What hurts worse than childbirth? - Page 2

[amyjeans]

throwing my back out, slipped disc, sciatica pain.
Anything back related is excrutiatingly more painful than childbirth.

[annettemarie]

Right after my second child was born, I started having gall bladder attacks. THAT hurt worse than childbirth.

[ani'smama]

dry sockets after wisdom teeth extraction.

[Cloverlove]

Originally Posted by thismama

Nothing for me has hurt more than childbirth.

Another :

[lisa2005]

For me, shattering my wrist. I broke and dislocated both radius and ulna at the wrist with an open dislocation on the one side. I had rods, pins and screws in it. The pain was indescribable and frequently was so bad that it would cause me to shake uncontrollably. It was much worse than the 25 hours of unmedicated labor and 3rd degree tear that I had 3 weeks later.

I didn't realize until it happened that anything could be worse than the long OP labor I had with my 1st child. The only thing that I have experienced that came close was the inadequate pain control with the c/s with my 1st child.

[Rockies5]

I'm kinda...well shocked to see this. I loved childbirth and it was hard, and somewhat painful during certain moments but I've experienced so much that was more painful.

fractured tailbone
migraines
twisted/fractured ankle
the headgear I wore for 9months
migraines
sinus infection
ear infection
sciatica
altitude sickness
the flu
GERD
cramps and diarrhea from taking Castor Oil
sinus headaches
"charlie horse"
Carpal Tunnel syndrome
toothache
having a cavity filled
Symphysis pubis dysfunction
and emotional pain like loosing friends and relatives, pets, watching people suffer etc.

Childbirth was a sweaty joy at every moment. I have very long back labors and even one baby that was completely crooked (she had a very large cephlahematoma for many weeks, looked like a dorsal fin ) and I loved every second of it.

do most people just not challenge their bodies, or endure any other kind of pain in today's society and therefotre childbirth *is* really the hardest thing they have (or maybe will) ever do? I'm struggling to understand because if what I've read here is normal then I may be doing a disservice in my childbirth classes by my opinion that it's work but not terrible or suffering kind of pain.

To me it was one of many challenging events that I have accomplished. I actually draw on my memories quite a bit when I am training for other physical events. It's not too hard to get that last rep or mile out if you can remind yourself about what you accomplished already. It's all just life to me. and life in hard.

[liseux]

bashing my knee against the wall
throwing up
bladder surgery

[lotusdebi]

My first child was work. It was painful - more painful than the tattoo on my ankle - but it was work. Afterwards, I felt a sense of accomplishment over what I was capable of. He was 9lbs 9oz, and got stuck (shoulder dystocia), but only took a few minutes to get out.

My second child was pain. Excruciating pain. Unbelievable pain. All of it - pain. My insides shredding kind of pain. Dying every second kind of pain. He was 10lbs 8oz. He also got stuck - another shoulder dystocia. Much worse. It took a lot to get him out, and then he needed oxygen for an hour. I have PTSD from that birth experience. It was awful. Truly horrible. Not anything close to the dream homebirth I had worked for. He was really too big for my body, and it's amazing that he survived. My body may never be okay after that experience, though.
I planned on being a childbirth educator. I was going to do so many great things to help women feel strong and capable of natural childbirth.
Not anymore. I can't even consider it anymore. I've lost the joy that I once had when thinking and talking about natural childbirth. It's gone.
Birth can be empowering. Birth can also be psychologically damaging. Natural birth can be both. My eyes have been opened to that, quite unfortunately.

[Cloverlove]

Originally Posted by Rockies5

do most people just not challenge their bodies, or endure any other kind of pain in today's society and therefotre childbirth *is* really the hardest thing they have (or maybe will) ever do?

Seriously???

I find this so insulting. Because childbirth was painful I must be a lazy, indulged member of society? I don't do "reps" at the gym. However, I run 30 miles a week, take 50+ mile bike rides and practice yoga. Gimma a break. :

And yes, you probably are doing a disservce in your childbirth classes. For my first pregnancy I was convinced that my homebirth was going to be a blissed-out cosmic experience. Well, it wasn't. And it took me a long time to emotionally recover because I thought I was a failure.

[anne1006]

Originally Posted by Cloverlove

Seriously???

I find this so insulting. Because childbirth was painful I must be a lazy, indulged member of society? I don't do "reps" at the gym. However, I run 30 miles a week, take 50+ mile bike rides and practice yoga. Gimma a break. :

And yes, you probably are doing a disservce in your childbirth classes. For my first pregnancy I was convinced that my homebirth was going to be a blissed-out cosmic experience. Well, it wasn't. And it took me a long time to emotionally recover because I thought I was a failure.

My labor was terrible and I wanted to die during a lot of it! Some labors are worse than others, and when there are complications and stuff it makes things worse. I do agree though that in society fear pain. We tend over medicate for physical and emotional pain. There are definite needs for medication, but I think the pp's point was that we are taught to fear pain more than handle pain, and that makes it worse, not that we are weak if we have pain.

[Cloverlove]

Originally Posted by anne1006

There are definite needs for medication, but I think the pp's point was that we are taught to fear pain more than handle pain, and that makes it worse, not that we are weak if we have pain.

I often get annoyed when people personalize these types of discussions. Such as:

Breast is best
-Well, I had to use a bottle and I am really insulted

Epidurals are dangerous
-Well, I had an epidural and am really insulted

I was wondering if I did the same thing with this discussion and maybe I did but her comment just rubbed me the wrong way. FWIW, I don't think women should fear childbirth. But I also don't think if it is not a JOY every second that somehow indicates a woman is lazy, implied by:

do most people just not challenge their bodies

[melibee]

With my second, I had an external version to turn her- that was so much more painful than childbirth!

[Mothra]

Well, I don't think anyone would ever say that I do not challenge my body. I'm very active, and I've done my fair share of things that could have, maybe should have, ended in my ultimate demise.

Childbirth was the most amazing and most painful experience of my life. My second child was the easiest. Don't let "easy" fool you. It was excruiating. My third, my daughter was the smallest, was the most pain I have ever been in. I thought I was prepared for it, and I was WRONG. The positioning of the baby plays a huge role in how much it hurts. I still felt like a rock star after she was born, but holy crap I thought I was being ripped in two.

I can't imagine anything that would challenge my body more than a 9 lb. baby squeezing through my cervix and then barreling out of my vagina.

[hanno]

Too many things to list are more painful than childbirth, for me. Forcing a placenta out before it was ready (at the midwife's instruction) and afterpains were about the worst for me. I try to play down this aspect and remember that actually giving birth to my child was painfree. He really did all the work and the only true discomfort was when I was overwhelmed and tried to slow him down! Also of note- very early labour felt really really good, like the best drug trip ever. There were beautiful waves of energy flowing through me in a downward sensation. Awesome.

[momto l&a]

What hurts worse than childbirth?

I can think of 2 things.

First I had a tooth drilled and the dentist must have drilled right into the nerve.

Second was a thumb nail that torn off the nail bed.

[Tofu the Geek]

Apparently any pain that DH has to endure, is worse than childbirth...

[Benji'sMom]

Really extreme sensative tooth pain, like being really sensative to something cold.

ETA: The difference is child birth lasts a lot longer, so in that way NOTHING is worse than child birth. I mean, if you're labor lasts for several days and feels like you're being stabbed with knives, that's about the worst pain, because it lasts so long.

[Romana]

I had an extremely painful birth. The only thing comparable was the terrible AF pain I've had (endometriosis). Sometimes I think AF at its worst was worse (more than once I became delirious and thought I was going to die from the pain; became irrational and accidentally poisoned myself OD'ing on pain medication). Sometimes I think giving birth was worse (8 hrs transition/pushing, all excruciating).

Purely from a pain perspective, I think AF was worse when it was at its absolute worst. But childbirth was worse in other ways - the combination of extreme pain and extreme pressure was the most uncomfortable I've ever felt.

It's hard to quantify exactly. And different types of pain feel different. The extreme toothache I had was blindingly painful (and it was as bad as toothache gets) and I was pregnant and couldn't take anything for it . . . but it wasn't nearly as bad as giving birth.

I find stabbing or slicing pains to be easier to cope with, when they're pure pain, than labor pain at its worst.

Afterpains were very painful, but not at all comparable to the 8 excruciating hours of labor (the other 13 hours were either at an easy or manageable pain level).

Everyone experiences birth differently, and everyone experiences, processes, and copes with pain differently. I have extraordinarily good pain coping mechanisms thanks to the endometriosis/AF pain and a chronic pain disorder I've suffered with (ups and downs) for over 10 years. I assumed that as birth was a natural physiological process that I would handle it quite well. I suppose perhaps I did, but all that capable handling couldn't protect me from mild PTSD, due solely to the extreme pain that continued for so long. It is definitely the worst I have ever felt physically in my entire life, although perhaps not quantifiably the most pain I've ever felt. It was a combination of extremely unpleasant sensations that made it quite as awful as it was.

I've always loved pushing my body and enjoyed distance running as a hobby for several years; long hikes up mountains; multi-day rough-terrain bike rides, and so on. I'm not afraid of a physical challenge and have not coddled myself my whole life or been coddled by life (i.e., as I said, I've experienced a lot of physical pain).

It was disappointing to discover birth to be so physically unpleasant when mentally I had some expectation of an orgasmic birth, and no expectation of the excruciating experience I did have. It took me awhile (about a year) to fully process the birth and be able to think about possibly having another child. For several months after dd was born, I was really not very open to the idea of doing it again. At this point (18 wks pg), I've accepted that I am capable of doing it again, although it is not something that I would ever want to do again. And I hope it might be easier this time - but I'm not counting on it.

[veryerin]

Abcessed tooth!!!
Hiking on an injured knee...

[SuperMarcy]

The headache I got after a spinal tap was a million times worse than childbirth!