[MissyLissa]

What did you think of it? Did it meet your expectations? Was the pain what you imagined it would be? Would you do it again?

I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised by how much my birth DIDN'T hurt!! I had a pitocin induction with DS for PROM and the contractions I experienced at 5 cms and begging for the epidural were more intense than a lot of my transition contractions with this baby! Now that I've been through it I can't believe I spent the last 9 months worrying over whether or not I could cope. Another thing that is interesting to me is that my active labor was only about an hour and a half long and I've always heard that really fast labors like that are super intense, but mine wasn't. The last half hour or so I was pretty spooked and was sure I couldn't make it through but then it was all over so quickly that I can look back now and say it was totally manageable and not that bad (just because it was short! lol). I also had an OP baby with no back labor. I must have done something right to make the birthing gods happy!

 

[secondimpression]

This was my first birth and I did it natural. Mine was an attempted UC turned hospital transfer and wound up being rather traumatic thanks to the on-call OB.

I definitely understand why some women can have orgasms during birth, I was certainly feeling those sensations of pleasure during contractions. Unfortunately, once I got spooked about my swollen cervix at 9.5cm things got very painful, I was no longer in my birthing bubble and the adrenaline was interfering

I was also blown away by how powerfully enjoyable pushing DS out was, even with the blinding pain the OB was causing me.

My birth was everything I expected it to be, even if it wasn't everything I wanted it to be. If DH and I have another baby, I absolutely will do it natural again

 

[SallyN]

This was my second birth and my first natural. First was "augmented" with pitocin. Interestingly, this one went faster (7.5 hrs). But I was totally unfettered and able to do what/when I wanted/needed to manage the discomfort. Somehow, early on, I found a good movement for working through the contractions and it was pretty effective throughout.

Transition was relatively rough, but still nothing compared to the pitocin-contractions.

After transition (or maybe during), I attained (entirely accidentally/instinctually) a different level of being... DH and my doula-in-training said my eyes were rolling back in my eyes and I seemed almost asleep.

It was frickin' awesome.

 

[IncaMama]

this was my second natural birth, and i gotta say - it was horribly horrribly painful. not a great experience this time around. i'm actually having a hard time dealing with that fact. my first natural birth (w/dd) was as you're describing...but this time was so different, sooo much more difficult and more painful. she wasn't positioned as well which had a lot to do with it. i also started tired bc of 9 days of prodromal labor.

 

[Murph12334]

DD was my first natural, I'm planning the same this time.

What did you think of it? Easier than I expected. I wish I would have know more about the stronger feelings of transition because when that hit I was thinking OMG I can't go through hours doing this. I didn't realize I was in transition. That soon passed and I was holding my daughter shortly after.

Did it meet your expectations? And exceeded them!

Was the pain what you imagined it would be? Pain, no. Intense pressure yes. Manageable though. None of that ring of fire others speak of either.

Would you do it again? I'm planning on it, whenever this one decides to arrive

Actually it was the most empowering I've ever felt in my life. I remember as I was birthing my dd thinking, OMG I'm actually having a baby. I do not even know how to describe the power I was feeling. I'm highly looking forward to birth again.

 

[wobblykate]

What did you think of it? It was so difficult and painful, but I wouldn't have had it any other way...

Did it meet your expectations? Well, this being my first I didn't have a lot of expectations, but I would say it did, in that I expected it to be long and arduous and to be able to test my mettle against it.

Was the pain what you imagined it would be? No, it wasn't in the place I thought it would be and the contractions were not spaced out like I thought they would be. It seemed once I was in active labor there was really no break in cx. Also, pushing was not what I thought it would be. I had to bear down before the urge to push came and it took a long time to get the natural pushing reflex stimulated. The only time I felt pushing as a relief was in pushing out the placenta, which was awesome and made me feel great. Also, I had to push a lot for lo's shoulders and hips b/c they were so wide and I wasn't expecting that and found it frustrating and much more difficult to find the spot to push to than with the head.

Would you do it again? I don't plan to have another, but if I did, then yes. It was totally worth it and the happy hormones after birth have kept me going for days.

 

[nancy11]

I like this thread. It jibes with my incling that this *might* not be so bad for me -- knowing me. More stories, please!