OK ladies what is labor really like?

Question

Im 7 and a half months pregnant, but im getting nervous all ready.

Answer 1

Labour is a really funny thing, everyone has different pain thresholds so for somme it may hurt more then others, some can be really vocal and others just quiet throuh it. Yes it hurts when your in labour and the birth but our bodies are awesome as when we give birth that pain we went through is just forgotten like that, my labour with my first was 6 hours long and he was nine pound and facing side ways so apparently thats harder to give birth to but i didnt find it that bad. Th best thing to keep thinking in labour, and a midwife told me this was, THIS PAIN ISNT GOING TO LAST FOREVER!!!! Good luck, I'm 40 weeks waiting for our 2nd to arrive!!

Answer 2

I think everyone has different experiences during labor, and it depends on things like natural vs. epidural, c-section etc. I have had 2 babies, and both labor experiences were different. The first, I was in labor from 8 a.m until 11:00 p.m when he finally arrived. I had an epidural when dilated to 6 cm. Uncomfortable, little scary only because of the unknown, but truly not that bad. The second, I had tremendous back labor. That was much more painful. But, let me say, it is true what they say... you will forget the pain so quickly and experience such joy that it really won't matter. After the birth, be prepared for soreness and moving slow for a few days. But you will bounce back and have a beautiful baby to love and care for. It is normal to be afraid, so don't worry too much about that. I promise, though, that the sooner your due date gets, the more anxious you are to have that baby no matter what the cost!!!
Enjoy! Congratulations.

Answer 3

That's normal. You'll also get to a point later on when you can't wait for the baby to come, then right before it's time, you'll start having second thoughts and trying to think of ways to get out of it. It's all the hormones and everything. All labors are different for everyone and every pregnancy. All I'll tell you is what my grandmother said to me.

"Giving birth to a live baby isn't the miracle, the miracle is that as soon as you see your son/daughter for the first time, you forget all the pain that you just went through and are willing to do it all over again." Judith Durk, 2003.

It's true, I had no painkillers and it was the worst pain I could ever imagine, but it all melted away as soon as I saw my son. I hear this all the time, but you never know how true it is, until it happens to you.

Good luck and congrats!!!

Answer 4

I went through it in December, and it's still as clear as day to me. I wanted to hold off on the epidural as long as possible. I made all the way to 4 centimeters (the earliest they'll give it to you :o) Even at that stage the contractions were VERY painful. They compare it to menstrual cramps. I used to get very bad cramps. This pain was worse. Almost like a hideous gas pain that makes you double over. The epidural didn't hurt at all, was completely successful and left the rest of my labor to be the easiest thing in the world. However (and this is a BIG however), I'm quite sure the doctor turned the fricking epidural off when I went to push. The pushing was by far the hardest, most painful physical thing I'll ever do. If you can have your doctor keep the epidural on and just promise him that you'll push good, do it. It was so intense that her birth is like a dream to me. I sort of went into another world to get it done. I think if I'd been able to focus a little more instead of rushing through it to get past the pain, it might've been a bit more clear in my mind. I had no idea that, with an epidural, you still felt that much pain during pushing. Honestly, labor is wonderful with drugs. But pushing is hell without them. Beg them to keep your epidural turned up. Once you're done with all that and your little bundle of joy has arrived, you get the delight of recovering. *sigh* In a weird way I envy you all of it ;o) Congratulatons and good luck!!

Answer 5

Well, I think every woman is different. I guess a lot depends if you have a long labor or a short one. Also, the level of your own pain tolerance. As for me, one labor was 16 hours and one was 18 hours. Let me give you a clue: I SURE as heck havn/t forgotten the pain and my sons are 26 and 30 years old. But also remember, you are only one of billions of women that have all went through this. You'll be just fine. Good luck with your new little bundle of joy. After you give birth, hold on to your hat for those teenage years!

Answer 6

Like the worse cramps ever! I am a nurse with four kids and I knew that at 6 centimeters it was time to call for every women's best friend in Labor the Anesthesiologist!

I have mommies who I care for now who are having the first baby and are doing Lamaze which I think is great up to the 6 mark! I never let my mommies say no to drugs by signing a paper it is hard to change your mind at that point!
At first they will feel ok a bit of pressure then as they get closer they get harder and the pressure is unreal! It is this tight feeling and it gets tighter and tighter as labor goes on.

And it is bull that you forget! My baby is eight I remember!

Answer 7

LONG!!!!

When you're in labor, you won't be nervous anymore, I promise!!

In the movies - people seem to have babies in an hour, maybe two but it's a whole lot longer when you're the one waiting to meet your prince or princess. In the movies - people are SCREAMING. You won't be screaming, you'll be pushing and using your energy for that.

Women have babies everyday - we all survived it and do it over and over again. It's an awesome expricence. I know I sound like a natural birth pusher- i'm not. It's the best exprience in the world. I ended up c-section which was amazing too but I did go thru labor first. The anticipation gets you thru.

GOOD LUCK! It's incredible and promises to be the #1 exprience of your life!

Answer 8

Well I just had my son two weeks ago. They had me come in and get induced. I was having contractions that I couldn't feel. Until they broke my water. Then it was like a tidal wave of pain in my abdomen down into my crotch (nasty word I know). I was screaming! So they came in and gave me a shot of Demerol that made me loopy. It eased the pain for about an hour. Then the contractions got harder so they wheeled me into my labor and delivery room where they gave me an epidural. That felt like a pinch in the back that stung for a minute. That made me go COMPLETELY numb from the waist down. Couldn't feel the pain though. About 5 1/2 hours after that I suddenly felt ill. I mean REALLY sick. Worse than 1st trimester morning sickness. I rang my nurse and she said we need to get the doctor in right away because that was me transitioning into labor labor. The doc came in at this point I felt a lot of pressure like I had to poop bad. I pushed for 30 minutes all I felt was a lot of pressure. And my baby boy was here! That was my labor but everyone is different. Good luck.

Answer 9

The labor itself wasn't horrible, but add back labor to it and I thought I was gonna die. The back labor is what hurt me the most, I could handle the regular labor. Had they not scared me off of an epidural, I would have been okay. But I was all natural, while that's good for baby, it sucked for me. You know what though, I can say it hurt till I'm blue in the face, but now I can't remember the extent of the pain. I know it hurt real bad, but I don't really "remember" it. Good luck & congrats to you!!

Answer 10

You have to be able to take extreme pain to go natural.Been there a couple of times. Nothing but pain is all I remember.
But on my final pregnancy I wanted to try the epo shot the other times I heard different that's why I went natural.But, I wanted my own opinon so I gave it a shot. All I can say is if I would of known that it was that easy and pain free I would've had it with the others.After that experience if I were able to have more children I would definitly do it again.