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Stupid question, what does labor pain feel like?  

post #1 of 41
6/25/07 at 8:42pm
Thread Starter 
I know this is a stupid question, but I had asked my mom and she said 'like bad menstrual cramps". Is this what you felt when you had labor? I mean like the 'bad' contractions and stuff, is that what they feel like? I hear some people saying how bad the pain is and all, and I was wondering.
post #2 of 41
6/25/07 at 8:52pm
I think they are very cool in the sense that they come in these perfect patterns and have a beginning, middle and end! I did not really know that and it gives you a feeling that you could be in control and you are better able to prepare for what is coming.

Menstrual cramps just plain suck because they make no sense, have no pattern and can hurt anywhere. I can deal with labour pains because you have time to get ready, breath in and try to relax. I was told by mom that labout pains are like menstrual cramps x 10, but I totally disagree because they are a whole different species of pain/experience.

FYI, I am not good at handling regular pains, but labour pains allow me to prepare and that helps me cope!
post #3 of 41
6/25/07 at 9:04pm
IMO... they were like REALLY BAD menstrual cramps PLUS REALLY BAD gas cramps at the same time. As pp mentioned, though, they're not as bad because they're only for about a minute at a time and then they go away and you can relax (it's important to relax so they don't hurt as much, btw).
post #4 of 41
6/25/07 at 9:20pm
For me, contractions felt like exactly what they are - like someone was inside me trying to push my hips apart. Like the PPs have said though, it's pain with a purpose and you do get a break in-between.
post #5 of 41
6/25/07 at 9:55pm
I would not have thought to describe it this way, but I couldn't agree more! This pattern really helped me to cope with birthing my baby. I can't say I really remember if the pain feels just like menstrual pain or not...I just remember that it hurt. A lot. However, it was still pain that was manageable.

Quote:
Originally Posted by polihaupt View Post
I think they are very cool in the sense that they come in these perfect patterns and have a beginning, middle and end! I did not really know that and it gives you a feeling that you could be in control and you are better able to prepare for what is coming.

Menstrual cramps just plain suck because they make no sense, have no pattern and can hurt anywhere. I can deal with labour pains because you have time to get ready, breath in and try to relax. I was told by mom that labout pains are like menstrual cramps x 10, but I totally disagree because they are a whole different species of pain/experience.

FYI, I am not good at handling regular pains, but labour pains allow me to prepare and that helps me cope!
post #6 of 41
6/25/07 at 9:57pm
Thread Starter 
Do you get sharp pains too? I had some weird sharp pains before, I figured they were 'growing pains' or something.

I had fractured my lower rung of my pelvis when I was in basic training in the army and that didn't really bug me, but i used to get cramps so bad they'd make me throw up.

When I had a miscarriage at 8 weeks, it plopped right out, and the cramps didn't get bad until we had to drive home (I felt better just laying down on the ground-we were both at work at FIL's house), then they were awful.
post #7 of 41
6/25/07 at 10:11pm
Mine felt like really bad menstrual cramps.
post #8 of 41
6/25/07 at 10:22pm
I have horrible menstrual cramps. Years ago, my gyno put me on the pill to control them. I had them so bad, I'd be crumpled up on the floor of my apartment, crying and running to the toilet to puke. I forgot that feeling for a while, after I stopped the pill, I got pregnant pretty quickly. When I was in labor, I felt THAT feeling again, but you know what? I had felt it before. So for me, that part wasn't bad. And the the pps said, you do feel a beginning, middle and end versus horrible menstrual cramps coming in waves where you do not know if they will EVER end!
post #9 of 41
6/25/07 at 10:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by izandleo View Post
I have horrible menstrual cramps. Years ago, my gyno put me on the pill to control them. I had them so bad, I'd be crumpled up on the floor of my apartment, crying and running to the toilet to puke. I forgot that feeling for a while, after I stopped the pill, I got pregnant pretty quickly. When I was in labor, I felt THAT feeling again, but you know what? I had felt it before. So for me, that part wasn't bad. And the the pps said, you do feel a beginning, middle and end versus horrible menstrual cramps coming in waves where you do not know if they will EVER end!
I hear you on THAT! Yeah, I'd call off work and just lay there wishing I was dead. I found out that coffee makes my cramps deadly like that, and when I cut down to hardly anything they became a lot easier to deal with.

Good to know you do get some relief between cramps! I've been enjoying not getting my cycles, believe me.
post #10 of 41
6/25/07 at 10:35pm
It felt like really bad period cramps and then it felt like serious pressure in my back. The pushing was easy for me, but the crowning was very intense, luckily that is the shortest part of all those hours.
post #11 of 41
6/25/07 at 10:43pm

Yep, very much like cramps...

Only, as others have said, it was cramps in waves, rather than constant.

WIth #1, I kept waiting until the cramps were as bad as my worst period cramps ever. When that happened, my water broke and I pushed out my baby! (and pushing contractions felt NOTHING like cramps. They actually felt *satisfying*)
post #12 of 41
6/25/07 at 11:27pm
Mine felt nothing like menstrual cramps... but I have been lucky and never got bad cramps.

It felt like a Braxton-Hicks x10. Tight and painful. And the last few hours, they were one on top of another with no break. But earlier, the were definitely in a pattern, which helped me get my head in a good place. But I remember thinking, when they became so close together "Where'd my break go?" But at that point I kinda knew that I had to be close to the end, so it wasn't that bad.
post #13 of 41
6/25/07 at 11:28pm
With my first (pitocin) they felt like someone was squeezing my insides to the point where I was going to pop or something. It hurt pretty badly.

With my second (and later) birth they felt like a neat pulling up, tightening sensation. They built like a warm wave of energy washing up and then receding back. It was really cool. It didn't hurt a bit. Of course, I used hypnosis which is why. I used Hypnobabies: http://www.hypnobabies.com

I tend to have a lot of pre-labor contractions and know when it's the real thing because it lifts up and gets tight all over. I can feel it move forward and get hard by placing my hands on my belly.
post #14 of 41
6/25/07 at 11:39pm
Mine never felt like menstrual cramps. It was partly like a PP said- like Braxton Hicks to the nth degree. Belly tightening up, like when you get to the end of a hard set of crunches. But htat part didn't really hurt, for me. Mostly my labor pains were in my back, so it was kind of like having a severe lower backache, lots of pressure. Having someone press HARD on my back helped a ton during contractions.

And ready to push = feeling like you are about to have the biggest poop of your life.
post #15 of 41
6/25/07 at 11:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martha_2sons View Post
For me, contractions felt like exactly what they are - like someone was inside me trying to push my hips apart. Like the PPs have said though, it's pain with a purpose and you do get a break in-between.
Yes! I felt it all in my hips. It WAS like someone was trying to push them apart. I never thought of it quite like that. That said, I rarely use the word pain when talking about my labor experience. Stubbing your toe is pain. What I experienced was something completely different--it was hard work, but understandable, normal, exciting, and (dare I say it) even enjoyable at times. (My water breaking, which was right before transition, was the coolest thing ever!)
post #16 of 41
6/26/07 at 12:56am
Mine felt like distinct waves (or, if you imagine the Bell Curve, there was the beginning, then rising intensity as it peaks, then it would taper off) but thank goodness I never had menstrual cramps like that!
post #17 of 41
6/26/07 at 8:47am
Mine felt like this incredible pressure building up inside me, like my insides were going to pop out. At the same time, there was a distinct pressure in my hips, like there was a huge vise grip around my hips squeezing.
post #18 of 41
6/26/07 at 9:01am
I don't remember what the contractions from my first birth felt like, but I remember that with the second birth, they really did feel like really low, wavelike menstrual cramps. They were also like a deep, deep vaginal ache.

"Pain" isn't quite the right word for it. I wasn't thinking "ow ow ow ow!" and it wasn't frustratingly uncomfortable like a bad period. I mean, it did hurt, but it was just a different kind of pain and I had a different reaction to it than I would to any other pain.
post #19 of 41
6/26/07 at 10:47am
mine felt like my spine was trying to wrench itself out of my back. first labour was pitocin etc

second was all natural, and the very end was similar but it was for 30 minutes instead of 14 hours.
post #20 of 41
6/26/07 at 12:09pm
I'm not sure about the first one.

The second one I can't describe but it wasn't really pain.

The third one, they felt like very, very sharp pains in my lower back along with the pressure/pulling sensations of the contractions.
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