though! Luckily I've gone into labor on my own both times, so the first few hours are very light and easy to get through.
It really really really helps to figure out and practice a relaxation technique to be able to stay calm through them. hth and good luck!
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
Early labor was like intense menstrual cramps coming in waves. Totally manageable and wasn't bad at all. Active labor was the same but a little more intense and an intense tightening feeling--I had some back labor, which was just pain in my lower back...can't really describe it. Just painful. But all of that was manageable as well.
Transition was a different story It was all the things above but even more intensified and not really coming in waves any more--pretty much constant. This was when I had trouble dealing. And I was stuck there for 4hrs, so it wasn't that much fun. Oh, and the hip pain came--just extreme shooting pain in my hips. That pain lasted through pushing as well. But DD was coming down crooked bc the cord was wrapped around her like a sash--hence why I was stuck in transition for so long and I also think it is why my hips hurt so much when pushing.
Me-36, Unexplained Infertility, DH-35, all clear
Clomid 50mg 12/2011 = BFN
Clomid 100mg 1/2012 = BFN, with Cyst
IVF #1 Lupron/Menopur/Gonal-f/HCG Trigger
ER 4/19/12 = 11 retrieved, 6 fertilized,
ET 4/22/12 = 2 transfered (day 3), remaining 3 weren't good enough to freeze
Beta 5/3 = BFP, 87 Beta #2 5/7 560.9 Beta #3 5/9 1376.5 First u/s One Baby, 125bpm!
Second u/s, 176bmp! Kicked over to the OB by the RE at 8w. Team Green!!
I guess the earlier contractions felt like intense menstrual cramps, but sharper and harder. The vice analogy is pretty good. As labor progressed for me, the same pain only became bigger and more overwhelming. It is like a wave though, where you can feel the build up, the peak and then then coming down. I too, felt like I couldn't do it any longer at the end. I think what I wasn't expecting most was for my body to completely take over. The pain was horrible, sure, but the toughest part for me was feeling so out of control over what was happening - I felt like all I could do was do my best to hold on during each contraction. Almost like I was on a terribly uncomfortable roller coaster and I had to brace myself for every huge mountain. I could see/feel the hill coming, then I'd be climbing, then the peak would come and then it'd be over...but soon I'd see the next hill and have to do it all over again. I don't know if that is helpful at all.
It's definitely comparable to the most intense roller coaster I've ever been on. My labor went pretty fast and got intense quite quickly.
It may be painful and it may be intense, but I think almost every woman is capable. Good luck!
Thank you for the responses everyone!! The analogies were really good, I feel like I actually know a little better what to expect!
I want to give you all a hug, I so appreciate the supportive words of encouragement and believing in me!
I think remembering that this pain truly has a purpose will help me through it. And knowing that plenty of women like you all have done it before and made it through also helps!
Thank you so much!!
Well, my early labor felt a lot like round ligament pain. I described it to my husband as, "oddly regular" round ligament pain. I didn't actually recognize it as a contraction though!
And I *totally* agree with the poster who compared the more active labor to diarrhea cramps! I have Ulcerative Colitis, so I'm more familiar with that than I'd like to be. So...not fun, but manageable.
You ask what it feels like having a contraction! First I agree with everyone above they are different to each of us so with that said ?
Well I?ve gone through birth four times now and I assure you none of them were the same. So this is not an easy question to answer; but, here goes anyway in birth #1 labor was about 38-40 hours total I had dull to sharp pains in the abdomen the first day which felt like someone poking me with pins, needles then sometime it was like a pencil-eraser from my crotch to my chest. After my water broke I went directly to the hospital where I was prepped given an IV with a bag of fluids (being somewhat de-hydrated) strapped with several monitoring belts then plugged into a rack of machines. Placed on my back in bed being told not to move around anymore than absolutely necessary since it would mess-up the monitoring equipment! It was likening being a human guinea-pig if you will as in a lab experiment is how I felt at the time. About six and a half hours later I was finally at the point of getting my epidural which took effect shortly afterward - numbing everything from my mid-to-lower back all the way to my knees. Somewhere within the next 90 minutes I had both an episiotomy and my first son. Still numb for another three or so hours! Wow what a feeling that was! I know TMI! Birth #2 went all natural from my first contraction to having a son was like riding on an out-of-control roll-a-coaster to the end - starting slow, gaining speed as it tops the first hill then flying down the straight-away to a sharp curve then back to a slow hill climb to another quick curve so on and so on to the final straight-away then stopping with him out. Total time on this one was just shy of four hours! Birth #3 was about ten hours total and started more like menstrual cramps proceeding to PMS. Some dull some more intense like a stabbing in the back. Birth #4 went very smoothly like going to a good movie theater or reading a romance novel almost no pain as experienced in other births. This was over with in about two hours and really quite pleasant this time. I was well adapted for this birth and since it was so quickly accomplished I didn?t have time to really reach those hills, peeks, curves, and valleys as before. Of all my births the roll-a-coaster ride was IMO my worst to date. GL I know you have the ability to ride this out - keep an open mind; think only of your end results that?s a bright light at the end of that tunnel ?
This. And for me, my labor starting with constant cramping, and I had an underlying cramping feeling throughout labor that never went away. I didn't get a full break from pain in between the contractions, which surprised me. The contractions were periods of really intense and painful cramps, but I had a baseline of cramping that remained constant throughout labor.
On a pain scale of 1 to 10, my normal period cramps are like a 3 or 4, the baseline cramping I had during labor was like a 5 or 6, and the contractions were like a 8 to 10.
I had a relatively quick labor (about 9 hours, start to finish - and it was my first child). I think my initial "early labor" contractions were more intense than many other people's.
This. The "nice" thing about contractions is that you get a break in between each one. It was intense but do-able. I was pretty nauseous, too. DH was trying to eat some dinner before we left and couldn't come near me because the smell of food was so sickening.
I'm gonna be totally honest- for me it was very intense. Early labor was just tightening/cramps- nbd. Then I got back labor and it felt like a constant hammering at my lower back. At the worst, (during pushing) I felt like someone was cutting me in half.
Loss #6 2014 Loss #7 (chemical) 2014
~DS Born! 2009~
~DD Born! 2013~
I had back labor too and I admire anyone who can go naturally with it. My contractions started off what I assume to be BH contractions. Never had during pregnancy but were tightening every so often, nothing hurt. They became stronger so I began catching my breath but not painful. It's a squeezing sensation. You know when someone gives you a firm handshake, but there are handshakes that can actually hurt. Contractions gradually became that.
After my water broke over 24 hours later then the squeezing became more intense. Like instead of being squeezed by something firm yet soft, it was like I was being squeezed by something hard and rough. Back labor ached and consumed my entire back between contractions so that pain never subsided and got worse after my water broke. Contractions made that pain worse too. After hours of this my body became too stiff and I couldn't relax because it was constant pain, no breaks so I remained stuck at 7cm till I got my epi. I hope things will go differently. My son was turned at a weird angle and I needed to sleep on my stomach on beanbag for 6 hours to get to the point of pushing and him in the correct position.
It feels different for everyone!
I was told many times that it would feel like a clenching over my whole abdomen, but when they finally did come, they were much lower down, I really only felt them at first in my groin area.
When they came harder, they were still lower down than I expected. It was a building tensing of muscles that would then fall off. Transtion was the worst, where it started feeling like pressure from the inside and.. honestly? Like I had to have a BM the size of a basketball RIGHT NOW. For about 80 minutes. Yeah, not fun.
Once I got into pushing stage, it went back to being that wave of building pressure/tight muscles. I would say that the pain was about equal to a migraine, but it came and went, and wasn't in my head, so it was easier for me to cope with it.