Ok, probably a silly question but I want to hear how mothers describe a contraction... probably hard to put into words but if you can that would be great :)
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Ok, probably a silly question but I want to hear how mothers describe a contraction... probably hard to put into words but if you can that would be great :)
Pain lol apprently it feels like a lot of pressure like you need to do a big poo. Well that's what my friend said it felt like hope this helps
I just feels like bad period pain that comes in waves for me :)
My contractions were in my back so they start off just a pain and then its pain pain pain PAIN (when it peaks)
Kinda like really bad bowel pains lol
Definitely like period pain for me, that came in waves and got more intense as I went along. A heat pack helped so, so much! Until just before my waters broke, I wasn't getting much of a break in between and wanted something more. From there I went into shock and don't really remember much about the contractions until I was pushing.
The pushing part was fantastic. It started involuntarily, my body just did it. Contractions that came with pushing weren't painful, they just made me cramp up and push lol.
Oh yeah, the pushing ones are different, not painful, that was awesome.:
mine was all pressure, started out like really bad bloating feeling, like a balloon was blowing up inside me and was getting so big i felt i was going to burst!!!! then the balloon would get let down.
then all it was was involuntary pushes (before i was dilated) no pain with them. the only 'pain' was trying to stop the pushing - which was like trying to hold in a poo (a really big mother of a poo)
Like my guts were trying to turn themselves inside out.
Period pains on crack
My first was very intense and felt like a vice pushing against me from the inside, if that makes any sense! A backwards vice I guess.
My second just felt like bad period pains.
Like period/ diarrhoea pain that comes in waves
For me it wasn't as bad a period pain. It hurt more but it has purpose so is easier to cope with. Itms? Probably not lol
Mine was like period pain too. I actually woke up thinking my period had started and then quickly realised that I shouldn't be getting my period because I'm pregnant. All my pain was just in the front lower stomach. As the pregnancy progressed it was just like stronger period pain.
I was induced with DS1 and it felt like period pain but ramped up. They would come in waves and peak - it was so nice on the downside of the peak. The belly felt really hard. We did calmbirth classes which really helped me to breath through them. I think if you tense up, it makes them feel worse and lying down was the most painful position to be in.
like really bad period pain that built up, peaked & then tailed off - most of my contractions with dd lasted a minute for the whole of my labour. i also had bad back pain - pretty much like the sort of pain you get with a period.
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Depends which part of labour changes the feeling of contractions! Pre labour is period pain and a sore lower back. Then as they increase and last longer it's a more intense cramping pain and your tummy tightens with each one! Then as you need to push it feels less period type and more just a relief as your pushing and a nicer gap in between them once pushing starts too!
Definitely don't fight them, just go with your body and it all feels right :-)
For me it was just like an intense pressure period pain and, it hurt but it was more uncomfortable than agonising like I had always been told. I could feel each about to start, it would begin get more intense and then ease down to a gradual nothing :)
Intense pressure rather than sharp or stabbing pain. It builds up and overwhelms the body so that nothing else exists except for the contraction
Prelabour - period pain and back ache. My stomach would get hard.
Labour before my water broke - exactly as Teirae described. A balloon swelling in my uterus, accompanied with period pain low down, and some pain in my back too. Would last for a minute to 90 seconds, then trailed off.
Labour after my water broke - the balloon was made out of razor wire. As well as small midgets slicing through my stomach, with fists made of spikes :rofl: Contractions lasted 1-2 minutes, until they came without a break. Pushing was an amazing relief and the pain of the contractions all but disappeared, instead it was in my bagina and bum.
I 100% believe being in water would have made my pain more manageable. I ended up being able to breathe well enough through them, but going do quickly from a lovely manageable early labour to intense pain after my water broke was a shock lol! And I have a high pain tolerance!
thanks so much girls! its really good to get an idea on others perceptions.... I always thought it would be a feeling in your vagina like it was tearing open or something... but sounds like its mostly pain in the stomach area...
when the baby's head crowns it was a burning, stinging pain for me but it was over faster & the end was really in sight so easier to manage imo.
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Like a vice - one clamping down on your uterus, one on your back. I felt most of them in my back, yay!
Pushing contractions are a relief.
Not long now SB!
Ooo yea the pushing pain is a different kettle of fish! With your first it is what I call the ring of fire...head goes out and retracts back in so many times I thought I was split in half....lol.... But it's pain that's worth it and I've gone back two more times :-) at least with more babies you never get that again as everything is stretched already :-0
QUOTE=PumpkinZulu;3137255]Prelabour - period pain and back ache. My stomach would get hard.
Labour before my water broke - exactly as Teirae described. A balloon swelling in my uterus, accompanied with period pain low down, and some pain in my back too. Would last for a minute to 90 seconds, then trailed off.
Labour after my water broke - the balloon was made out of razor wire. As well as small midgets slicing through my stomach, with fists made of spikes :rofl: Contractions lasted 1-2 minutes, until they came without a break. Pushing was an amazing relief and the pain of the contractions all but disappeared, instead it was in my bagina and bum.
I 100% believe being in water would have made my pain more manageable. I ended up being able to breathe well enough through them, but going do quickly from a lovely manageable early labour to intense pain after my water broke was a shock lol! And I have a high pain tolerance![/QUOTE]
wow ok... so now your scaring me.....:sick:
Read the birth story in my sig hun :) It was amazing. I had meconium stained waters so my body was working hard to get bub out, and my whole labour was only 6 hours. Honestly, you forget the pain as soon as the baby is out. And I found a zone where, by the end, I was so high off of the hormones, that I was nearly sleeping. First thing I said was that I couldn't wait to do it again, and I will be in December :)
Crowning is the only pain i experienced in my vagina. Pushing was awesome relief!!
You will be fine, the pain is well worth it!
You can read my birth story too. it wasnt scary at all it is intense and every fibre of you is involved.
Also.. Yea.. Burning ring of fire - exactly what it says on the tin! (but my girl was rotating whilst crowning so im putting it down to that and maybe shouldnt have been that bad)
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You'll be fine Silver Bell. It's really not so bad! It is nothing you can't handle. And it is definitely all worth it. I didn't even hardly get the ring of fire thing everyone talks about.
My pain was mostly in my bottom even though babe wasn't breech.
you're going to be fine silverbell :) i think what this thread shows is that people all have different birthing experiences.
and i never believed my mum when she said she forgot the pain soon afterwards but it's true. actually, right after i had my dd i wanted to high 5 someone :lol:
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A big giant internal squeeze. Very hard to describe. It was really hard work, not what I'd describe as painful. Just all my muscles working intensely together. I had contractions at various times during the week leading up to labour and they felt like sharp catches low in my pelvis, but I mistook them for the baby moving and putting pressure on the area.
Early labour contractions were there but different.
Pushing was incredibly hard work! I gave myself a sore throat with the noise I made, and thank goodness for the birth pool, only my inside muscles were tired and recovering afterwards. Not my knees and legs.
I didn't find them anything like period pain! Everyone is different but we are all made to give birth. ;)
Agreed!
Plus, it's pain with a purpose. Your body just does it, amazing!
If uve never had period pains (I didn't so didn't know what it meant), I describe it as that feeling that I get when I've held my pee for WAAAY TOO LONG Til the lower part of my abdomen hurts like a deep stingy hurt. And then it starts cramping a bit. At some point lower back pain & feel like as PZ said a balloon swelling in you. After that I was so in an unknown zone next thing I knew LO is crowning.
Have a great birth! Know that you're strong enough to do this & believe it. If all fails just concentrate on deep breathing. :)
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Don't be scared Silver Bell, every woman is different and every birth is different. With my second I didn't even get that ring of fire feeling, and the contractions were not as painful as my first, I was pleasantly surprised!
Also, fear creates adrenaline, which creates pain. So being relaxed and calm is key! The times in my labour I was afraid were very painful. The times I was relaxed and confident, I managed without making much noise :)
Oh yeah, I never had the ring of fire either. I got a brief bit of pain as she was crowning right at the front of my labia as I was leaning forward, it passed quite quickly. Her head came out slowly in a couple of contractions. (I didn't tear).
I had really bad bh the week before my labour, and I reckon they were worse coz there wasn't a baby at the end of them.
Was a lot like period pain for the first part. Then once I was over 8cm dilated it felt like my insides were being torn apart. I think the hardest thing was the loss of control over my own body.
But the pushing part is correct, in that the contractions feel less intense and you feel as though you're getting somewhere. Plus you have some control in pushing.
I get the burning ring of fire. But only went for like 20secs whilst his head was coming out then it was gone. And its the only time I screamed throughout my whole labour. Luckily I didn't have to deal with the in and out business. Pushing stage only went for like 20mins, and I can tell you I was pushing with all might lol. Plus he was 9lbs 6oz and I tore, but I'm not going anymore into that.
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period pain / belly ache pain.. That came in a wave of really intense then it would stop...
I had a posterior labour, so it was like my lower back was being squeezed.
Pushing was great relief when the time came!
Very different at different times!
My first labour started as period type pain that just got bigger and more intense as we went along, then eventually feeling like a HUGE amount of pressure in my stomach. So 'pain' from the get go.
Second labour was totally different, it started with just a pulling contracting feeling that wasn't painful. It was a bit weird, just like you could feel the muscles working and tightening. I felt the same kind of muscle tightening/working sensation as if I'd clenched my fist and tried to show off the muscles in my arm (LOL), but I wasn't creating the pulling action, it was just happening in my belly by itself. Another way to describe it was like I had a whole belly band made of super super strong elastic wrapped just around my baby (so not outside my whole belly, under the skin and just around the baby) and some one was pulling on the band, gently to start with then pulling really really really hard so the pressure was enough turn coal to diamonds! At one stage I could just feel the elastic being pulled at the top of my bump, but it moved further and further down until it was all my bump. I only really felt 'pain' towards the end when the pressure was very intense.