# Describe a contraction....



## whiteisle (Jul 1, 2008)

.....is it a sharp pain? A strong menstrual type pain? Like a really, really bad gas pain? ( I hate those!)

I'm hoping for a VBA2C and have never experience labor so I'm very curious.

And too, what other pains are involved with birthing vaginally? And could you describe them as best as possible?

Thank you for humoring (a little worried) me!


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## ani'smommy (Nov 29, 2005)

I wouldn't describe it as sharp, really, no. And yes, like a menstrual pain, but harder. My first birth was induced -- and it was very very painful and I felt very out of control -- like I didn't think I was going to make it.

My second was a home water birth. It was much, much different. It was painful, sure, but since the contractions came in waves, it was tolerable. I never thought that I was going to totally lose it, kwim? You can anticipate them -- so when you are between contractions, you can take a breath, center yourself and prepare for the next. It felt very uncomfortable, but not a sharp, stinging type pain.

A lot of people talk about the "ring of fire," and while the pushing part was painful, you feel more in control of it, I felt. I remember saying to myself "okay, now I am going to push this baby out and it will be all over."

I found birth to be very much a physical thing -- and primal, but in my experience, also cerebral. Focusing on the task at hand and working hard at it and being mentally present helped me. If I let myself get caught up in the pain of it, it was worse. Some people have the opposite experience, though, and just let it happen. I felt more comfortable talking and being around other people through contractions because it made me feel more like the birth was a natural thing that people do, and not a serious emergency kind of thing. I tend to panic, and being around other people helped me keep that in check. My doula held my hand and massaged my hands, which, surprisingly, really helped me. I think maybe relaxing one part of your body helps to relax the other parts.









I think all women and all births are pretty different, though, so your experience might be very different.


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## organicpapayamama (Dec 5, 2008)

for me personally it was FAR from any menstrual pain. When labor first starts its just like cramps from running, like when your side hurts. and when you are in active labor when you cant talk through them and getting closer and closer the closest way of describing what I had was I felt like my kidneys were going to explode. for a time i had what I thought was IBS and that was painful. so painful Id have to sit down and catch my breath where ever I was and pace my breathing. contractions made that feel like a walk in the park. its a pain that is very unique and unlike any pain I have ever felt in my life. Although I dont know if it was the worst pain, it defiantly was intense. but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I guess thats why Im ttc again 8)


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## 2+twins (Apr 20, 2004)

Like a really, really bad gas pain. Sorry! That's exactly how it feels to me.


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## Malva (Nov 2, 2005)

To me it was like bad menstrual cramps. Overall tightening of the uterus with lower back pain radiating from mid-back to my knees. Not sharp at all.


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## juliav (Nov 21, 2007)

I didn't even know I was contracting until my midwife told me that I was. I could feel the tightening on my belly though once she alerted me to it. When they start to get painful it's like a dull ache in your lower back and pelvic area that sort of gets more and more intense then peaks then gets less intense and stops then comes on again and gradually (or in my case not so gradually) the down time in between seems to go away and the intense gets more intense. I felt them mostly in my lower back and pelvis and its a deep pain, sort of like a really intense menstrual cramp but also very distinct....Jeez I never realized how hard it is to describe


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## TzippityDoulah (Jun 29, 2005)

well that depends how bad your menstrual pain is!!! mine is pretty bad! (I can't hardly stand or function the first 2 days) so the first parts of active labour feel like a bad period to me. it was kinda like "huh... btdt!" and then eventually it moved to sharper pains.

but everyone is so very different honestly.


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## Novella (Nov 8, 2006)

Hmmm. . . well I had a period in my teens where I had menstrual cramps so bad I'd miss three days of school each month (and I wasn't a sissy). The first time it happened, I actually thought I might be dying or having some nearly-as-calamitous medical event. So compared to that, labour cramps were much different.









In my first birth, I thought I knew all about that fear-tension-pain cycle. But really, I was overwhelmed by how painful it was and wallowed in it despite my best efforts. Certainly that compounded the pain. The pain of contractions really was sharp. I felt like I wanted to run out of my own body - like I was trapped by the pain. I tried to get out of that stupid hospital bed and change my position, but sitting upright was so painful right around the labia. (I didn't figure out until my second birth that I needed to get past fully upright and be leaning deeply forward over my thighs. Made all the difference.)

Pushing in my first birth was somewhat of a relief after struggling through labour and transition. But I did not feel in control - it was coached pushing and I remember gasping at one point, "Don't stop counting!" as the nurses trailed off. I was so in that rut of following their counting, that I just felt like everything was going crazy and I just wanted the baby to be born.

I had a significant first-degree tear in that birth and it extended ever-so-slightly into muscle (second degree). I definitely remember the searing pain of the skin tearing. The doctor said, "Don't push" and I remember thinking, "You've got to be _kidding_ me after 30-40 minutes of agony here!! I just want this baby OUT!"

Of course, all the lovely hormones kick in after and I felt fantastic and thought the birth went spectacularly. . . even if sit/stand transitions were pretty ginger for the first several days.

Second birth, I smartened up and I read 'Birthing from Within". I tried really hard to get into it even though some of it was a little "fruity" for me. It's a great book.







Contractions still had the intense low back pain I always get. But I could really truly feel like I was melting into them and ebbing through their waxing and waning. It was really an amazing difference. They were intense; they were consuming. But they weren't sharp or agonizing and I never had a moment of doubt that I couldn't get through all of them naturally.

I felt a distinct "ring of fire" in my second birth and thought so clearly, "Oh, _that's_ why they call it that!" If you get it, you'll know. (In the first birth, it was just all sharp pain that whole time and I could not discern that).

After my second, it was all pretty easy. Getting sequestered clots manually scrapped out after the birth of my twins was very uncomfortable/slightly painful, but the contractions and birth sensations were just fine. Again, "Birthing from Within" is an amazing gift to women and mandatory reading!

Great luck for your VBAC!


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## dogmom327 (Apr 19, 2007)

For me they started out like a BH contraction (just the strong tightening) but started at the top and moved down. Once they got into my pelvis it felt like strong menstrual cramping. In my case they were really manageable but everyone is different.


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## purplemoon (Sep 24, 2008)

Charlie horse is my closest analogy. Vice-like? More charlie horse from breasts to thighs. That is at the later stages. Early labor was like cramps, bad cramps, then charlie horse.

Pushing felt good (contractions slowed and stopped hurting and were more pressure in my bottom). Ring of fire felt just like a ring of fire.


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## BugMacGee (Aug 18, 2006)

Pliers applied to the lower part of the uterus on an frequent basis.


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## claddaghmom (May 30, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *whiteisle* 
.....is it a sharp pain? A strong menstrual type pain? Like a really, really bad gas pain? ( I hate those!)

I'm hoping for a VBA2C and have never experience labor so I'm very curious.

And too, what other pains are involved with birthing vaginally? And could you describe them as best as possible?

Thank you for humoring (a little worried) me!

It was the same cramping pain as menstruation for me. Only much more intense. Imagine when you get a charlie horse. It was that, with the period cramping mixed in.

Other pain that I was not expecting/aware of, but experienced:

-You know the ring of fire? Well, I figured that had something to do with the sides of the vagina and the perineum. But when I actually experienced crowning, my poor clitoris hurt like the dickens and nothing else. It was the top part that burned and stretched. Ewwwowww.

-I had very scary pain on both sides, right below my ribcage. It was so painful that I ended up transferring for monitoring and u/s. (Confirmed everything was ok and went home thankfully). It was bad bad. Like, screaming into a pillow that I was going to die bad. I never got much of an exlanation, but settled on it being round ligament pain from extended labor.

-During the pushing stage, as DD was going down the birth canal she was irritating nerves to my legs. They were actually turning purple and going numb...but not in the painless numb way. Extremely irritating sensation and very distracting. It took a lot of mental will to ignore them.


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## Fujiko (Nov 11, 2006)

Well, in early labor, it felt like a tightening or dull ache in my lower back. I didn't really feel anything in the front. (During my pregnancy, I apparently had BH contractions all the time but didn't realize what they were until my midwife told me...my uterus would get tight and hard but I couldn't feel it at all.) Then in later labor, it was like a big squeeze, a huge tightening, a powerful force flowing around my middle. It didn't really hurt as long as I was able to be in the position that I wanted to be in, whatever it was at the time. It was really more power than pain, so that if I let the power overtake me (like if I was standing up or laying down, which DID NOT work for me), pain was close behind. But as long as I "rode the wave" of power and kept calm, it was just a huge, powerful tightening.

ETA: I can't describe crowning, as I had a c-section at the last minute.


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## charleysmama23 (Sep 28, 2008)

This is how I always describe it:

It felt like intense, brutal almost, pressure in my low, low abdomen on my right and left side (not in the middle). As if there were two metal fists inside of me pushing down and out slowly and with as much pressure as is possible. It was not sharp, it was not "surprising", it was gradual, building pressure. I do not even describe it as pain, having had major, invasive surgery as a teenager and chronic back problems childbirth just wasn't "pain" the way I have experienced it. It was pressure, but it was for a reason, it was productive, and it resulted in my beautiful dd, keeping that in mind the whole time made it really bearable.


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## claddaghmom (May 30, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *charleysmama23* 
This is how I always describe it:

It felt like intense, brutal almost, pressure in my low, low abdomen on my right and left side (not in the middle). As if there were two metal fists inside of me pushing down and out slowly and with as much pressure as is possible. It was not sharp, it was not "surprising", it was gradual, building pressure. I do not even describe it as pain, having had major, invasive surgery as a teenager and chronic back problems childbirth just wasn't "pain" the way I have experienced it. It was pressure, but it was for a reason, it was productive, and it resulted in my beautiful dd, keeping that in mind the whole time made it really bearable.

I like your use of the word pressure. I've been using "intense" but pressure seems a better description.


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## lifeguard (May 12, 2008)

My Mom & my Grandma both said it was like intense menstrual cramps (I had BAD cramps as a teen so I figured I could deal with this). It was NOT like menstrual cramps at all for me.

The pain was very low on my stomach (pretty much right at my pubic bone) & then would rotate around to my lower back. I was pretty much immobolized by the pain & counterpressure from dh midly helped me ride through it. It was definitely in waves but I never really felt like I got a true break between surges. The pain was much sharper & pinpointed then I expected & extremely intense. I was truly terrified to have another birth again for the first few weeks afterwards (but now I'd do it in a second - so I guess time eases the memory!).

I found pushing quite painful, well, everwhere. I never had the desire to push & HATED the pushing. My whole vagina/cervix hurt with every push. I never felt the ring of fire but then again I had a forceps delivery. Although I had a 3rd degree tear I actually never felt the tearing happen.


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## super mamabug (Oct 29, 2006)

Not like a gas pain, I get those really badly and was afraid of the comparisons to that, nothing that bad.
More like an extremely intense tightening/squeezing sensation accompanied by a stinging in my cervix.


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## whiteisle (Jul 1, 2008)

Wow! It's amazing how different the experience is for everyone! Some of the stories make me say, "I can deal with that" while others make me want to run for the hills and get out of this deal! lol


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## accountclosed3 (Jun 13, 2006)

maybe i do not count because there wasn't any pain.

in the beginning, contractions tickled because i would get a nice little squeeze followed by baby movement.

then, it felt like a warm, undulating snake-like movement (how a boa moves, but circular around my "pelvic basin" as i call it) with a deeper squeeze.

and then i didn't feel them at all, just the sense of drawing inward as the baby moved downward and out!


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## TzippityDoulah (Jun 29, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zoebird* 
maybe i do not count because there wasn't any pain.

in the beginning, contractions tickled because i would get a nice little squeeze followed by baby movement.

then, it felt like a warm, undulating snake-like movement (how a boa moves, but circular around my "pelvic basin" as i call it) with a deeper squeeze.

and then i didn't feel them at all, just the sense of drawing inward as the baby moved downward and out!

wait!!! what!?! oh.... mama... that is so not fair!







so not fair!! I mean I'm happy for you and everything... but goodness what I would give for that kinda feeling!


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## jennifercp8 (Nov 10, 2005)

My early labor felt like I had to poop. In fact, I didn't think I was in labor for the first hour. I just sat on the toilet every 20 minutes trying to poop, and then would crawl back into bed wondering why it wasn't happening. After that I realized that they were coming in waves and in a pattern, so I hopped into the shower.

For the first couple of hours, I just felt like I had to poop or pass gas every 6 minutes.







As my contractions grew in intensity, I started to drift into La-la-labor land, and I honestly forget what they felt like. I was on my side most of the time, so that DH could rub my back as I did have a lot of back labor. Maybe that is why it felt like I had to poop all the time?

Pushing was extremely relieving, and once I got the hang of it I didn't want to stop. My pushing was ineffective until I reached down and touched the area with my own hands - then I got really good at it.


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## annekh23 (Nov 1, 2008)

I've never really had a "normal" labour, so I'm not sure how useful my descriptions are, one was pitocin induced and I was verging on hyperstimulated, was having quadruple peaked contractions, the other, I had some major joint issues in the run up to the birth, then had a posterior baby, towards the end, it hurt as much between contractions as my first labour had during them.

To me the pain is totally different to anything else I've experienced, the uterus is such a different size from when your mensturating that though there are bits that are familiar from that, it's also much more consuming. It's a kind of pain that is hard work, kind of like lifting a really heavy weight, but rather than a fraction of a second as your muscle passes through that point, it's a minute (ish).

The good news is that between contractions, you really shouldn't be in pain - if you are, that would be a red flag in a vbac, as would anything sharp. Different care givers will put different emphasis on what you feel and how it relates to uterine rupture, but one midwife, who I respect very much, says that vbac women should become familiar with how their scar feels, if there are any tender points on it etc. http://www.caesarean.org.uk/articles...onitoring.html is a brief article where she covers this and other things, she feels that monitoring of the foetal heart rate is a late sign of rupture.


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## channelofpeace (Jul 14, 2005)

From a fellow vba2c Mama









I will warn you, even though the experience isn't universal among vbacing Moms: a lot of my contraction pain was concentrated over my scar area. This really freaked me out- I was really worried that I was going to rupture. But everything was perfectly okay and my son was born healthy with no scar integrity problems. Just thought I would let you know that this was a possibility, so in case your experience ended up being similar to mine.


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## cerie (Jan 27, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zoebird* 
maybe i do not count because there wasn't any pain.









I believe you have what we call momnesia. It's the only reason why anybody has more than one kid.


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## Maeve (Feb 21, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cerie* 







I believe you have what we call momnesia. It's the only reason why anybody has more than one kid.









Thank goodness for momnesia.







: Otherwise I don't think I would've let my dh touch me again after our first was born.


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## liliaceae (May 31, 2007)

My water broke at the beginning of labor, so that might have made things more intense....but for me, it felt like really, really horrible stomach cramps. I didn't deal with the pain well, I tensed up and dreaded each contraction, so I'm sure that contributed. But it became an unmanageable pain for me and I ended up getting an epidural. I think it's important to realize that labor can be very painful, and go into it with a plan to deal with the pain. And don't tense up!!!


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## felix23 (Nov 7, 2006)

I was never in labor, but with my last I did start having regular contractions. I didn't realize it till I was being monitored. I just thought I was in pain when the baby moved because she was transverse and I had almost no fluid, I didn't realize that pain was really contractions. It wasn't like anything I had experienced before. It was painful, but not in a cramping way, more as in a sharp, burning pain.


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## IdahoMom (Nov 8, 2005)

Tight stomach with really intense cramping pain. I'm always surprised at how painful they are (momnesia- that's perfect). But also more manageable than I thought they'd be. I always kind of pictured the kind of intensity that send me reeling from the pain. On the contrary, it's a pain that gives me a focus and clarity that I've never had any other time in my life. As intense as the pain can be, it's even more intensely spiritual for me to labor and give birth.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

I've never pushed a baby out, so I can't describe that, but labour pain:

DS1: Backache. I had no idea I was even in labour, because there were no "contractions" (or waves or surges or whatever) at all for the first 8 hours or so. It was just an awful backache. I walked around my apartment for hours, and had 3-4 warm baths, and still didn't know it was labour. Every time I tried to go to bed, I'd lie down and pop back up again from the pain in my back. I just thought it was some weird late pregnancy pain, and would go away. That changed to contractions, and I remember thinking they were exactly like menstrual cramps...stayed that way all the way until the c-section, at full dilation.

I didn't labour with dd.

DS2: Menstrual cramps, with a bit of a tight feeling in my abdomen. They were fairly bad cramps, but still cramps.

Aaron: Fairly sharp pains, focused right at the top of my pelvis, at the front...felt like they were right in the scar at first, which was a bit unnerving. I also had some backache, but not much...and a lot of achy tightness in my belly. Honestly, except when I was flat on my back at the hospital, the pain wasn't so bad - it was the exhaustion that was doing me in at the end.


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## mamameg (Feb 10, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zoebird* 
maybe i do not count because there wasn't any pain.

in the beginning, contractions tickled because i would get a nice little squeeze followed by baby movement.

then, it felt like a warm, undulating snake-like movement (how a boa moves, but circular around my "pelvic basin" as i call it) with a deeper squeeze.

and then i didn't feel them at all, just the sense of drawing inward as the baby moved downward and out!


Huh. That's not how your husband documented it on his blog.

Quote:

Together we waited, moment by moment, and Jenifer endured. I could only liken the process, however feebly, to heavy squatting. When you are doing 20-rep squats with close to twice your bodyweight on the bar, and anything else at all seems a happier option, you can pace yourself to some degree, rationalize the effort put forth, make deals with yourself to get through the discomfort. Labor, of course, differs in that you don't know how many "reps" you have to do, you can't decide to wimp out and cut the set short, and your success or failure has no impact whatsoever on anyone else. Otherwise, Jenifer agreed, the two are completely the same.

The water broke, finally, at midnight. By this point we had moved to our new bed, which is low to the ground in the Japanese style. We felt that Hawk's birth was just around the corner. The contractions grew stronger and Jenifer's vocalizations, like a galdr chant, grew fiercer as she climbed the upper reaches of the intensity spectrum. Afterwards, Jenifer said "I didn't think I was a screamer." We half-expected the captains of the condo association to call the cops on us.


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## thismama (Mar 3, 2004)

ahhh good thread.


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## maygee (Dec 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Maeve* 
Thank goodness for momnesia.







: Otherwise I don't think I would've let my dh touch me again after our first was born.

Yeah, totally. I distinctly remember thinking just after birth, one kiddo's enough, no more kids, that was horrific! But here I am ttc, with fond memories. I'm with Zoebird- that's how it happens!


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## Viola (Feb 1, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *whiteisle* 
.....is it a sharp pain? A strong menstrual type pain? Like a really, really bad gas pain? ( I hate those!)

I count my labors from when my water broke, because active labor for me didn't really start then. However, both times I had gas cramps--or what I thought were gas cramps.

When labor started with my first baby, right after the water breaking, it felt mildly painful; like menstrual cramps, but not really bad ones. By the time I got out of the shower to go to the hospital, it felt alternately like someone was gouging me in the back with a blunt object, then that was followed by overwhelming nausea which had me on my hands and knees. I ended up having an epidural, and by the time it got turned down enough for me to feel stuff to push, it definitely felt like menstrual cramps.

With my homebirth, it's hard for me to remember, honestly. In retrospect it didn't seem that bad, but at the time I remember saying things that indicated it felt bad. I remember trying to squat at one point in time and quickly said, "Oh hell no" and got back up. It really was pain kind of like a muscle cramp, but I couldn't feel the muscles like I could with a real spasm--it was more like bad menstrual cramps or when you injure a muscle and you just have this amorphous kind of pain in that area.

When I first started pushing during my homebirth, it was even more painful than the contractions had been. I was thinking, wow this sucks. So I pushed harder so it would be over with sooner, which in retrospect was a bad idea, however, after one or two pushes, it got a lot less painful. When I felt the head moving between the pelvic bones, it was really cool, though. I did not have that sensation like some people say they have where you feel you are being ripped apart.

In my first birth, when her head was out, I had this overwhelming weird feeling of having her head out. I could just feel out stretched out I was, but like I was the only way I can really describe it was almost the sensation of having a gigantic bowel movement, except not from the bowels.









With the crowing of my second, it just burned, burned, burned. Even after she was born, I didn't realize it at first because the burning stayed the same. So I think that was the ripping that I was feeling. I didn't have that sensation of having the head out like I had with my first, maybe because of the perineal tear.

I had really bad menstrual cramps as a child. I felt nauseated and I would sometimes just roll around on the bed, writhing in pain and crying. Or I'd move from toilet to bed, feeling like something was going to come out, or like someone was shoving something up in there, and I would get rectal spasms and pain too. I think that labor was easier to handle than that.


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## Veritaserum (Apr 24, 2004)

My pitocin-induced contractions were sharp and painful, so I got an epidural.

My spontaneous labor contractions using hypnosis were sooo much easier. A tightening sensation would start down by my hips and then spread across my abdomen, building as it reached the top of my uterus. It truly felt like a wave of energy, building up, peaking, and fading away. It was not at all painful. It was powerful and intense. At times I felt like it was _too_ powerful for me to contain with my body. It was just really neat, though--like a strong hug that lifted my belly up and forward.


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## paintedbison (Dec 10, 2007)

Like a blood pressure cuff squeezing your arm... but squeezing your belly instead. You know how it gets so tight it hurts? That's exactly how contractions feel to me.


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## redeyedvireo (Oct 24, 2007)

I have endometriosis, and menstruation for me has always meant at least two days of agony, nausea, stomach upset, blah, blah, blah.

My labor felt like medium-strength menstrual cramps, from the first contraction to crowning (about 18 hours). After a few hours, lower back pain was added to the mix. I found I had to walk through each contraction, away from the pain, but it never got unbearable. I was surprised that labor was at no point even close to as difficult as a monthly period.

Crowing panicked me, because I had had no idea that I was pushing. Also, my amniotic sac never broke, so the pressure was intense. Supremely intense. I guess it was a pretty cushy birth for my son!

Labor would have been completely unmanageable for me if I had not been at home, able to move around when I needed to, to keep the lights off, to eat and to sleep between contractions, to take a bath, kneel in a birth pool, ask people to leave the room and to come back. It would have been unbearable agony. As it was, it was really not bad, just intense, intense, intense.


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## *Erin* (Mar 18, 2002)

to me it felt like diarrhea and period cramps, not sharp at all. lots of very intense and rhythmic pressure. like ocean waves. the regularity of them, that was really amazing to me. and there, for me, was a definite sensuality about them. they felt like... the moment of an orgasm and when your body, it's not under your direct control? i swayed and danced thru both my labors.


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## mtlmommy (Sep 15, 2006)

Before giving birth, I imagined contractions would feel like braxton hicks contractions plus strong menstrual cramps. Boy was I wrong. I did not feel any tightening, like a braxton hicks, and my menstrual cramps have an achey quality that contractions lacked. It wasn't a sharp pain, but it was so strong, and so unlike any other sensation I've experienced that I don't really have the words to describe it.


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## Devaskyla (Oct 5, 2003)

I honestly don't remember my contractions before transition with the most recent birth. I know they hurt, like get me some ibuprofen hurt, but I was setting up the pool in between them, so it wasn't that bad, especially standing/walking. Sitting was a lot more painful & lying down was horrible. There was no pain in my scar area. The last 30-45 minutes was agony, during the contractions, anyway. I begged dh to kill me, I dreaded every time I could feel one coming on. Surprised no one called the cops with all the screaming.

I liked pushing, it at least made it hurt a lot less. The baby moving down puts a ton of pressure on your rectum & feels like you need desperately to have a bm. Your whole lower body feels full. The ring of fire hurts, kind of like if you put your fingers in your mouth & stretch it as wide as you can, only with more burning. It's endurable, though. I've managed to let my body stretch between pushes even with the burning.

I should say my most recent labour hurt a lot, lot more than my VBAC labour. That despite my VBAC labour lasting 3 times as long, with a stuck baby in a very bad position & hitting transition twice. For a few hours between starting pushing & getting ds2 unstuck, there was a lot of pain in my scar area. After he was finally unstuck, it was gone.


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## cappuccinosmom (Dec 28, 2003)

I think it depends on the woman and the birth.

I don't remember from the first birth. What I remember from the second birth was strong, wave-like, overwhelming sensations. I cannot describe them. I had to work through them, but I wasn't hurting, certainly not in agony. My third birth, contractions involved a great deal of sharp pain in my lower back, along with the tightening sensations.


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## CallMeMommy (Jun 15, 2005)

Very bad menstrual cramps, but not at all unmanageable until I hit transition. I was actually trying to rest between contractions because I didn't think I was anywhere close to giving birth and wanted to conserve my energy, but from the start of transition to birth of baby was only about an hour. It was like a switch was flipped - contraction, not too bad, didn't need to vocalize or anything, then BOOM! transition. And I understood why women ask for drugs. And would have kissed on the mouth anyone who offered me an epidural (though going to the hospital for one never even crossed my mind, if that makes any sense). And within 12 hours I knew I wanted another baby and I wanted to have that baby at home, contractions/transition and all.


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## LoveChild421 (Sep 10, 2004)

With both my boys labor started out with me feeling the same exact cramps I get when my period comes. Then I started noticing "squeezing" feelings in my stomach which were real contractions. I never felt like contractions were any more painful than exercising until I was in transition. Then it was like when you get a really bad muscle cramp in your leg that won't release. Bearing down and doing little pushes was the only thing that helped. But really, until pushing I describe labor as "not that bad."

I personally HATE pushing and feeling all of that pressure in my butt from the baby's head. It felt like I was going to rip apart and I started tensing up down there trying to fight it which made it worse. I don't think I was able to relax until I felt the ring of fire as the head was coming out and then it was like "ok relax its over just get it out!!!!" If I have any more babies I'm going to really try to work through my fear of my vagina being permanently damaged by birth. I feel like that fear really made me just lock up and tense everything when the time came for both my boys to come out because I was doing great until that point. I know our bodies are made for this but I just can't get past the fear on an emotional level.


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## hazelmama (Nov 2, 2004)

What I was expecting: pain something akin to really bad menstrual cramps centered around my lower abdomen/cervix.

What I experienced: the worst full body menstrual/gas cramps I have ever experienced. Similar to the gall stone attacks I had had in previous years, but coming in waves instead of a constant pain and encompassing my whole torso rather than being isolated to a particular area.

What I was surprised by: how the pain was more of a full body experience rather than isolated to my lower abdomen. (Since I was expecting a variation on menstrual cramps, I unwittingly expected the pain to be located in the same area my pre-pregnant self experienced them, forgetting that my uterus had expanded to fill the majority of my torso.







)


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## brendaziz (Aug 6, 2008)

OK- this is how my sister explained it to me and I found it to be VERY true.

It's like menstrual cramps- but when you're on your period- your uterus is about the size of your fist.
When you're in labor your uterus is HUGE and so it's basically bad menstrual cramps but all over and MUCH more intense.

Mine however- started low when they were light- and then progressively moved all over.

ALSO- don't let anyone tell you that labor should happen a certain way.

Both my boys- i STARTED contractions 2-3 minutes apart from the FIRST contraction. They just progressively got stronger and more painful but were ALWAYS that same distance apart.


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## hollytheteacher (Mar 10, 2007)

For me it felt like the combination of the worst menstural pain PLUS the worst gas pain ROLLED into one while also feeling like being squeezed. LOL But, i should also point out that i had to be semi-induced (misoprostol, and evnetually pitocin). So it's possible they wouldn't have been quite as bad naturally.


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## cristeen (Jan 20, 2007)

It's very interesting how everyone's experience was so different.

I had back labor, so I didn't feel my contractions in the front at all. What it felt like was like I had a really wide belt on around my hips and it was being ratcheted tighter and tighter. It literally felt like my pelvis was being crushed inside this "belt", which I only felt in my back and sides.


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## Coconut Chronicles (Aug 31, 2006)

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## zoeyzoo (Jul 6, 2007)

Early labor felt like menstral cramps to me. Then at some point back labor kicked in (even though dd came out in the perfect position) so it felt like a dull pain in my lower back (but I didn't really feel anything in my front anymore). This is how things felt until transition. Then I got this intense urge to poop but at the same time I felt constipated and could poop. When the baby started moving down and coming out it started to provide relief of the poop urge.

Everything was managable to me too until transition. Luckily it only last about 15 minutes or so until I felt my body pushing the baby out.


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## savithny (Oct 23, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Malva* 
To me it was like bad menstrual cramps. Overall tightening of the uterus with lower back pain radiating from mid-back to my knees. Not sharp at all.

This. Exactly (or nearly so). Didnt' feel a thing in my belly -- midwife had to tell me when contraction was starting.

FWIW, I had awful, awful cramps as a teenager and young adult, and with labor #1 I kept waiting for the pains to get worse than the worst cramps I remember. And they got close, or maybe equal -- but that was the worst of it, and then my water broke and they changed to pushing urge contractions, which did not hurt at all (or felt like the urge to barf, only all focused *down*, so they weren't bread and roses, but it wasn't awful cramps either).


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## francesmama (May 21, 2005)

FWIW I was induced.

For me, the sensation of a contraction started in my vagina/inner thighs and radiated up along the crease of the top of my legs. It felt like pressure that built and built with each contraction so that eventually it was an overwhelming, all encompassing pressure. It also included a searing pain in my hip flexors. As I progressed, all I could feel was the cramping hip flexors. As a result I HATED the tub because how I sat seemed to aggravate the hip flexors.

I also felt like my vagina was going to rip open (not during pushing) but during the walking around stages of labour. So the thought of squatting ... (shudder).

I had no sensation at all in my abdominal area.

Is that weird or what?

That is also probably the most honestly I have every answered that question. I usually give a vague mention of "pain being the wrong word" and say "it's more work than pain."


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## Ydolem (Jan 17, 2009)

Hmmmmm, I would agree with the intense lower abdomen and back menstrual pain feeling when all of my labors began. Then it turned into my entire abdomen tightening into a tight ball so tight that it felt unreal. More tight than I could have even imagined that my body could create such a thing. But it will come on and you will know it is coming and it will end after each contraction. I can say that if you take each one and get thru them seprately then you can do anything! That is why mother nature sets them apart in the beginning so you can get a grip and find your own way. By the time they are closer and more intense you should have found a way to manage them. Don't give into the fear. It will make it worst. Find a strength that you never knew you had and revel in its finding. That pain you endure and the strength you find is what they refer to as childbirth being a right of passage. That place you find will help you thru motherhood.
Imagine the contractions are an ocean wave or a mountain. They feel like they grow and once you get to that mountain peak or ocean crest, you know they are going and you can relax knowing it is almost over, the pain will start decreasing and you have gotten thru atleast one more crest or over one more mountain peak. Keep strong and remember that each one will bring your babe. The pain means progress and some find it bearable knowing just that. Soon the pain will be a faint memory. Some women on here trying to recall and describe the pain here may have had to stop and try to remember. So, keep in mind that it is a natural pain not trauma and if you can get in your own groove of getting thru the ones the beginning of labor brings then you can get thru the ones that are so close that it feels as if there is no break. Did that make any sense?? LOL
Good Luck!! I am due with number 4 in May can't wait for delivery.........it's not so bad. Look at the outcome!!







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## Harmony08 (Feb 4, 2009)

I believe that there is no way to describe the pain and that is a good thing other wise we would stop having babies. Think about it... if you don't have language to hold on to something, it is harder to remember and harder to describe to others.

I also think that there is tremendous variety in terms of what women feel.

This is just my experience but if I had to describe a contraction (a painful later one, not a beginning wimpy one).....

It starts out like an unbelievably strong menstrual cramp and circles around your body before it escalates into feeling like you have been struck by lightening.

I had an epidural (after 30 hours of this) but when he came out it felt like someone had a pair of scissors on my cjhftofis.

You asked.


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## Harmony08 (Feb 4, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *brendaziz* 
OK- this is how my sister explained it to me and I found it to be VERY true.

It's like menstrual cramps- but when you're on your period- your uterus is about the size of your fist.
When you're in labor your uterus is HUGE and so it's basically bad menstrual cramps but all over and MUCH more intense.

Mine however- started low when they were light- and then progressively moved all over.

*ALSO- don't let anyone tell you that labor should happen a certain way.

Both my boys- i STARTED contractions 2-3 minutes apart from the FIRST contraction. They just progressively got stronger and more painful but were ALWAYS that same distance apart.*

*
*

and mine were NEVER 2-3 minutes apart until the very very end...maybe.


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