Hi...I just had my first baby last month and I too had the same question.
A contraction was like having someone sinch a belt tightly around your belly while you have mynstral cramps. Once the contractions get very strong it feels like you have to poo...which you might.
For me it all went down like this...I woke up on a Wednesday am with what felt lke period cramps which I thought was odd being pregnant and all! I woke up and went to the bathroom and had a poo which was kind of watery then had to pee...I know TMI. When I wiped there was blood on the toilet paper and I knew that this was my mucous plug. I had contractions from 7am until 6pm and they were between 4 and 7 min apart. Some contractions were very strong and some were less intense.
When we got to the hospital they sent me to the triage unit to assess me and I was only 1cm so they sent me home. Almost 12 hours of contractions and only 1cm I was so bummed. So my advice is don't run off to the hospital at the first twinge.
So I spent the entire night getting more and more inense contractions and went back the next day at 9am. It sucks because I couldn't sleep, and I was hungary but try eating when your riding out contractions! But when we got back to the hospital I was 5-6cm so thank god they admitted me!
I opted for the epi so that I could get some rest...It was WONDERFUL! They dont give medals to women for natural child birth so take the medication if you feel you need it.
After a while the contractions got even stronger to the point that I wanted to push because I was feeling so much pressure...not pain but pressure. So the nurse checked me and I was ready to push.
For me pushing was a relief. It honestly felt just like going #2.
In my case I pushed for about 2 hours. My little munchkin was just a little sideways but the Dr. felt that it would be easy enough to deliver vaginaly but my contractions needed to get stronger so they uped my epi and let the contractions push him down.
To make a long story short I ended up having a c-section because when the nurse came back in to get me pushing again my cervix had come back over a bit ...The Dr. said she had never seen that before. I was thinking "great...just my luck."
The c-section was totally not that bad.
It was all totally worth it!

How rude!!!

I didn't expect a medal just because I went totally drug free!!!!!

I did it for me. And for my child. Not for anyone to pat me on the back.

I give women *major* props for allowing a stranger to poke their spine with a 5 inch long needle.

You should think about what you type before doing so. I was very offended by that remark.

Sarah

to the original poster, labor was an *amazing* feeling.

I labored for a long time at home. ANd didn't make it to the hospital until I was 5cm.

It's all about slow, deep breathing to control the pain. Focusing is another huge part of it.

My contractions were intense and back to back.

I refused an .i.v, and an epidural. But accepted oxygen as her heartrate had begun to dip.

I walked,squated, rocked back and forth, and sat in the shower to help with the pain.

Don't be scared. It's something that your body was made to do.

All you have to do is sit back and let your body take over.

I got to the hospital at 5pm and had her at 7.58pm (but all women labor differently)

You can pm me if you want deeper details.



Sarah

I agree with .sarah! I didn't take a single class, and when my body was in labor (I was induced) I just let it happen. Try not to think about your next contraction. Just take slow deep breaths and think of a contraction as a wave: it'll start off kind of painful, get more intense as it gets higher, and when you've reached the top, the pain will go away as you come back down. And each wave (contraction) will bring you closer to the shore (your baby). Every contraction you have is one less contraction until your baby comes.

If you absolutely feel like you can't handle the pain, definitely get the epidural. But until you reach that point, I suggest waiting and seeing how far you can go without it. You might surprise yourself. I have an extremely low pain tolerance, but I did 90% of my labor with no pain relief and I am so proud of myself. I might try my next labor drug-free.

Like .sarah said, your body was designed to give birth. Trust it! It knows what to do. Try to stay calm, and listen to the nurses when they tell you to do things like breathe and relax - they spend all day long with women laboring, and they know how to help.

You'll do just fine!

the first thing to expect is the unexpected. anything can happen during labor, & it's really important to know that. if you get an idea set in your head of what labor is going to be like, you might end up being disappointed. anything at all can happen.

i thought labor would be a lot easier than it was, for some reason. i mean, i knew it would be hard, but i had noooo idea what i was in for. my labor was 27 hours long, & 3 hours of it was pushing! i thought i would have my epidural up until he was born & stuff. but they turned it down & then turned it off when i started pushing.. because they thought he would be out soon.. but no, lol.

as painful as it is, labor is an amazing experience. it's what makes us women! i feel like i can get through & do anything, now!

Sarah,

Please dont get overly sensitive just because I was telling someone about MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
If you get offended that easily and think that I was "rude" then please DO NOT watch the evening news because it will send you over the edge to hear what other people are saying!
Your experience was yours and mine was mine. Good for you for going med free!
My point was to let the poster know that its ok to do whats necessary to bring your child into this world. After all, the end result for both you and me was the same!
So if you will excuse me, Im going to go shine up the medal I got for delivering a healthy perfect baby

sarah was right, that was rude, saying you dont get a medal for going drug free so take the meds, is putting anyone who went drug free down and its not your personal experiance, its your personal opinion

if you just wanted her to know its ok to take the drugs you could have (and should have) put it a much different way, you could have said something like, no one will look down on you for takeing meds so dont be afriad if you need it

to the original poster, ive never been through labor, yet, but ive been with people who have, i think if you tell yourself itll be easy or something its only gonna be that much harder, expect the worse, hope for the best, remember its supose to be hard, thats why its called labor right?

~alicia~

Idony---I think that you need to pay a bit more attention to what you write.

If you re-visit my original post what I said was "...so take the medication if you feel you need it".
However you would have perferred it if I had been more sensitive and said "...no one will look down on you for taking meds so dont be afraid if you need it". Wow!!! Geeee!! I guess that great minds think alike!

I also believe that you should consult the Websters Dictionary for the meaning of the word "OPINION" and the meaning of the word "EXPERIENCE". You will infact find that they have two seperate meanings.

My "EXPERIENCE" with the epi was that I actually had one. My "OPINION" of the epi was that it was "Wonderful". Read my original post again and you will see.

It may also be benificial to learn the difference between "fact" and "fiction".

I rearly say things that are not a "fact". And, the fact is "they do NOT give medals for natural childbirth". If I wanted to be "fictional" or lie then I would have made the statement to lickle_lea "They DO give medals for natural child birth". Do you see the difference between the words?

You know, life is so much more fun when you dont take everything so seriously!!! But thats just my "OPINION"

I see what shes saying.. not a big deal guys!!
all shes saying is no one is going to think less of you for taking meds... heck im getting my epideral the second that im able
for you who do it med free..you are stronger women then i

The point is, there are ways of saying things without offending people. If the way you chose to word your statement caused someone else to get offended, the polite thing to do is apologize and say that it wasn't your intention. I'm not sure that telling someone that they are being overly sensitive is the right way to go about it.

I think we can all agree that if someone feels they need pain relief, they should take it, and no one will look down upon them for it. And if they feel they can do it without, no one will think less of them then, either.

Let's leave it at that, shall we?

Amen sister!

laura, i will drop it, i just need to say one thing first

jozzie, i do not know you, and as a matter of fact i do not want to know you, but you dont know me either, so please dont speak to me like im a child, the "fact" of the matter is what you said could have been interpreted as rude and if someone thought it was rude you shouldnt be even more rude to them

ok, dropping it now, sorry laura

~alicia~

No..."RUDE" is when you fart in public and don't excuse yourself! ;P

Edited because I would rather not have my birth story on this thread. Sorry to the original poster. No offense to anyone on here.

It's a shame that we can't just offer advice and experiences without feeling the need to judge or be judged for our decisions. What I've heard a lot and what I believe is that everyone's experience is unique and you can't put yourself inside someone else's body so there is no room for judgement. Personally, I am going to do everything I can to have a drug-free birth experience, but I can't predict how I will cope with the pain or what direction the labour will take. We are all mothers or mothers to be and we are all women, it would be nice if we could celebrate each other's knowledge and experience and feel secure enough in our own that we are not so easily offended. We are made to give birth but the hospitals, doctors and drugs are there to make it safer and easier if that becomes neccessary.

I am a first time mother and I appreciate the different stories about labour and delivery because I am curious and want to be as mentally prepared as I can be. So, I'm hoping more women will write down their stories and not feel like they are going to be judged for sharing.

Excuse me? Overly sensitive??

How can an overly sensitive person give birth with absolutely no medical intervention?!??!?!

I'm no where *near* being sensitve, let along overly sensitive. You need to check yourself before you hit the submit button.

You don't know me, nor will you ever. But, if you can learn one thing from this post, *you* should re read your post before posting.

Don't assume that everyone in the world got an epidural and everyone will agree with the "medal" statement. Shit don't happen like that.

Laura(aya), thanks love. you know wassup!! rude ass newbies...


Sarah

Wow Sarah...almost 5000 posts! Thats terrific! It must be nice to have so much free time to make so many profound statements.
sarah said "caca dont happen like that". "...rude ass newbies".
If you had been more observent you would have noticed that I have been a member for almost a year now. Hmmm...gues thats not really that new eh?
My mother always told me that the best way to establish a persons character is to listen to how they speek. She also said that its a form of low class to use 4 letter words. I am so lucky to have such a smart woman as a role model!
Kaerbear took the words right out of my mouth...
"I am a first time mother and I appreciate the different stories about labour and delivery because I am curious and want to be as mentally prepared as I can be. So, I'm hoping more women will write down their stories and not feel like they are going to be judged for sharing."
Us Moms and moms to be should stick together...we could learn alot from each other.
There is a wealth of information on this forum. Lets make sure we offer support and information to each other.

yes, it *is* nice!! I have a father to my child who says "you don't need to work. Let me work for us"....don't be jealous about that.

you might not be new to .e.health, but to the pregnancy forums, yes you are new.

Class?! You don't have much, apparently, as you continue to carry on about this.

so your mother must have been a fool. As I can count many many 4 letter words. let's start: 1.such 2. many 3. lock 4. swim. Must I continue?!?!?

I am completely aware that being a first time mommy, I need other mommies to lean on. And I had that waaaay before you decided to peek your lil head into these forums.

But don't come on here telling a person "nobody who goes drug free gets a medal." It's horribly rude to assume that this girl should *give in* and get an epidural.

Are you aware of the horrible adverse side effects of an epidural?! They can continue until your death. Or cause paralysis, neural defects, and many other problems.

oh, and by the way, I *did* get a gold star from the hospital for going completely drug free. Hahahahahahaha!

Sarah