I have two daughters! 
With the first one I had what I still think of as an ideal hospital birth (natural, midwives present, awesome OB, respectful staff, flexible policies). With the second one, I had a midwife-attended home birth.
There were pros and cons to both.
DD1's labor and birth were simply not all that painful. The recovery was pretty bad, but the hospital was great about keeping me medicated after the fact. The whole experience led me to believe that (a) extreme pain in childbirth is a mental thing brought on by overexposure to TV and movies and a lack of education, and (b) hospital births are preferable as long as the hospital is a good one.
With both children, I believed natural childbirth was unarguably the best choice, because of the reduced likelihood of C-section started by the domino effect of medical intervention, and also because I am terrified of the thought of a needle in my spine. I chose homebirth for DD2 because we don't have maternity coverage and can't afford to pay an OB and hospital out of pocket, especially when it isn't necessary.
DD2's labor and birth, however, WERE all that painful. And this is what trips me up. Because I know that if I had been in the hospital I would have been one of those women who brags about going all-natural, then ends up in tears begging for an epidural before the show is over. And I think if I had had an epidural, my labor wouldn't have progressed; I think standing, squatting, kneeling, etc. all through labor was what brought her into the position to be born. I don't think I could have done it lying down in one place. So I bet if I had been in the hospital I would have ended up with an unnecessary C-section, with all the risks and pain of that.
Therefore, it's awesome that I had DD2 at home, naturally.
But I don't feel awesome. I feel tired. I feel tired and my milk is coming in and my breasts hurt and I've already forgotten what it feels like to not be uncomfortable in some way. I'm so tired of being in one kind of discomfort or another for so long, I want to throw myself a pity party instead of celebrating.
With the first one I had what I still think of as an ideal hospital birth (natural, midwives present, awesome OB, respectful staff, flexible policies). With the second one, I had a midwife-attended home birth.There were pros and cons to both.
DD1's labor and birth were simply not all that painful. The recovery was pretty bad, but the hospital was great about keeping me medicated after the fact. The whole experience led me to believe that (a) extreme pain in childbirth is a mental thing brought on by overexposure to TV and movies and a lack of education, and (b) hospital births are preferable as long as the hospital is a good one.
With both children, I believed natural childbirth was unarguably the best choice, because of the reduced likelihood of C-section started by the domino effect of medical intervention, and also because I am terrified of the thought of a needle in my spine. I chose homebirth for DD2 because we don't have maternity coverage and can't afford to pay an OB and hospital out of pocket, especially when it isn't necessary.
DD2's labor and birth, however, WERE all that painful. And this is what trips me up. Because I know that if I had been in the hospital I would have been one of those women who brags about going all-natural, then ends up in tears begging for an epidural before the show is over. And I think if I had had an epidural, my labor wouldn't have progressed; I think standing, squatting, kneeling, etc. all through labor was what brought her into the position to be born. I don't think I could have done it lying down in one place. So I bet if I had been in the hospital I would have ended up with an unnecessary C-section, with all the risks and pain of that.
Therefore, it's awesome that I had DD2 at home, naturally.
But I don't feel awesome. I feel tired. I feel tired and my milk is coming in and my breasts hurt and I've already forgotten what it feels like to not be uncomfortable in some way. I'm so tired of being in one kind of discomfort or another for so long, I want to throw myself a pity party instead of celebrating.
I feel like I know what you mean. Especially about the discomfort part. My nipples sting continuously, my breasts ache, my crotchal area, while not in terrible shape, aches when I've been up and about too much (and I have a, attention-needy five year old....). On the one had, I am so completely smitten by my daughter, and on the other hand OMG I would do just about anything for some uninterrupted sleep and something to make ALL the aches and pains just cease for a while! 
It definitely hurt to push her out, which is different from my labor with my son. I had some serious ring of fire this time around. Stange, because I didn't have the ring of fire the first time and I tore pretty badly. This time I just had a little "mark." Go figure.
" and run around like normal, when the truth is, there is a whole new normal establishing itself around this home. And 'm not sure what that normal is yet. And hopping around is exhausting myself.
