And with my first, it was back labor so it was also totally different. They were throbbing and long and it felt like my back was going to split open. With my home birth, the contractions felt like a deep, deep ache. Deep down inside my body, almost as if the sensation of my cervix spreading combined with my son descending were like my bottom was going to fall out A productive way.
Thinking back, they weren't painful as much as a feeling that snapped me into the present. From the outside, you could feel that my whole abdomen was rock hard and it felt like a charlie horse, only a million times worse.
The pain didn't change or come and go, just remained for hours. On the monitors, it was showing that I was contracting every two minutes when I got to the hospital, but again to me the pain and hardness never stopped and started, just constant.
With my first son, the pain was fairly textbook as menstrual pains that got worse, deeper, and closer in time as labor progressed. For number one, I was induced with Pitocin. I had been planning an unmedicated birth, but was told in my childbirth education classes that it was impossible to have Pitocin without an epidural, so each contraction was a fight for the birth I wanted. Ultimately, I had an epidural that didn't work, and I dilated completely unmedicated.
The second time I was also induced with Pitocin, but was absolutely certain that I would have an unmedicated birth, so each contraction was a validation that I was strong, and could do it. With my third I had become a doula and childbirth educator , I had absolute trust in my body, and each contraction literally felt orgasmic. They were intense, but after the peak of each one, I felt the same rush that I do after an orgasm.
It was amazing! With the fourth, I was in complete denial for most of my very rapid labor, so each contraction was almost a surprise. I had intense back labor, but if I vocalized throughout the contraction it was bearable. My labor started with what I could only describe as a "funny feeling" in my belly I didn't feel cramp-like sensations or hardening until later on. As I progressed, I definitely felt the tightening, hardening feeling with intense cramps but all in my abdomen area With this one, I have been having BH contractions for quite some time.
If you and your partner attend childbirth classes, you'll learn different techniques for handling pain, from visualization to stretches designed to strengthen the muscles that support your uterus. The two most common childbirth philosophies in the United States are the Lamaze technique and the Bradley method.
The Lamaze technique is the most widely used method in the United States. The Lamaze philosophy teaches that birth is a normal, natural, and healthy process and that women should be empowered to approach it with confidence. Lamaze classes educate women about the ways they can decrease their perception of pain, such as through relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, distraction, or massage by a supportive coach. Lamaze takes a neutral position toward pain medicine, encouraging women to make an informed decision about whether it's right for them.
The Bradley method also called Husband-Coached Birth emphasizes a natural approach to birth and the active participation of the baby's father as birth coach. A major goal of this method is the avoidance of medicines unless absolutely necessary. The Bradley method also focuses on good nutrition and exercise during pregnancy and relaxation and deep-breathing techniques as a method of coping with labor.
Although the Bradley method advocates a medicine-free birth experience, the classes do discuss unexpected complications or situations, like emergency cesarean sections. A variety of pain medicines can be used during labor and delivery, depending on the situation.
Many women rely on such medicines, and it can be a huge relief when pain is quickly eased and energy can be focused on getting through the contractions. Talk to your health care provider about the risks and benefits of each type of medicine.
Analgesics ease pain, but don't numb it completely. They can be given many ways. If they are given intravenously through an IV into a vein or through a shot into a muscle, they can affect the whole body. First one, I had a non-working epidural, and it felt like I was being stabbed a million times with a dull knife from my butt to my stomach!
With second and working epidural, labor felt like no big deal. It is that feeling — times 10, encompassing a circumference from the bottom of your rib cage to your tailbone.
The discomfort gets worse and worse until it crests, then eases back down. Visualizing actual waves and then breathing through them helped me. Now, I had one induced with max doses of Pitocin and one totally [unmedicated].
No pain meds for either. It felt like my body was literally being torn in two directions. Blinding pain. I felt nothing for seven hours. Not a thing. Then for two hours after that, I felt noticeable tightening, but that was it. Nine out of 10 women said pain management was effective, no matter what method they chose.
They should talk to their physicians to find out who will administer their anesthesia if they decide to have pain medication during labor. Grant, M. Moms 18 to 39 were more likely to say post-delivery pain was the most painful aspect than those 40 and older.
The most common description of the level of pain experienced was extreme menstrual cramps 45 percent , while 16 percent said it was like bad back pain and 15 percent compared it to a broken bone. But the importance of other factors diverged depending on the pain method chosen. Having no pain during labor was very or somewhat important to women who chose medical methods epidural, medication delivered through an IV or injection, spinal block or nitrous oxide only 79 percent compared to women who opted for complementary methods breathing, water birth, massage, visualization or hypnosis only 37 percent.
Being able to move around during labor was important to 90 percent of moms who only had complementary methods, while just 60 percent of moms who had medical methods only agreed. So, what pain management did they choose? While the epidural reigned supreme as the most common option, chosen by 73 percent, 40 percent of women used complementary methods. More than half used medical methods only and 9 percent chose complementary methods only.
Sixty-five percent of women who had medical options only said they were very effective in managing pain, while 39 percent who had complementary methods only said they were very effective.
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