Question about Contractions...

[pageta]

When ds was born (2 1/2 years ago), I remember labor catching me off guard in how it felt. I really wanted a natural birth. However, the contractions I experienced were nothing like the ones I've read or heard about. I was 3 cm when I saw my Dr and he stripped my membranes. I had slight cramps from that, but just enough to make me a little irritable. Eight hours later, the cramps were strong enough that I didn't want to do anything any more. I used to get really bad cramps when having my period, so much so that sometimes I would even throw up because the pain was so fierce. That's what it felt like - cramps like that. I just crawled into bed and laid on my side in a fetal position, like I did during my period when I got bad cramps.

My doula came over to our house, and she was able to time the contractions. The pain to me was a 10 and it never changed, except that occasionally I wanted DH to push on my back (I was having back labor). There was no break during contractions. It was just excrutiating pain that did not stop. She got to my house at 8, and we left for the hospital around 10 because my contractions had been consistently 2 minutes apart. When we got to the hospital, I was still 3 cm. When I was still 3 cm at 8 a.m. the next morning, I ended up getting an epidural because I could no longer deal with the pain.

So my question is, is pain like severe cramps with no relief what I should expect next time? Did it feel like that because it was my first birth and things just hadn't stretched out before? Did it have to do with back labor?

I simply was not prepared to deal with that kind of pain. Is there a way to prepare for such pain? Is there a way to avoid it all together? I understand that things are stretching and that it's not exactly comfortable for them to stretch. But I thought there would be some kind of break between contractions, and I never felt that.

Signed...

Mystified

[coobabysmom]

I had an unmedicated birth and thought I would share what worked for me.

My labor was 24 hours long with an additional 2 hours of pushing ds out. Unlike you, I had a little down time between contrx... During my labor I had a constant pain and pressure at the base of my spine and as the contrax would start & peak the pain would stretch to the front of my belly and then would feel like crazy-severe menstrual cramping. I did not have back labor.

To prepare, dh & I took Bradley classes and an additonal "comfort measures" class taught by a seasoned doula/yoga instructor in our area and I went to pre-natal yoga classes weekly. We learned a ton of stuff but here's the tools we/I used during labor: dh & doula did double hip squeezes on me, paced the house to keep labor moving, table pose, leaning on yoga ball, backwards sitting on the toliet, down on hands and knees, lots of shower time, loud moaning, visualization and positive reinforcement (eg: a the peak of a contrax, dh would say things like "your cervixis opening, the baby's coming down, you're doing great") and digging deep!

I also journaled about my fears and read inspirational childbirth books like "Spiritual Midwifery" (by Ina May Gaskin) & "Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Natural Childbirth" & "Birthing From Within". Throw out those "What to expect when expecting" type books!

I've heard good things about hypno-birthing and considering it for the next time around. Consider a water birth, also called the "midwife's epidural". I had a water birth set up but it didn't feel right when it was time to push...

Find a midwife who you really vibe with and trust and put together a bith plan...

Importantly trust your body to do the work, let your mind drift into laborland and take each contrx one at time...

Good luck to you!

[onlyboys]

Honestly, your pain seems a little out of the ordinary as far as labor pains go. It sounds like you had a posterior baby and that made things both progress slowly and hurt more. Your body was working really hard to not only help your baby turn, but also to work your baby down and out.

For me, laying down was way more painful that sitting up, or standing, or walking. Even if the position you most wanted to be in was fetal, perhaps next time you might try moving around quite a lot to allow gravity to help get the baby positioned right.

Also, I'd avoid any membrane stripping. Your body can go into labor without it, and there's really no reason to force your body into anything before it's time, as long as you and the baby are healthy.

As far as preparation for next time, I'd say that you need to know that all labors are different and all are either less or more painful than the last. There are a lot of factors contributing to this, really, and no way to predict it. Staying active, though, really helps in terms of positioning, generally.

Hope that you can find your way through this... :hug

[pageta]

I had a doula, we went through her classes which were Bradley based (she had branched off on her own), we did try a number of positions the next morning after I tried to rest all night, but I was just too tired to put much effort into them. We tried walking and different positions. The thing was, I was in CONSTANT pain, not just pain that came and went with contractions. I can deal with pain that comes and goes - it was the constant pain that didn't change no matter what I did that I am confused about. Obviously I was slow to progress, and they say getting in the water slows progression. Also, according to what I've heard, it's good to wait until you're in serious labor and it REALLY hurts (past 6 cm) before you get in the water or you use up that resource before you really need it. I had a room with a tub I could have used, but we didn't try it for that reason.

I was prepared for pain that came and went, not constant pain. I've read hundreds of birth stories, and everyone describes pain that comes and goes. My pain was just so constant. I haven't heard anyone say how to deal with that kind of pain. Is everyone just not mentioning the pain BETWEEN contractions, or did I have something beyond the usual pain? That's what I'm trying to figure out.

[crunchymomof2]

I didnt have pain between contractions except for what I consider normal tired hard work kinda sore as i hit transition.

[pageta]

I didnt have pain between contractions except for what I consider normal tired hard work kinda sore as i hit transition.

That's what I was prepared to deal with because that's what I hear everyone talk about, but that's NOT what it was like.

...Still Mystified

[sciencemama]

With my 1st, I had 3 days of what I guess I'd call prodromal labor--contractions with constant back pain. I actually did vomit from the pain (and I had almost no morning sickness so this was a huge shock to me). At one point we went to the hospital and they monitored the contractions (which were regular and as close as 7 min apart) but I was only dilated 2 cm (same as my prev OB appointment). So, back home we went. The baby didn't seem to be posterior- from what I and various doctors could determine- so I don't know why it hurt so much. I basically crawled between the tub and the bed for 3 days and nothing helped alleviate the pain. In the evenings, the contractions slowed down and would begin about 1 hr after I woke up.

Then-- I had one whole day of feeling GREAT- no pain whatsoever! And then the "real" labor contraction began at exactly midnight. But those were very different-- much more intense but with breaks in between... It was more intense but also more manageable than the prelabor pain.

Waiting ANY DAY for baby #2-- i'll let you know if things go differently this time around!

[wombatclay]

I think I know what you're talking about...I had the same thing happen to me during my labor.

Once I entered active labor I had what everyone seemed to be describing...breaks between contractions that gave me time to rest. I don't know if it was simply "pain free" in comparison to the contractions, but I honestly felt nothing "painful" between contractions. Then something changed (Monday morning quarterbacking suggests that that's when dd got herself well and truly stuck...sort of sideways and smashed into the pelvis, compressing the nerves and preventing further cervical dilation) and the pain became constant and MUCH more intense.

Not contraction type pain (it would intensify during contractions), but a constant, blazing, bone breaking sort of pain that lasted and lasted and lasted no matter what. My doula and doctor both thought I must be in transition or actually about to give birth but I stayed at 7cm for the next 6 hours of my labor (which ended in a hospital, 32hrs after spontaneous rupture of membranes, with a c/s due to FTP and a rising fever :( ).

Every labor is different, and if your constant pain was caused, like mine, by a dc that was a bit out of position (or a lot out of position) there's no reason that it should happen again. Practice good posture, check out spinning babies, and read up on coping techniques for back labor, but don't worry that you're "doomed" to difficult labors or that you're simply not as "tough" as other mamas based on the fact that most women don't describe having this sort of constant pain.