Btdt moms: What does labor/birth feel like?

ledgerfan28 · April 2013

I've been trying to prepare myself for a natural birth but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around what I'm supposed to be preparing for. I came to this board because every one I ask around me just tries to scare me and scoffs at the fact that I'm planning to go natural, dismissing me as a naive ftm.

So ladies my question is what does natural labor and birth feel like? And how did you mentally prepare yourself for a natural birth?

Sorry if this has been asked before and thanks in advance!

aylafsu88 · April 2013

Early labor feels like strong period cramping. You can feel the contractions but they are only bothersome. When you get into active labor the contractions feel much more intense. I had to breathe through them and mentally relax.

hst · April 2013

When I get/got nervous I just kept telling myself "woman have been doing this for a LONG time."

The good thing is you get a break between contractions, when I felt like I couldn't do it anymore, it was time to push, and then it was over!

I

sschwege · April 2013

You are going to get different responses for this everyone feels it differently. But for me contractions felt like an intense tightening of my abdomen, with discomfort wrapping around to my back. Towards the end I also felt pressure. &nbs

MrsBigTime · April 2013

Only talk about NB plans with people who will make you feel strong! Everyone else will plant doubt and fear, neither of which will help you through your own birth. You can totally do it!

For me I wasn't in labor, and then all of a sudden, I

iris427 · April 2013

It hurts like hell but then it's over and you have a baby.

MitoRachel · April 2013

During most of labor contractions felt like what the word says- my uterus contracting. Sort of like when you tighten your muscles to do a plank. It was only towards the end that it really hurt and I was ticked off because it hurt constantly and I was only

annabelle.27 · April 2013

With my first, it felt like my bladder was exploding. It took over an hour for me to realize it was labour because it didn't feel anything like I had been told to expect. And it really did feel like it was coming from my bladder, sort of like when you REA

NoeliaV · April 2013

aylafsu88:
The big thing I did to mentally prepare was to tell myself that labor would be hard and it would be painful.&nbs

mrshall10210 · April 2013

I'm a FTM so obviously I can't tell you what it feels like, but I read Natural Childbirth The Bradley Way and I think it really prepared me for what exactly is going to be happening to my body and how to deal with it. There was a quote somewhere

Amanda&EricB · April 2013

I kept hearing women say that contractions feel like tightening. For me, they felt like explosions. Every contraction hit like a tiny (or not so tiny) explosion in my uterus.

Also, I threw up a lot for part of it, which I'm assuming was transiti

SidraJedi · April 2013

I agree with PPs that you will get different responses because it is different for everyone.

For me, It felt like increasingly difficult menstrual pains. Then the pain became sort of more than pain. It was accompanied by pressure, intense pressur

SidraJedi · April 2013

kitchencolors:
The first part felt like increasingly bad cramps. I felt kind of crazed if I was laying down but if I cou

ledgerfan28 · April 2013

Thank you all SO much, hearing your different experiences is helping me prepare my self for all of the different feelings I could experience. Thank you for your suggestions also

dosafyre · April 2013

Mine felt like escalating cramps too...and cramps aren't scary, totally manageable! In active labor, they were intense enough that I used a low moaning with my breathing to help me relax into them. When it got really intense (to the point where I wonde

SaraJohnLy · April 2013

I enjoyed reading what everyone wrote my motto is the pain is TEMPORARY! Also dont share your are going all natural to those not open to the idea. Tell your Spouse to do the same. I swear I've had people call me crazy... To each their own, but it's best

KateLouise · April 2013

I didn't do a lot to mentally prepare for DD1. I basically did an general antenatal class, and figured I wanted to go natural and would see how things panned out.

In hindsight I was fortunate that my labour wasn't particularly difficult or long.

hamiltks10 · April 2013

For me, my water broke as a first sign of labor. For quite a while, I only felt a little pressure in my lower belly. It was actually hard for me to tell when my contractions started and when they stopped. It was really, really easy fo

dmhrn13 · April 2013

sschwege:
You are going to get different responses for this everyone feels it differently. But for me contractions felt

superned · April 2013

With DD, I felt period-like cramps at first. They came in waves and I was able to talk and walk through them.

After my water broke and during transition, it felt like my entire middle was in a vice and I was being squeezed to within an inch

RMama2012 · April 2013

Let me preface this by saying I loved my birth and hope to have the same experience in the future. Honestly, the worst part of the whole thing was recovery, specifically the tearing which I likely would have had even with an EPI. The contractions wer

mlrafiki · April 2013

As others have said, my contractions felt like very strong menstrual cramps, but with a clear rising and falling. They were painful, but I found them manageable as long as I focused on each contraction independently, without thinking of the last one or

kdjudd · April 2013

Honestly, my early labor felt very similar to mild gas pains or period cramps. It wasn't super painful and it was very similar to Braxton Hicks (if you have had those). I mainly felt them in my back because my daughter was sunny side up. I was able to

loneybaloney · April 2013

I had a GREAT natural birth experience...and it was 17 hours long! LOL

I think what pp said is true...it's not so much the actual pain, but the length of time. For me, it was a test of endurance for sure.

I was induced with Pitocin at noon

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