back/leg pain in labor?

[sparkly]

During most of my 34 hour labor, I had horrible pain in my back and legs. I'd heard of back pain, but the leg pain was excruciating. It happened with every contraction, and I couldn't even really feel the contractions because they were nothing compared to the other pain. We tried all sorts of things like having hands pushing on my back, but nothing helped. I don't know why I had the pains...he was facing the right way and everything, so I didn't expect that.

Because of it, and because after 25 hours I was only 4.5 cm dilated, I had to go to the hospital and get drugs. That makes me sad...I am a huge believer in natural childbirth! I want to have the next one at home. Has anyone had this horrible pain? If so, does it happen with subsequent births? Is there a way to do something in pregnancy to prevent it from happening again? It's the only thing that scares me about labor!

(And I'm really jealous of all these stories of 12 hour labors, baking cookies during contractions, sleeping during the first hours, etc. Mine started with 5 minute apart contractions and tons of blood and that crazy leg/back pain, and just got worse from there, all without dilating properly. Grr!)

[MissAnnThrope]

Don't feel bad. You held out longer than I did with the leg pain. Mine was so bad I couldn't even stand up I didn't have it with my other two, so it was new to me and unbearable.

[KariM]

Some thoughts off the top of my head (you may have already done some or all of these during your last labor - dunno):

-See a chiropractor during your next pregnancy. I wondered if maybe a nerve was being pressed on or something?

-Check baby's positioning. Was the baby posterior?

-Try lots of different laboring positions to move the baby and perhaps eliminate some of that pressure

[rabbitmum]

Originally Posted by MissAnnThrope

Don't feel bad. You held out longer than I did with the leg pain. Mine was so bad I couldn't even stand up I didn't have it with my other two, so it was new to me and unbearable.

Yeah that! It was absolutely unbearable. It was no way I could stand up or even sit with the leg pain. I had expected another drug-free birth but was screaming for drugs after two hours.

I had no trouble managing the contractions of my two first births, this was very different!

I have heard that this type of pain might be caused by some nerves in the back being squeezed, but I don't know if it would be the same for the next birth. I don't think my son was positioned in any unusual way.

I did get some pain in my pelvis (don't know what this type of pain is called in English) after the birth and think there might be some connection.

(Sorry, I'm not in this due date club - hope you don't mind!)

[mkmama]

i'm glad you posted this b/c i feel less alone, atho i have no advice for you, but my labor was like that, started out horrible with little dilation...27 hours i made it before emergency c-s, and had had no pain meds until then. i am hoping this round will be a lot smoother b/c my body knows what to do!?!?!

and i hope it goes well for you, too...

[cmi]

I've been getting weird nerve sensations/crampiness/pain in my legs during my pre-labor contractions and sometimes during baby movement. My midwife thought it was pressure on the sciatic nerve, which sounds about right to me. I was getting it on the right side, and the baby was hanging out over there, so hopefully now that I've had some bodywork done and the baby has moved back to the left (for the moment) that will go away. It sounds like a lousy thing to have going on every five minutes during labor!!! Sorry you had to go through that.

[~ATenthMuse~]

Not during labor, but afterwards... I've had really intense pains down the insides of both of my legs. My midwife said it's nerve pain. Also, I had the really awful pain on my pelvic bone during ctx which I think was due to his positioning.

[sparkly]

Originally Posted by mkmama

i'm glad you posted this b/c i feel less alone, atho i have no advice for you, but my labor was like that, started out horrible with little dilation...27 hours i made it before emergency c-s, and had had no pain meds until then. i am hoping this round will be a lot smoother b/c my body knows what to do!?!?!

Let me know how it goes this next time, since it sounds like we had very similar labor experiences, with no pain medication for a full day of that crazy painfulness! If you don't go through that terrible pain again, it will give me hope that I'll be okay next time too...really, I could handle the contractions with no problem after dealing with that leg and back stuff!

My midwife, by the way, said that this nerve pain can be felt during pregnancy too...I can't imagine going through that!

[Irishcupcake]

Ugh! The leg pain was the worst part of labor...at least as far as I remember. I really wanted to try a birthing stool, but couldn't stand the pressure on top of the pain in my legs. I'd seen the chiro thoughout my pregnancy and he was perfectly positioned. Man, just thinking about it makes my skin crawl.