This time I want some space between my contractions!!!

[wagamama]

I'm five months pregnant with my second child, and like many, want the birth to be different this time. I'm planning on giving birth at a birth center instead of a hospital and declining most invasive procedures.

Last time, I was very ill-informed. I went into the hospital as soon as my water broke, although contractions were weak and 5-15 minutes apart. The doctor had me wait for about 4 hours, and then decided to speed up the labor by administering picotin. I had no idea that anything was wrong with this, and speeding things up sounded like a good idea at the time, so I went along with it.

Within 5 minutes of the IV being inserted, I was doubled over with indescribably painful contractions. And yet, this would have been bearable, had there been any break between the contractions. But there was none. It was just one, long, solid wave of contractions for the next 3 hours, until DS was born. [I didn't have an epidural.]

Now, after reading a lot of natural birth stories, the part that fascinates me is the descriptions of the space between the contractions. It sounds so amazing!! I want that more than anything this time.

So my question is, by doing things naturally, without picotin, will this guarantee that I will have some space between the contractions? I can't stop obsessing about this!

[kerikadi]

There are no guarantees in birth.
However, it is likely that pitocin is to blame for your last labor and a natural labor would definitely be different.
Having said that, there are natural births where women experience contractions back to back with very little or no break in between.

Good luck,
Keri

[hubris]

I agree that it sounds like the pitocin caused unbearable contractions. Natural contractions tend to have a more gradual onset and offset - like a wave that rises and falls. Pitocin contractions come on less gradually - it's more like you go from 0 to 60 all of a sudden. ON/OFF. Natural contractions also start out farther apart and less intense, and gradually get closer and more intense. Because the change occurs over time (instead of suddenly getting pitocin), you aren't typically thrown into the middle of hard labor, you gradually get there and you've had some time to warm up to it.

I rarely hear of moms who are able to cope with induced labors without some help from pain medication.

I'm not going to promise that a birth without pitocin will feel like you get breaks. I remember my transition with my second son feeling fairly continuous - but it wasn't like I was noticing distinct contractions by that point, anyway. It was all an ebb and flow of intensity. But it was not more than I could handle, I could observe it getting stronger and weaker, and I knew that the fact that it had reached that level of intensity meant that I was close to the end, too.

Quote from Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way (revised ed., pp 214-215):

Your own hormone contracts the long muscles of the uterus progressively from the top downward toward the cervix in a wavelike action. The contraction builds slowly to a peak of its strength.The second-rate copy [pit-induced ctx] can cause violent "tetanic" contractions which make the muscles contract all over at once. ... A forced labor is an extremely hard labor. It is difficult for the two of you to work with.The woman in a forced labor often starts with a self-doubt emotional signpost and stays that way for teh entire labor. She is apt to feel overwhelmed...Most women feel it is an extremely painful experience.

Best wishes for you for a more gentle birth this time! Choosing a birth center sounds like a good start for your preparation.

[wagamama]

Originally Posted by hubris

I rarely hear of moms who are able to cope with induced labors without some help from pain medication.

I gave birth in Kenya, and they don't do epidurals there, so I had no choice. I'm glad about that, though.

Thanks both OPs for the comments and advice.

[notjustmamie]

I had Pitocin without an epi also. While I didn't have a long, continuous contraction, my contractions were very close together, with hardly time to change positions in between them (so, only seconds rather than minutes).

I also found that the "bell curve" of contraction intensity that I'd been taught in my Bradley class was completely not what they felt like. For me, it was a steep plateau (like the curve of an exponential increase) at the onset of the contraction, then a long petering out at the end.

Everyone I've talked to IRL about the experience (all the mamas who've had natural labors with no augmentation) said they bet it was the pit that made it so intense.

[XanaduMama]

I also had pit-augmented labor (similar story to yours, though we waited 18 hrs after ROM with no cx's, plus I was GBS+), and went from 2cm-10 in 3 hours, also. Exactly the same: insanely strong contractions with NO BREAK--it was exhausting (though mercifully pretty quick!). I'm sure it's going to be more manageable next time, without the pit (I didn't have any pain meds either), but then again maybe you and I both have fast labors (there are lots of people who get pit and are in labor for 20 hours...can you imagine?), so that could also have something to do with it. Things just move more quickly, so transition hits sooner than usual. Still, though, from everything I've read, natural-natural birth is much more manageable. I'll be interested to hear how it goes!!

[birdiefu]

With my first birth I was induced with pitocin for 24 hours- it was horrid! I totally understand wanting to know what natural labor and contractions are all about.

I just had my 1st natural labor (yay!) and it was soooo much better! I was amazed at having time between contractions to relax (pit ones were 1-3 minutes apart from the start), and the contractions for the most part were much easier to work with. I could walk, talk, laugh, whatever in between! Once I hit transition I didn't get much of a break between though and it was quite intense-that was what it felt like on pit ctxs for me the *whole* time! I made it to 12 hours pit ctxs (only 4 cm at that point) with my induced labor before I got an epi and it still took 12 more hours till delivery. I had maybe one hour of transition naturally.