AfterBirth Pains with second birth but not first?

[loobop]

I am a few weeks away from birthing my 2nd child. Last night I saw a friend I run into occasionally (shes older, her 2 dd's are in their teens now). She had natural water home births both times, but told me that she didnt experience afterbirth pains with her first child, but had chronic pains, more painful than the actual labor pains, after delivering the baby and placenta with the second birth. We thought it might have something to do with stomach muscles/uterus not having gotten "back to normal" after the first child. Her dd's were about 18 months apart I think.
I had what I felt were normal uterine contractions after my first baby, and massaged my uterus to help it along. I wouldnt have called it painful.
Id love to hear from other mamas who found they experienced intense contraction pains (if thats what it is) after their second or subsequent births but not their first, and how far apart their babes were. Wondering if this is common or if my friends experience was unique (not that all births arent unique, but ykwim! ;)).
Thanks a lot mamas!

[MamaFern]

i didnt have any afterpains with my first.. and im also having my 2nd baby really soon ( due in 5 days!!).. at my last midwife appt the midwife told me that it is more common to have intense afterpains with the 2nd.. i asked her why and im sure she told me what she knew, but i cant remember now..pregnancy brain. uhg. anyways.. i think its pretty normal.
i asked because on my birth supply list is extra strength pain killers ( tylenol or advil).. which i never ever take for anything and she said i might want some on hand just in case...

[loobop]

Thats what my friend told me too...she had her babies as naturally as poss, no meds, no herbs no nothing, but I think she said she wished she had taken the tylenol afterall (as her mw had it on a list too). I'm considering having some herbs on hand though.
Thanks for the info, I am hoping to talk to my mw this week, but good to know your mw mwntioned it is more common w/ 2nd birth.

[Undercover Hippie]

I don't remember any afterpains with DS--no pains while delivering the placenta, and certainly no pains while nursing him. Maybe some mild cramping as my uterus shrank, but nothing worse than mild menstrual cramps.

After my second child I had horrible afterpains though. Everyone says they get worse with each child and holy heck I believe them! For several days, the contractions I had during nursing were as bad as my labor pains. I had to breathe through them and concentrate on relaxing and letting my body work. Your uterus has to work harder each time to shrink back to normal no matter what the spacing IME (my kids are nearly 3 years apart). I took ibuprofen and my MW gave me some herbal teas to help too. Next time I will be prepared and pursue the herbal remedies much earlier if possible.

Good luck!

[Artisan]

I had this. Had normal cramps after DC#1, nothing to write home about, very manageable with some Advil. DC#2 (26 months later) was quite hard to cope with. Such a drastic difference. I don't know what sort of birth attendant you're planning, but my CNM wrote me a prescription for Tylenol 3 (w/codeine). I took that, alternating with Aleve (which was a prescription pain reliever given to women with unmanageable menstrual cramps before going OTC), and that helped some. I still laid awake most of the first night moaning with a heating pad held to my belly. :( :( (Sorry, just trying to be honest.)

[Anguschick1]

Ok - not to worry you ladies, but I felt nothing after ds1 was born (hospital from hell birth) and after ds2 was born (home waterbirth) they were INTENSE. I ended up taking some heavy-duty tylenol that the doc left (after taking nothing at all during pregnancy) and still had to breather through them. After 2 days though, they were gone. I can't wait to have another homebirth, but those afterpains - wow.

Oh - kidlets are about 27 months apart.

Peaceful and Gentle Birthing Vibes!

[Village Mama]

I had pretty strong afterpains. It turned out though that I had retained a piece of membrane... so that may account for the severity. I had a natural birth, but took so much tylenol and ibuprofin in the postpartum period that I had pits in my nails. Its nice to have an afterpain herbal tincture on hand though... you could ask your midwife where to find some or call a herbalist in your area.

[loobop]

Thanks so much for taking the time to share mamas!! :love

[3daughters]

I still laid awake most of the first night moaning with a heating pad held to my belly. :(

That was me too! I went to the nurses station in the middle of the night to ask for Tylenol and they only gave me one :angry !

By #3 I was prepared and after my drug free birth I was a little embarressed to ask the midwife for pain relief for the afterpains :innocent .

[Undercover Hippie]

after my drug free birth I was a little embarressed to ask the midwife for pain relief for the afterpains :innocent .
Exactly! :lol

[Rach]

1st babe: cramps, nothing special
2nd babe: pretty intense after pains! I was shocked!
I don't know if it gets worse with each kid, but I hope not!

[fromscatteredtribe]

the afterpains do get worse and worse and worse (sorry it IS true)

i had four drug-free births (two midwife at hospital and last two at home :) )
and the second one and after I always kept the ibuprofen handy. i can tell when it wears off and when it is time to take more. i take more ibuprofen after the birth of a child than i take in a year or two total normally. i can't stand the stuff, but IMO it is totally NECESSARY afterward (but maybe i am not crunchy enough to come up with a better solution)

DS1 i had NO cramps at all, by the way

[kate~mom]

mine were also much worse with #2 than with #1. i don't remember taking anything after dd was born, but with ds, i took tylenol every 4 hours until i left the hosp at 24 hours.

i have heard that this is fairly common, and related to the fact that your uterus goes back to normal more rapidly with each subsequent pregnancy - it remembers what it's doing the second time around. :p

[MamaFern]

i was thinking that though im all about a 100% medication free natural birth i really want to be able to bond with baby, so if i need to take some pain killers for a while after so that i can have a peaceful time i will! ill have them on hand anyways!@

[momileigh]

I don't think anyone has afterpains with the first baby.

With my second, the afterpains were what made me say, "never again." I seriously wanted an epidural to deal with the afterpains. I've had two drug-free labors and births, and it is only the memory of afterpains that really make me cringe and feel a little sick... it just isn't fair! All the work is supposed to be DONE at that point! And NO ONE warned me that they'd be that bad... I was expecting some "slight discomfort." Whatever.

[TeaBag]

:nod Nothing after #1. Some pains after #2. But after #3! :yikes: They were HORRIBLE! all three were med free births too. I felt like *such* a wimp after #3! :lol

[2+twins]

I think this is very common. Certainly happened to me. I noticed very mild (non disturbing) afterpains after my first birth and intense, maybe worse (or as bad) than labor contractions after my 2nd dd (both were homebirths, med free - 2nd one was a waterbirth). It was awful and certainly unexpected by me. I've heard great things about taking RRL to help. Search around and I'm sure you'll find other suggestions. The afterbirth pains are supposedly worse with each birth as it's harder and harder for your uterus to return to its normal size each time.

[hubris]

I've heard the same thing that you all have heard - that they get worse with each baby.

After DS #1, I don't really remember any pains.
After DS #2, LOTS of twingy/crampy pains, especially when breastfeeding. Some were bad enough to need to focus and breathe through them.

Can't wait for #3...

[sarahlynne]

how long are we talkin here, ladies? I'm due for #2 and wondering how long these horrible pains last. i.e. are they worse the quicker your uterus goes down or is there any correlation between intensity of pain and speed of return to normal?

[KiwiZ]

What helped me to deal with afterpains was knowing that they were "good pain" - that they were making my uterus go back to normal. I practiced relaxation breathing as if it was a labor contraction. IMO, they didn't last as long and weren't as bad as the worse ones during actual labor. I was in the hospital for 2 days and I don't remember having any more once I was home.

Hope no one is scared by this thread, I think its important to know what to expect so you can be prepared. Just think of it as everything "winding down" and your life with new baby just beginning :)

[2+twins]

how long are we talkin here, ladies? I'm due for #2 and wondering how long these horrible pains last. i.e. are they worse the quicker your uterus goes down or is there any correlation between intensity of pain and speed of return to normal?

They lasted about 4 days (maybe 5) for me. I've heard some talk (here) that the faster the labor, the more likely it may be to have intense contractions (I don't think this is scientifically proven or anything, but it certainly was true for me).

[dnr3301]

I had the same experience as I've seen here: nothing with #1, awful with #2. My midwife told me they get worse with each baby, in part because the uterus has to work harder to get back to normal each time. Makes sense to me. I wish I had taken something for it, I will next time. I figure it doesn't interfere with the baby, so it's not that big a deal to use it. I think it makes complete sense to take tylonol or something similar, even if you had a completely natural birth, doesn't seem inconsistant to me.

[TeaBag]

They lasted about 4 days (maybe 5) for me. I've heard some talk (here) that the faster the labor, the more likely it may be to have intense contractions (I don't think this is scientifically proven or anything, but it certainly was true for me).


That may be it for me as well. With ds (#1) it was a veyr long labor. Both the girls were very short, like 3.5 hours total. And after #3, I did end up asking my m/w to grab me some tylenol on her way to visit, they were so intense. I don't remember how long they lasted with #2 and with #3 they were still there about 4-6 days later, but *much* improved. I think I only needed the tylenol for day 1 and 2. :love

[MrsMoe]

I didn't have any severe afterpains pains with my frist. I had them and all (with breastfeeding,) but nothing that was a big deal. And delivering my placenta was painless.

[AutumnMama]

I really didn't have any afterpains with my first, but my second were really bad.
I felt like I was in labor again :irked: :o

I did have problems with the placenta after DS (homebirth), and they gave me a shot of pitocin...a day or so later I passed some bits of placenta I had retained (sorry TMI!), and they settled down pretty quickly after that; so I'm really hoping that those factors made it worse than it should have been :lol

I did end up having my Midwife call in a prescription painkiller for me, and that heating pad was :heartbeat !


ETA: My labor with DS was 3 1/2 hours from the first labor contraction, not sure if that had anything to do with it, but there you go :thumb

[momileigh]

My labors have both been about 6 hours from the time I felt like things were "getting serious" to birth. Maybe that's why my afterpains were horrid on the second birth. Sure scares me about having any more.

The pains lasted about 4-5 days. I was doped up on as much ibuprofen AND extra-strength tylenol as allowed the whole time, and I don't think they touched the pain. I even took a "secret" drug my mw gave me, which helped a little bit right away... the condition she had for giving me the drug was that she wouldn't tell me what it was. I hurt so bad I took it without a second thought. (Obviously I felt she wouldn't give me anything dangerous for me or the baby!)

The good news (and I really don't WANT to scare people expecting their second child, but maybe if you read this then you'll expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised!) is that they didn't come as OFTEN as labor contractions. So it wasn't exactly like being in labor for an extra week. They came every time I nursed (and I had to put my baby down when I felt them coming on because I couldn't hold her safely and deal with the pain) and a couple times per hour otherwise. And I don't think they bothered me at night when I was sleeping. At least I was able to nurse for a few minutes each time before they came, because otherwise I don't know how I would have been able to feed her!

At my birth center a lot of moms have their 8th or 9th child. (Partially because there are a lot of orthodox Jewish moms who use the birth center.) I've heard that by that time, the afterbirth pains can be so bad that moms are vomiting and shaking uncontrollably. I hope that's the exception, not the rule.