# What hurt more than labor for you?



## oregongirlie (Mar 14, 2006)

I'll be having my first in November and am trying to frame my expectations based on previous experience. Have you had pain worse than labor?

I've had migraines so bad I can't really move or talk, period cramps with endometriosis (a few times with vomiting, unable to walk or talk, lying on the bathroom floor, getting all white shaky and clammy







), laparoscopy (abdominal surgery), and an ear infection that ruptured the eardrum.

The midwife said that having dealt with pain in the past is helpful, but It's so hard to know what IS painful. I mean, my "7" could be someone elses "5" or "9"...


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## Mama Dragon (Dec 5, 2005)

My migraines are worse then normal labor (back labor is the worst pain I've experienced, and I didn't know that I had options to move the baby to get rid of the pain). I've had each lung collapse 10-30% and that pain was worse. I think I have IBS and some of the gas pains I get are 10x worse then labor.


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## scatterbrainedmom (May 31, 2005)

getting my nose pierced hurt as bad a labor. pushing felt great for me. I actually don'r remember them hurting AT ALL. looking at the video they did lol, but you forget it. now the actual contrax hurt like hell. I had 2 hosp epidural births before my home birth and I am a BIG BIG sissy with pain. I cry when I pluck my eybrows. If you are comfortable where you labor it is so much easier.


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## littleteapot (Sep 18, 2003)

Two labours: one 44 hours of *hard* labour, posterior and maternal exhaustion; one 2.5 hours of "hard" labour.

Things that hurt worse?
Migraines
Unmedicated wisdom tooth extraction
The first week of c-section recovery. I'd do 44 hours of hard labour twice over to avoid a c-section again.
Waking up in the recovery room 45 minutes after a c-section without *any* pain medication.
Injuring my pelvis during my first pregnancy with the daughter so badly that I couldn't even go to the bathroom by myself for a month.


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## Lizzardbits (Jan 21, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *oregongirlie*
I've had migraines so bad I can't really move or talk, period cramps with endometriosis (a few times with vomiting, unable to walk or talk, lying on the bathroom floor, getting all white shaky and clammy







), laparoscopy (abdominal surgery), and an ear infection that ruptured the eardrum.

I would rather go through labor than those ^^^ pains. At least with labor you have time in between ctx and the intensity increases and then most importantly Decreases.

I have had severe lower back pain that makes breathing difficult and the pain was constant no matter which way i moved. With labor, during ctx, you can find positions, or techniques that help to decrease pain.


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## clavicula (Apr 10, 2005)

kidney biopsy. lidocaine just didn't work! i felt terrible.
pushing hurts like hell, but you are in euphoria and it changes everything.


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## philomom (Sep 12, 2004)

Kidney stones. Good golly, I could have three or four babies naturally and not add up to that pain.


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## littleteapot (Sep 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Lizzardbits*
I would rather go through labor than those ^^^ pains. At least with labor you have time in between ctx and the intensity increases and then most importantly Decreases.

Exactly!!!
Also, there's a prize at the end. With things like endometriosis cramps, migraines or surgery... you have nothing. It's just pain for NO REASON!!


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## bobandjess99 (Aug 1, 2005)

There was just a thread like this not too long ago....it got pretty big, you might try looking for it........

But for me, NOTHING on earth was ever one percent as bad as labor.

I get migraines, i get ovarian cysts, i get horrible PMS, i have had my wrist smashed(broken in like 5 places), been in a motorcycle wreck resulting in a horrible burn and road pizza on my leg, had all 4 of my wisdom teeth out at once.......all of these lumped together were a tiny fraction of even one contraction. Labor was HECK for me.

And for me, there was no "high" no "euphoria" no solace at all...."pain with a purpose" my patootie!!!!
I ended up with horrible PTSD for about a year after dd was born.......


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## grace's voice (May 12, 2005)

I don't think you can really compare... I mean, labor is an aweful kind of hurt... but its a "natural" pain, a productive pain, I don't know of anything else that produces that "type" of pain. It was HARD pain, like I was being driven fiercly into the ground. It was just too different to compare it to the many other intense pains I've felt.

I will say this though, for me, recovery and breastfeeding were harder than labor, and there was a lot of pain involved there... but that doesn't really help does it?


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## grace's voice (May 12, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *littleteapot*
Exactly!!!
Also, there's a prize at the end. With things like endometriosis cramps, migraines or surgery... you have nothing. It's just pain for NO REASON!!

Unless you reward yourself with chocolate... okay, I know it doesn't help the situation, but it makes me feel better.


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## Nathan1097 (Nov 20, 2001)

I have had stomach aches, food poisoning, intestinal infection... LOTS of things are worse than labor! And anyway... you get a baby at the end of labor.







Natural labor for me - without pain drugs- was much more physically rewarding than with an epidural or spinal. (I had one of each - had 3 kids!)


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## Nathan1097 (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bobandjess99*

And for me, there was no "high" no "euphoria" no solace at all...."pain with a purpose" my patootie!!!!
I ended up with horrible PTSD for about a year after dd was born.......

No? I always assumed that my euphoria and physical high after my son was born without pain meds was due to natural pain killers in my body and that everybody would get them. It was an out-of-body experience. A deeply medatative state, if you will.


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## littleteapot (Sep 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Nathan1097*
No? I always assumed that my euphoria and physical high after my son was born without pain meds was due to natural pain killers in my body and that everybody would get them. It was an out-of-body experience. A deeply medatative state, if you will.

It is.
However, intense fear can prevent that from happening. If you psyche yourself up, or you get too "into" the pain, don't work with it, don't respect it, fear it.... etc. You're not going to get that.


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## AmandaBL (Aug 3, 2004)

Ovarian Cyst Torsion. Not fun.


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## Patchfire (Dec 11, 2001)

Gallbladder 'attacks'/gallstones. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.


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## Guest* (Aug 5, 2004)

For me, migraines, the flu, and food poisoning are WAY WORSE than labor. Labor was very manageable, with only the last couple of hours making me feel out of control.


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## sevenkids (Dec 16, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *littleteapot*
It is.
However, intense fear can prevent that from happening. If you psyche yourself up, or you get too "into" the pain, don't work with it, don't respect it, fear it.... etc. You're not going to get that.


And sometimes, it just hurts like a b!tch. My 5th birth was horribly painful, after 4 very easy, very fast births, one completely painless. I had no fear. I had discovered the secret to painless birth! Until my fifth, when I tried to bash my head against the wall to knock myself out. There was no euphoria, I barely wanted to hold him after.

I still had 2 more babies after that, but I will NEVER, I mean NEVER, get my eyebrows waxed again! I was traumatized after the first time, the pain lasted for days.


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## littleteapot (Sep 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sevenkids*
And sometimes, it just hurts like a b!tch. My 5th birth was horribly painful, after 4 very easy, very fast births, one completely painless. I had no fear. I had discovered the secret to painless birth! Until my fifth, when I tried to bash my head against the wall to knock myself out. There was no euphoria, I barely wanted to hold him after.

By no means do I intend to imply that birth is painless for everyone.

However, "Until my fifth, when I tried to bash my head against the wall to knock myself out" -
It doesn't seem like you handled it very well.







Could it be that you were mentally unprepared for a higher level of pain, having had so many easy labours, and therefore didn't have adequate coping skills?

My first was incredibly difficult, my second labour was practically non-existant. However, even though my first hurt a LOT I still wouldn't call it the worst pain or anything... pain is literally in your head, and in our heads is where we deal with it.


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## nichole (Feb 9, 2004)

food poisoning was wayyyy worse than contractions

pushing kinda sucked but it didnt last long

why oh why get dental work done without meds? i'm just gonna assume you are joking.


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## littleteapot (Sep 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nichole*
why oh why get dental work done without meds? i'm just gonna assume you are joking.

Didn't do it on purpose, and I'm not joking.


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## sevenkids (Dec 16, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *littleteapot*
By no means do I intend to imply that birth is painless for everyone.

However, "Until my fifth, when I tried to bash my head against the wall to knock myself out" -
*It doesn't seem like you handled it very well.







Could it be that you were mentally unprepared for a higher level of pain, having had so many easy labours, and therefore didn't have adequate coping skills?*











No, it had to do with a posterior, military presentation, 9 1/2 pound baby with a 15.5" head and a fractured coccyx after 5 1/2 hours of pushing. Nothing to do with the state of my mind and everything to do with the state of my butt.


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## littleteapot (Sep 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sevenkids*









No, it had to do with a posterior, military presentation, 9 1/2 pound baby with a 15.5" head and a fractured coccyx after 5 1/2 hours of pushing. Nothing to do with the state of my mind and everything to do with the state of my butt.

I see! Special circumstances.


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## OnTheBrink (Jan 24, 2004)

The early part of labor wasn't bad. It was actually exciting and enjoyable. But on the third day... I was sick of it and it hurt like crazy! Transition is horrid!

I had a cesarean with my first and the recovery from that was much easier than labor, birth, or recovery from my VBAC.


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## kyangel80 (Oct 5, 2005)

I didn't read this entire thread yet. I have always been able to compare labor with other pain that I have had, just not the duration or intensity, if that makes sense. For me the contractions were the worst part. The pushing burned, like rug burn, or intense warm feeling. Indian burn, if you know what that is. I know this is tmi, but I removed a dry tampon the other day and it felt like pushing out my daughter.







That same familiar burning sensation. The contractions for me were like menstral cramps that hurt my entire body, meaning the pain started in abdomen and over took my whole body with pain. I hope you are a lucky momma who has very little pain b/c some peopl do have less pain than others. Just be prepared for the sensations when you push, I think most ppl are familiar with the labor pains b/c they have had menstrual cramps, but I find most are not familiar with what it will feel like to push.


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## Bartock (Feb 2, 2006)

nak
nothing so far in my life has hurt more than labor, but now that i said that something prob will lol


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## OnTheBrink (Jan 24, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kyangel80*
I think most ppl are familiar with the labor pains b/c they have had menstrual cramps, but I find most are not familiar with what it will feel like to push.

I think that the labor pains were similar to menstrual cramps, but so much worse! But - I have extremely mild and gentle periods, so maybe that's it. Pushing sucked. The "ring of fire" you hear about, though - not so bad. Kind of felt like really chapped lips.


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## hipem (Jul 13, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sevenkids*









No, it had to do with a posterior, military presentation, 9 1/2 pound baby with a 15.5" head and a fractured coccyx after 5 1/2 hours of pushing. Nothing to do with the state of my mind and everything to do with the state of my butt.

I hear that, mama. I guess if you went on to have 2 more your back healed. OP labors and (especially) OP deliveries are intense and I think beyond comparable to normal presentations.


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## faeriewisp (Mar 13, 2005)

CLimbing Long's Peak in CO hurt more/was harder work than my labor. It wassomething like 17 miles round trip. We had to start at 3am. I was out of shape. DIdn't stop. Got back down at 8pm.

THe contractions during my homebirth hurt far less than the contractions in my first birth, which were pitocin induced.


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## mamanurse (Jan 22, 2006)

I had hip pain during the third trimester that felt terrible, especially at night. After I gave birth naturally, I BEGGED for narcotics for my hip pain. They hurt even worse after dd was born. Who knew I would want percoset after delivery, but no drugs during?


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## georgia (Jan 12, 2003)

sevenkids and i both have similar experiences. we've even PMed after i birthed my third







posterior babies w/military presentations and large babes. i'm just glad i was at home is all i can say









having my nose pierced didn't hurt me AT ALL. what did hurt is when my three year old ripped out my nose ring yesterday with his binoculars. he pushed them at me to look through, then grabbed them away just as quickly---and took my nose ring with it.

i almost passed out. it hurt so bad.

as far as "normal" labor, having dental work done with 2 raw, exposed tooth nerves and an incorrect (read worthless) anesthetic was far, far, far worse than any labor pains.


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## lacysmommy (Nov 10, 2004)

UTI's hurt more than labor for me (and I had a posterior baby so it was all back labor-- ugh!). Of course the UTI I am thinking of led me to a long recovery which included two seperate surgeries (and one was major abdominal). I also had some very ineffective pain meds so for a while I was recovering from surgery without pain killers. That was awful.

And this is probably TMI but... the other week I had to go poop but I was about to pick up my little girl so I thought holding it for 45 minutes wouldn't be so bad. I was mistaken! I got to the pick up point and I was in so much pain I couldn't walk or talk. I told my mom to take me to the nearest bathroom, and that I couldn't do anything until this stupid poo was out of me! Once it was out I felt better, but it hurt WAY worse than I remember labor being! Of course you have those nice endorphins when you go into labor.

OK, I'm sorry mamas, that was really waaaaay TMI. But it hurt bad!


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## crazy_eights (Nov 22, 2001)

Broken leg. Then getting it 'reduced' (having people pull your leg in two seperate directions until the ends of the bone approximate again) WITH NO MEDS. Doctor was a sadist. One of my mother's friends told me 'if you survived that without killing someone, you'll have no problem with childbirth'. Thank G-d she was right.

I had a baby that was malpresenting in early labor causing nerve pain in my hip (not contractions) that was way worse than any labor.


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## Mama2Xander (Jul 3, 2004)

I've had food poisoning that was much worse. To be honest I really didn't find labour all that painful, more like "intense". For me the sensation was very similar to getting trigger points worked on by a massage therapist - that very visceral kind of pain.

Dh and I went on a 5 day long backpacking trip several years ago that was much, much harder work than labour.


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## CrazyCatLady (Aug 17, 2004)

The one time I had a real leg cramp. That hurt way more than my natural labor did.


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## nichole (Feb 9, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *littleteapot*
Didn't do it on purpose, and I'm not joking.










omg i am so sorry. that is awful.


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## mothragirl (Sep 10, 2005)

my labor hurt a lot (baby was OP) but it wasn't too bad. to me labor was like exercising really really hard and not being able to stop. the lack of control was harder to deal with than the pain.


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## Belle (Feb 6, 2005)

I hurt my knee the summer before we started TTC. That was the worst pain in the world. I had a large wooden box fall on my leg in the storage room at work. I thought for sure that I had broken my leg. Turns out I didn't. I screamed very loudly and involuntarily. No one heard me. About 10 minutes later I limped to our office.

Labor was a breeze compared with that. With labor I got breaks from the pain.


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## boscopup (Jul 15, 2005)

1) Anesthetic injected into the tip of my big toe for surgery. I can still REMEMBER what that felt like, and my toe hurts just thinking about it (like right now when I type about it!). I can't remember the pain of childbirth like that. I'd much rather go through childbirth again than to have that shot in my big toe. Ouch.

2) Constipation cramping at night during pregnancy. Last preg, I got them alot because of the prenatals I took in the first trimester - the ferrous sulfate in them. Yucky stuff. I'd be in the bathroom near passing out from pain in my abdomen. It hasn't been that bad this preg, but the other night, I got a pain that started at my side, and then ran around to my back. It was very brief, but it was enough that again, I was almost to the point of passing out. It was also due to constipation (although the next morning, I'm usually able to easily "release the load", so to speak







)

For me, the labor itself wasn't too bad. It was when I hit transition that I finally started thinking "I can't do this anymore", but then I felt the urge to push, and the contraction pain went away. During pushing, the ring of fire hurt like anything, but I can't remember what it felt like now. I just know that after the birth, when my DH mentioned having more kids (as I'm being wheeled out of the LDR), I was thinking "NEVER AGAIN", but didn't say it. I've obviously changed my mind, since I can't remember what that ring of fire feels like.







I also think I probably wouldn't have had that feeling had I been holding my baby, but instead, he was whisked away to the NICU because he was very preterm.

Oh, and actually... I had a 1st degree tear, and getting that stitched up seemed worse at the time than the labor/delivery itself, even though they numbed the area (and I really wasn't feeling it). It took 45 minutes to stitch me, since it was someone learning how to do it.







: I guess it was fear that caused that to be worse for me.


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## grace's voice (May 12, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *OnTheBrink*
I think that the labor pains were similar to menstrual cramps, but so much worse! But - I have extremely mild and gentle periods, so maybe that's it. Pushing sucked. The "ring of fire" you hear about, though - not so bad. Kind of felt like really chapped lips.









Oh man... not for me! It was the most intese buring I've ever felt. It really felt like someone had poured gasoline on my crotch and lit it on fire. That was the only part of labor that was more than I could handle, luckily it passes quickly!


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## charmander (Dec 30, 2003)

My miscarriage. It was the worst pain I've ever felt. I had to have morphine.

Nothing about my 2 subsequent labors could compare to that pain.....


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## MelKnee (Dec 5, 2001)

Pains that were worse than labor for me were -
Passing gallstones
Migraines
Rupture of an ovarian cyst
After pains with my last birth hurt sooo much worse than labor contractions.


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## huggerwocky (Jun 21, 2004)

labor without transition wa sno big deal really.....well, uncomfortable and painful but nothing like an inflamed nerve for example.

But I reached the hospital with transition and had an overall traumatic experience then so I don't think the pain I felt then was a true measure of how it could have been or would be for most women.


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## Je'anna L C (Mar 10, 2006)

I agree c-s recovery was far worse than labour.

But also, when I was labouring at home and could use my voice free and LOUD and be happy in my own sweet home where I felt safe, it was really intense, but not really 'bad', even though I went through almost 24 hours - 9 of them bouncing in and out of transition as baby's head did the yo-yo.

When I had to transfer to hospital and got outside to go to the car and got self-conscious and felt i must keep the noise down for the nieghbours, that was the first contraction that hurt like HELL. Then in the car they were okay even when we went over bumps. Then at the hospital - I hate hospitals, and was also aware of little sleeping babies and exhausted moms I did not want to wake - they were unbearable, unbearable, unbearable

I think for some women it is the other way around - much worse in early labour at home because they have been taught that labour is a dangerous, so find things 'less painful' once at hospital and feeling safe.

But being made to lie on my back for an exam!!!!! HOW do most western women who deliver in hospitals cope with this unnecessary and horrific standardised torture position for their WHOLE labours?

So I think you may want to really feel out and consider:
What are your coping strategies, be they making sound like me, having something visual to focus on, movement, looking into a loved-one's eyes whether in person or photo, looking at a beautiful thing or meaningful spiritual symbol... what? Can you make sure you can use them during labour? If so, all the stuff you mentioned experiencing will be 'worse' than your labour.

If your primal comfort-zone is in any way disrupted, for e.g. an unwelcome MIL arrives, or you can't use your best coping strategies for some reason, or feel in any way prevented/inhibited about letting your body move as it needs to, then labour may be the worst pain of all.

Above all, yes, remember that there are always a finite number of contractions, and each is one less to go, and focus on the breaks in between them - which are longer than the contractions most of the time

Good luck. And even, I hope, "Enjoy!" : )


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## littleteapot (Sep 18, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Je'anna L C*
But being made to lie on my back for an exam!!!!! HOW do most western women who deliver in hospitals cope with this unnecessary and horrific standardised torture position for their WHOLE labours?

I totally agree with this!!!
When I went into labour with my son it was so mild and nonexistant I didn't even know I was in labour. It was SO EASY!! I went into the hospital to find out if I was in preterm labour or not.
After about two hours of waiting around demanding someone check me and confirm what I'd felt (dilation in excess of 6cm and something on my perineum) I finally had someone come in and he lay me flat on my back with my butt kind of inverted up.

OH MY GOD! That hurt like nothing else! I was literally howling in pain! Everyone was telling me to shut up and stop making noise but it was impossible!
I spent 15 minutes flat on my back being run upstairs and it was the *worst* labour pain I'd ever felt. By a hundred times. I can't believe women birth that way. I've done posterior presentation AND posterior breech presentation labour, I've given birth to a baby with a head in the 95th percentile with her hand up over her cheek - those were way easier than 15 minutes of that!


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## brown eyed girls (Jan 2, 2006)

Oh! Fun thread! Reminds me of Billy Crystal's character on Saturday Night Live, "you know what I hate? when you stick a needle under your toe nail and kick the wall..." "Yeah... I hate that...." (Ok, did I just TOTALLY date myself? How many of you have NO IDEA what I'm talking about????)

What hurt worse than childbirth for me>
hands down.... gall bladder attack.

But someone mentioned leg cramp-- I was pushing out my 2nd child-- with legs in stirrups, he was breech and 9 lbs 8 oz with a 15.5" head. He was halfway out of my body, the doctor had his hand up my r*ctum trying to put counterpressure on baby's head (apparently this doc had never read the headsup.com site).... and as all this was happening, you hear me whine on the video "OH! I'm having a leg cramp! Get my legs down! Cramp!"

So apparentlly, a leg cramp hurts more than pushing out a 9 1/2 lb breech baby while having a man's hand shoved up your *ss.


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## lola731 (Apr 8, 2005)

This darn sinus infection I've had for over a month! The pressure has been so painful I've been in tears...even told my midwife I'd rather be in labor! I couldn't sleep, my teeth hurt, it felt like I had 2 black eyes, and it did not go away until just a few days ago!

And I had 2 OP babies/labors; first baby was delivered with forceps, had a 38 cm. head, weighed 9 lbs., and I had preeclampsia, so I was on mag. sulfate...I literally couldn't even walk for a week after delivery.

But the sinus infection was worse than all that. It's not purposeful pain.

Carrie, mama to Jake and Lola and surprise baby #3 due in August


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## Lizzardbits (Jan 21, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *brown eyed girls*
So apparentlly, a leg cramp hurts more than pushing out a 9 1/2 lb breech baby while having a man's hand shoved up your *ss.

OOo Dang! While i was reading this, I was clenching my butt involutarily! AKKKK! I think I need to go lie down now........


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## courtenay_e (Sep 1, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *oregongirlie*
I've had migraines so bad I can't really move or talk, period cramps with endometriosis (a few times with vomiting, unable to walk or talk, lying on the bathroom floor, getting all white shaky and clammy







), laparoscopy (abdominal surgery),

I've had both of these, and labor is nowhere near as bad as those period cramps, IMO. It has an ebb and flow that you never get with cramps like that. There's a start a high point, and an end...it doesn't just keep going and going and going. My aunt and I both agree (we're the two who had the worst endometriosis and ovarian cycst during periods pain) that experiencing that kind of pain just made labor so much easier. Now, that's not to say that it's not hard WORK, it's just nothing compared to the never ending all encompassing puke your guts up pain that I had with periods. Nothing like. I've had nasty migranes, but I class that as a different type of pain...


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## grisaleen (May 14, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *brown eyed girls*
So apparentlly, a leg cramp hurts more than pushing out a 9 1/2 lb breech baby while having a man's hand shoved up your *ss.

Absolutely hilarious.


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## Mavournin (Jul 9, 2002)

What hurt worse than labor?

Having my midwife with my first hold back a stubborn lip of cervix while I pushed. (Okay, that was _in labor_, but I don't really consider it _part of_ labor. Once she stopped doing that, I was fine. The lip went away on it's own too.







: )

The pain after my ovarian removal surgery
Ruptured ovarian cysts
gallstones (while 7 mos. pregnant!)


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## LoveChild421 (Sep 10, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *brown eyed girls*
I was pushing out my 2nd child-- with legs in stirrups, he was breech and 9 lbs 8 oz with a 15.5" head. He was halfway out of my body, the doctor had his hand up my r*ctum trying to put counterpressure on baby's head (apparently this doc had never read the headsup.com site).... and as all this was happening, you hear me whine on the video "OH! I'm having a leg cramp! Get my legs down! Cramp!"

So apparentlly, a leg cramp hurts more than pushing out a 9 1/2 lb breech baby while having a man's hand shoved up your *ss.









must have been some leg cramp!!!


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## starlein26 (Apr 28, 2004)

I've experienced _tons_ of painful things in my life and there was nothing worse than labor for me. It was excrutiating. I remember during transition thinking OMG...this is the worse pain I've ever experienced in my life! But ds was also posterior (major back labor) and I had ctx every minute or two so I was in hell with no break. Oh and my pain tolerance is high so...yikes. I'm hoping for an anterior baby next time.


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## Emilie (Dec 23, 2003)

the flu--- so much worse.


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## wrzos (Jan 15, 2005)

The pain of internal bleeding (at the site and referred pain) immediately prior to my laprascopy for an ectopic pregnancy. I remember afterwards saying I would go through labor every day of the week if only I never had to hurt like that again....


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## OMama (Feb 18, 2005)

Wow. People had some interesting things to compare with labor pain. Ouch to most of them!

I remember wondering this same thing before giving birth -- I know all of us, especially those who want to have "natural births" do. What really helped me mentally in preparing for birth and during the whole experience was the way I thought about it. I had read several resources and talked to women who had very positive birth experiences. I didn't listen to other people's horror stories and I limited other information (i.e. we didn't even go to the session at the hospital on C-sections or pain meds). I tried to just surround myself with with positive information and thoughts about birth. I was distressed when we were at one of the classes at the hospital and everyone was talking about how incredibly painful birth was going to be. I really thought it wasn't a very useful way of going into the experience. Another big part of my/our preparation was that DH and I took a hypnobirthing class and even though my experience wasn't exactly like what we saw on the videos (I wasn't quiet during the process -- oh, I guess that is another thing I DON'T have in common with Katie Holmes)







, I truly got the wonderful birth experience that I wanted and wouldn't have changed a thing. A large part of the hypnobirthing class was focused on how to deal with "pain" during labor and to think of contractions as "surges" instead. I know it sounds cheesy, but for me it totally worked. I didn't fight the "pain." I wasn't scared of it. I just let it happen and flow through me and it made all the difference at least for me. Birth is such a subjective experience and it will be interesting to see what it is like this next time around, but honestly I'm looking forward to it. When I think back about the day my DD was born (two years ago next week) pain is the last word that comes to mind. Labor is not a pain like any other. For me it was a singular experience that can't adequately be compared to anything else. There truly is nothing else like it and I feel so fortunate that I got to experience it. I think it is by far one of the best things about being a female human.


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## klondikesky (May 27, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *brown eyed girls*
"OH! I'm having a leg cramp! Get my legs down! Cramp!"

So apparentlly, a leg cramp hurts more than pushing out a 9 1/2 lb breech baby while having a man's hand shoved up your *ss.









:


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## klondikesky (May 27, 2004)

Back to the original question...

Broken collarbone. A basketball injury. 10 weeks of recovery hell. Couldn't shave my underarms, so boils came up where the hairs turned in from the rubbing of the figure eight brace.

That year of fibromyalgia before dd1 was born (neverending muscular pain, torn muscle under the shoulder blade that couldn't heal, and insomnia in my case).

Breastfeeding dd1 for the first 14 weeks. Within an hour of her birth she had bitten me so hard I had four welts, two on each areola. Then spent two weeks spitting up the blood she was getting from my severely cracked nipples. From there I had pretty much the entire chapter on 'breastfeeding problems' in rounds until she grew big enough to latch on a little better. She was always a viscious nursling, I just didn't realize how much until dd2 came along!

I would say that my labors were both 'normal' as far as pain. No cakewalk, but no pitocin or back labor, either. And no meds during childbirth.


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## Kirsten (Mar 19, 2002)

Oh, lots of things hurt worse. But I didn't really perceive it as pain. I agree with those who say a lot of it is your attitude, expectations, feeling safe, etc. I have had three kids completely natural, only first one in hospital, third one was born posterior at home.

Let's see... what hurts worse than labor...

gas pains
leg cramps
burning your finger (DEFINITELY)

Barring weird circumstances, I think that understanding what is happening to you, having a variety of ways to deal with it naturally, HONESTLY having a positive attitude about labor and birth and your ability to get through it just fine, lack of fear, good support system, reading "good" birth stories and talking to people who have had positive experiences, taking Bradley classes, reading "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way" by Susan McCutcheon, drinking plenty of water during pregnancy and labor, keep moving during labor (I walked and walked and walked between contractions), sit well during pregnancy (NO recliners!!!!!!!!!!!), practice relaxation - this was KEY for me!

Really, truly, honestly - for me - contractions felt like menstrual cramps. When I went TOTALLY limp (I mean your head hanging down and your gut hanging down and dh holding you up as if you were passed out and spit coming out of the corner of your mouth kind of relaxed), it really was very easy to handle.

Think of the contractions not as pain, but as muscles working. That is the truth of what is happening. Do you cry and scream and beg for an epidural when you are forced to run around the track eight times in high school PE? No. It hurts; your muscles ache; it is not the most comfortable thing. But it is not "I want to die" pain. Just decide - DECIDE - that you are going to do this; you are going to find that groove and work with your body, not against it. If you are fearful and expecting pain, then you will unconciously be tensing up various parts of your body. This causes pain. Do not make fists or cling to the bed rail or squeeze your dh's hand. Relax. Close your eyes. Go limp. Chant (it sounds really funny as your mouth is supposed to be really relaxed too so it sounds like you're drunk) "muscles working" or "loose, loose, loose" or "open, open, open" slowly and over and over.

It is really doable! And I am the biggest wimp of all time - cry when I have blood drawn.


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## Mama Dragon (Dec 5, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *brown eyed girls*
Oh! Fun thread! Reminds me of Billy Crystal's character on Saturday Night Live, "you know what I hate? when you stick a needle under your toe nail and kick the wall..." "Yeah... I hate that...." (Ok, did I just TOTALLY date myself? How many of you have NO IDEA what I'm talking about????)

What hurt worse than childbirth for me>
hands down.... gall bladder attack.

But someone mentioned leg cramp-- I was pushing out my 2nd child-- with legs in stirrups, he was breech and 9 lbs 8 oz with a 15.5" head. He was halfway out of my body, the doctor had his hand up my r*ctum trying to put counterpressure on baby's head (apparently this doc had never read the headsup.com site).... and as all this was happening, you hear me whine on the video "OH! I'm having a leg cramp! Get my legs down! Cramp!"

So apparentlly, a leg cramp hurts more than pushing out a 9 1/2 lb breech baby while having a man's hand shoved up your *ss.

I am so sorry for laughing, but I think I hurt myself from doing so, so hard.







:


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## saritabeth (Jun 25, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *oregongirlie*
I'll be having my first in November and am trying to frame my expectations based on previous experience. Have you had pain worse than labor?

I've had migraines so bad I can't really move or talk, period cramps with endometriosis (a few times with vomiting, unable to walk or talk, lying on the bathroom floor, getting all white shaky and clammy







), laparoscopy (abdominal surgery), and an ear infection that ruptured the eardrum.

The midwife said that having dealt with pain in the past is helpful, but It's so hard to know what IS painful. I mean, my "7" could be someone elses "5" or "9"...


Okay, I havent read the thread...just your post. I am a fellow migraine sufferer. During my labor I said that I would do this 4 times a week in place of a migraine.

You get a break between contractions and a baby at the end. A migraine has no end in sight ever.

You can do it!!!!!! Way way less painful than a migraine


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## papayapetunia (Feb 6, 2006)

Nothing hurt worse for me, although I had a pretty uneventful labor. I also don't get migraines and I've never had any major medical problems, not even a broken limb, so...

I just sort of went into it knowing it would hurt more than anything, but that it was one day of pain for many years of gain.

Also, I don't know about other people, but when I say I was in labor for 12 hours, 9 of that was spent walking around with a smile on my face. 3 hours were really intense contractions, but it goes by really fast, I think because you're timing the contractions and switching positions and places and stuff. 45 minutes was pushing, which hurt, but my body wouldn't let me not push. I was thinking, "Okay, I'm getting a contraction but I'm not going to push this time. I'm going to take a break." But then I couldn't stop myself from pushing. Then I tore pretty mildly, but it was so quick it was no big deal. I got stiched afterward and I don't think I even felt that. Oh, and I found that delivering the placenta was quite soothing.


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## Nathan1097 (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *papayapetunia*
Then I tore pretty mildly, but it was so quick it was no big deal. I got stiched afterward and I don't think I even felt that. Oh, and I found that delivering the placenta was quite soothing.

I had no pain meds with my 3rd delivery. I know they gave me some lidocaine when they stitched me up, because I remember feeling nothing but tugging until they got to a spot that wasn't numbed. It defintately was pokey and painful, but I was so high on new-baby vibes it didn't bother me.


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## snarfywarning (Dec 11, 2005)

The first poop after birth







:

But that wont help you. Hmm. Sorry!


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## coloradoalice (Oct 12, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Patchfire*
Gallbladder 'attacks'/gallstones. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.









:

I had gallstones about 10 days after the birth of my son. The pain of labor was still fresh. The gallstone pain was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy worse.


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## grace's voice (May 12, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Nathan1097*
I had no pain meds with my 3rd delivery. I know they gave me some lidocaine when they stitched me up, because I remember feeling nothing but tugging until they got to a spot that wasn't numbed. It defintately was pokey and painful, but I was so high on new-baby vibes it didn't bother me.


I totally felt my stitches... I don't think my midwife really believed me. All I could do was just look at my baby and cringe through it. That was such a WRONG and pokey feeling!


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## shooflymama (May 23, 2005)

I unexpectedly had to spent 11 hours alone in the airport and then on a medium-length plane ride with my crawling baby and our stuff. By the time I got home, I fell into bed utterly exhausted, arms burning with pain. I told my husband the day had been worse than labor and for me it definitely was!


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## my4magpies (Mar 24, 2006)

to be honest, labor was like dying a slow, torturous death for me...I never fully dialate to a 10, so my midwife had to hold my cervix open with her hand (







: ) for the last few hours of labor...but...my son threw a book (one of those chubby hard backed baby ones) at my hubby (meaning to be "playful") while DH and I were "wrestling" on the floor, and it smashed the bridge of my nose and shattered it!! I was4 mos preg with my last baby and could not get any pain meds...THAT was almost as painful as giving birth!!!! If I had to pick one pain over the other...I don't know which pain I'd chose!!


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## tamagotchi (Oct 16, 2005)

Well, my labor pains were my worst pains ever, and I screamed the entire time. At first I was trying not to scream so much, trying to breathe, trying to relax, trying to visualize this that and the other thing, etc., and I was really upset that I wasn't able to control myself somehow. Eventually I just accepted that I was going to be an out-of-control screaming woman, and stopped trying to conquer the pain with mental techniques. After that I just plain screamed, and it hurt just as much, but since I was no longer trying to be a model laboring woman, I didn't mind it so much!


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## tash11 (Mar 12, 2006)

I had a breast reduction. when they pulled out the drainage tubes that was the worst pain I ever remember. and I have had a toe cut off and reattached, my tonsiles out (the recovery on that hurt more then the recovery from birthing), and various biopsies,in addition to the br.

for me the contractions felt like cramps (prolly not as bad as endo though, a friend of mine falls over with endo cramps). between contractions though it was very very peaceful. the crowning hurt, but not as bad as my surgery. really the crowning sensation is best realated to opening your mouth really wide, then pulling at the corners of your mouth with your fingers, feel that streach?


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## joyfilledmomma (Mar 14, 2006)

i was burned (3rd degree) with hot cooking oil (a pan fell off a table and splashed on my leg) and that hurt TONS more than labor!

i have fibroids and during the end of my pregnancy when the baby got bigger she pushed on the fibroids and that hurt more than labor...i remember thinking that i was never going to be able to have a natural birth because just having fibroids hurt so much, but i did!









like some previous posters said, labor really can't be compared to other pain. i really wanted a natural birth and was scared that i wouldn't be able to do it, but it wasn't nearly as horrible as i thought it would be...difficult at times, but not horrible. i remember my midwife laughing right after dd was born when i said "well, i didn't like pushing too much, but overall that wasn't as bad as i thought it would be." can you get into water? i was in water for about 2 hours during the really hard part of my labor and it cut down on the pain big time!


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## Lizzardbits (Jan 21, 2006)

I was reading and posting to a birthstory here, and there is another horrible pain that was brought up that was worse than birth for me and that is SCIATICA! the fire that runs down my back, butt, thigh, shin to burn brightly in my foot and then the inablity to walk right...Yeah, I'll take labor over sciatica any day!


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## amm0406 (Mar 24, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Patchfire*
Gallbladder 'attacks'/gallstones. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Ditto! I had a gallbladder attack and had my gallbladder taken out at 22 weeks with my dd. It was worse than labor because the pain was constant and unrelenting. It definitely 'prepared' me for labor and made it seem like a breeze.


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## shelbean91 (May 11, 2002)

Worse than labor/delivery for me:

Recovering from a c/s w/my 3rd- completely unplanned c/s.

Having dr having to 'manually retrieve the placenta' after he pulled on the cord to deliver it (which I didn't know he was doing) and the cord detached. He put his hand/arm into my uterus to make sure the placenta was completely removed so there was no infection. I'd go through labor/delivery 10 times before having to do that again.

To me, labor/delivery is like a really, really hard workout. You push and push yourself. You wonder if you can make it. It's hard. You want to stop, but you can't/won't. You keep going. It's still hard. But, when it's over, you're SO glad you did it and realize it wasn't all that bad. Yes, it was hard, but it's such an accomplishment.


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## MamaRabbit (May 26, 2005)

Getting food poisoning.

Getting a cyst in my breast drained.

Worst of all - a shot of cortisone in my hip joint.


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## cymbeline (Oct 18, 2005)

I just wanted to say: THANK YOU! What a great thread! As I get closer to birthing my third, I have been more and more nervous. This thread reminded me that the pain I experienced during my first two labors was very short in retrospect (about 1 hr, during transition), and was also exacerbated by intervention and fear.

I have been using the hypnobirthing techniques this time, and then reading this thread, and I am actually excited about laboring! Any pain I might feel is just a reminder that the baby will be here SOON!

OH, and the stomach flu... ugh, much worse than labor. Got it a few years ago, hour upon hour of nausea and vomiting, the shakes, diarrhea at the same time as throwing up was the worst, whole body aches and pains, vomit coming out my nose, couldn't even think about food for days after. I HATE the stomach flu.


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## L'lee (Dec 6, 2005)

Interesting thread! I just had my first birth experience, so I have been thinking about this type of thing from a different perspective than before and looking at the things about labor and newborns with a new eye - it is quite interesting!

Anyhow, I would rather compare labor to something non-medical, because that is how I want to think of it! It may be overused, but I like comparing labor to a marathon (sadly, I have not experienced this so I am working with outside knowledge and what I understand from my sister's experience in a marathon). It is a feat of endurance that you can prepare for, you know approximately when it is going to happen, and there are ways to make it more comfortable (stretches and exercises before hand, learning coping methods and positions for during the birth, choosing the right caregiver and attendants, etc.) A marathon is pretty consistently gruelling, however, and birth allows for some breaks when you REALLY need them. I said to my midwife at some point in labor: "I feel like my body is being pushed just to the point where I almost can't stand it, then it lets go." Her reply: "It will continue to do so, and as it does, your limit will reach farther than it ever has." Boy, was she right. The pushing was very hard, especially toward the end, and at that point I hung onto the fact that my baby was almost in my arms! (My MW reminded me of this periodically, too!) What a motivation! Now, I DO kind of wish I could put him back in for a few hours at night







, but my tiny DS is more than worth the efforts and pain!

Good luck!


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## RockStarMom (Sep 11, 2005)

Morning sickness was much worse than labor for me.

Labor was easier to handle than most pain(for me) because it's easy to control mentally- you know what's happening, you know what your body is doing, you are prepared to handle it, and you know there is a reason for it and an end with a wonderful reward not far off.


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## coco4cloth (Feb 10, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Patchfire*
Gallbladder 'attacks'/gallstones. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I AGREE. I had my gallbladder taken out when my son was 3 weeks old. The gallbladder attacks were worse then labor. Hands down. Thought I was dying.


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## savithny (Oct 23, 2005)

At 12, I had a spell of pain that the ER docs were convinced was appendicitis. I spent several hours curled in a ball moaning. The only reason I didn't have mine out (had classic rebound pain, white blood count, etc) was that the surgeon had to be called in and by the time he got there - I suddenly wasn't in pain.

I compare all pain to that. Labor and delivery weren't even close.

Honestly, with #1, I went into labor and kept waiting for it to get worse than the worst of my period cramps. I did have quite a backache, what with back labor (baby wasn't posterior; I learned in my 2nd labor that I apparently feel contractions mostly in my back), but it didn't get much beyond my worst cramps ever, and the same techniques I learned as a teen and young woman to get me through them helped immensely.


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## gabysmom617 (Nov 26, 2005)

Long before I got pregnant, I took a med that made me INCREDIBLY constipated. But I needed to take the med every day, so I was always looking for ways to help with the constipation, anything from drinking more water to drinking metamucil/eathing metamucil crackers every day.

On one particularly bad stomach day, I took an exlax. I don't know if the dosage was too much for me, combined with the cumulative effects of the meds inside my stomach, or what..

but those stomach/intestine contractions as the exlax worked on emptying my gut were by far worse than what I went through during labor.

i'd rather go through labor any day. at least you get a beautiful little one out of it.


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## G&B'sMama (Mar 25, 2005)

I get migraines and they are so much worse than labor- even my first labor which was a 32 hour long pitocin induction and was pretty exhausting and painful as a result.

My second labor was 100% natural- and I remember being very uncomfortable, I remember wanting to sit in a warm tub to "take the edge off" during transition, but as far a physical pain goes, here is a list of more painful experiences for me:
-gall bladder attack
-bad ear infection where my eardrum burst
-the recovery from having my wisdom teeth removed
-having plastic surgery to fix a scar on my face

Plus, as others have mentioned, contractions in labor may be described as painful, but it isn't pain like other pain. I wish there was a different word for it. When I have had these other pain experiences, the pain was a sign that something was wrong, broken, hurt, it was a warning that I needed to fix and heal a part of my body. Labor didn't feel wrong, especially the natural labor, it felt productive and not worrisome. I guess it is hard to explain.


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## Shell_Ell (Jun 13, 2005)

Nothing. My son was posterior, the labor was long and horrible due to fear and discomfort with my surroundings and the midwives attending. Seriously. Nothing in this world could compare to the pain of labor, for me.


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Okay - I've never pushed a baby out, but I have laboured to 10cm dilation...20+ hours of back labour (not posterior - breech).

Things that hurt worse:
Recovering from my c-section
Tearing a ligament in my knee (hurt worse for about the first 4-5 days)
Dental fillings (I don't get freezing)
The time ds1 hit me in the eye and I saw sparks
Dropping the tailgate from the car on my head
Burning my hand on a hot pot

I get _mild_ migraines, and I'd say they're about on a par with labour. But, I know about bad migraines, as my mom has suffered from them my whole life. I'd take labour over a serious migraine any day!

Labour hurt - no doubt about it - but...I enjoyed the pain. It felt...right - it wasn't pain like when you hurt yourself - it was pain that felt good (weird, huh?)...like the "burn" when you're working out. I want it back!


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## Sharondio (Apr 27, 2002)

I remember having a stomach virus at the same time I had my period. I was cramping, throwing up and having diarrhea. That was *way* worse than labor. At least with labor I got a break in between the pain.

I've had plenty of intestinal bugs that caused cramping worse than labor pains. Oh yeah, and the time I threw out my back? Seriously worse.


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## gabeyho (Sep 24, 2004)

My ds1 was breech and scheduled for a c/s, but as a last ditch effort my ob tried an external cephalic version. This is where you lay down, they grease up your tummy with that ultrasound gel, and then they try to move the baby by grabbing him from the outside with their hands. The ob tried three times on me, and my ds was already so low that we couldn't turn him, but after having been through labor with my dd, I can tell you that the external version was WAY more painful than labor, and if you ever have to have one and they casually offer you some pain meds, TAKE IT. No one told me how much it would hurt.







: Labor and birth, all natural, no problem; external version, no thank you!


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## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

Oh, yeah...my second miscarriage made my labour look like a picnic in the park. The first and third m/c weren't quite as bad, but that second one was just brutally painful. Plus, of course, the miscarriages also had a tremendous amount of emotional pain, which makes it sooooo much harder to cope...


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## midwifetx (Mar 16, 2005)

Oh, yea, food poisioning has to be right up there above labor pain.

The thing about labor pain is that you can't quantify it like regular pain, because it is not ongoing for the most part (on 90seconds off for 3 minutes...give or take) so you get a break. It's not a creshendo, either. It's not like: if it hurts this much (.) at 3cm then it will hurt this much (0) at 10. It gets to a point of difficulty and then doesn't progress much more than that for most women (usually around 6-7cm is as hard as it is going to get) as far as labor is concerned.

Women's perception of pushing is as different as each woman. Some love it and it feels amazing, some hate it and just want it over so they can hold their baby. Either way, it's a relatively short amount of time in your life, and you were born to do it


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## Shell_Ell (Jun 13, 2005)

I just posted in this thread the other day, and then I was looking back at old journals and forgot all about something that hurt worse!

I had my tonsils out in 2002. My mom was taking care of me while I healed, and giving me the wrong dosage of pain meds. She gave me 2 tsp rather than 2 tbsp, so I basically felt everything for two weeks. It was the most horrific experience of my life. I prayed every hour of every day to make the pain stop. I clutched a rosary, even.

Yea. That was WAY worse than labor. At least labor didn't last for weeks at the same intensity.


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## StacyL (May 4, 2004)

I can safely say that I have never experienced a worse kind of pain than the back labor I experienced with my posterior son. It was like I was being electrocuted.

The only other pain I've had that came remotely close to labor was my knee reconstruction surgery/recovery.


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## papayapetunia (Feb 6, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Storm Bride*
Okay - I've never pushed a baby out, but I have laboured to 10cm dilation...20+ hours of back labour (not posterior - breech).

THAT was the "labor" part to me. I expected the pushing to be the hard part, but the pushing out was a piece of cake compared to the contractions that lead to dilation.


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## grace's voice (May 12, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *papayapetunia*
THAT was the "labor" part to me. I expected the pushing to be the hard part, but the pushing out was a piece of cake compared to the contractions that lead to dilation.









It was the exact opposite for me! I could have labored much longer, even though it was intense and exhausting... but pushing was horrible. It just felt akward and wrong and I couldn't get into the momentum of it, not to mention the buring which is by far the worst pain I've ever felt. Its amazing how different it is for each of us.


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## myjulybabes (Jun 24, 2003)

I think how much labor hurts depends on sooooo many things. Your mental state, your position, baby's position, your own pain tolerance, whether or not you were induced, etc.

That said, I have a very low pain tolerance, and I had hospital births where I couldn't move as much as I would have liked, and there isn't much in my life that compares to labor, esp. induced labor. I think a badly broken ankle, and healing from an episiotomy (avoid that mess at all costs!) were the only things worse. C-section was comparable in the intensity of the pain, but it was more localized, which I personally found easier to deal with. Wouldn't opt for an elective section to avoid labor, trust me, but that was my experience of just the pain aspect.


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## kawa kamuri (Apr 19, 2006)

for me nothing hurt worse.


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## PinksMommy (May 31, 2005)

PIT CONTRACTIONS! Hands down, labor was breezy until the f***ing nurses decided I wasn't doing it fast enough.

Appendicitis in the ER for nearly 24 hours before a proper diagnosis.

Dental work with ineffective anasthetic.

Food poisoning.

Gas/constipation pains in postpartum recovery. Never had them before, didn't know what it was, and was terrified and ended up doubled over and falling out of the shower and couldn't move.


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## Lucysmama (Apr 29, 2003)

I don't think anything has hurt so bad as the revved-up-on-tons-of-Pitocin labor I had with my dd. But, that's not "real labor pain", IMO - it has been enhanced.

Have you ever had really bad diarrhea, where you are cramping and doubled over and in a cold sweat? IMO, that is what hard labor is like.


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## zksgreen (Mar 23, 2006)

I had a horrible back labor that lasted for 32 hours and ended in emergency cesearean. The first 25 hours of labor were fun, productive, hard work and a challange. The last 7 hours of labor were hell. Up until then nothing had hurt as bad, and I had had my big toenail ripped off 3 weeks before. Labor was worse.

UNTIL, they botched the epidural they gave me before the cesearean. A spinal headache is worse than labor. I have migraines, and a spinal headache is worse by far than a migraine. Imagine feeling your brain bang against your skull.

I only share this because I was really mad after my labor that EVERYONE I had talked to sugar coated how badly it was going to hurt, hiding it behind euphamisms like intense. Even my bradly instructor had sugar coated it. After I gave birth, woman would say conspiratorialy to me, about how bad it was, but never while I was pregnant. This didn't give me time to prepare for how bad it was.

So, I would do anything at all to avoid another epidural and chance another two week long spinal headache, because even malpresented back labor and your midwife pulling a lip is not as bad as a spinal headache.


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## Ammaarah (May 21, 2005)

My impacted wisdom teeth hurt a million times worse than labor. I had a c-section with spotty anesthesia and that hurt much worse than labor pains.

And sciatica during my seventh month hurt much worse than labor.


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## mary3mama (Apr 2, 2004)

*Classic migraines* (the one's where half your body goes numb and you're sure you're having a stroke)

*Double ear infection and the flu while taking the ACT*

*Recovery from a c/s*

*Having a &&*&%%$$ good-for-nothing OB try to force my cervix from 7-10cm manually*
*
pitocin contractions after amniotomy*


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## ZeldasMom (Sep 25, 2004)

I don't know if I would say it _hurt_ , but mastitus was definitely worse than labor for me. I was violently ill (the sickest I've ever been) and in pain for a week.


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## Alexander's Mommy (Jun 4, 2005)

Aack... don't scare the OP! Labour pain is good... it's productive pain. I coped really well with it. Pushing was uncomfortable but your body does it for you so in a weird way it feels really good --- in fact, it felt good for 4 hours .







:

Most painful... the "freaking" vacuum they used to try and help my son come out... and the subsequent stomach pain after I tried to get out of bed after the c-section.

if you have a birth with very minimal interventions, you'll do great! Good luck!

Also, a few years ago I bent over and picked something up (wrong) and did something to my back so that every step I took I got these insane back spasms. That was much worse than labour.


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## FitMama (Jul 20, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Lizzardbits*
I was reading and posting to a birthstory here, and there is another horrible pain that was brought up that was worse than birth for me and that is SCIATICA! the fire that runs down my back, butt, thigh, shin to burn brightly in my foot and then the inablity to walk right...Yeah, I'll take labor over sciatica any day!

I hear ya momma. I've been suffering from Sciatica condition for the last year, since I was pg with DS2, in fact. I'm getting to the point where I can hardly take it. I'm nauseated with pain, and I have to walk dragging my foot along because the nerve is rendering my left side useless. It sucks!

What tops all for me is the pain following a cystoscopy. This is where they fill your bladder with sterile water, then insert a little scope through your urethra to look around for abnormalities. For about 48 hours following, I BURNED from the opening of my urethra to the base of my spine. I passed little clots in my urine...OW! After that, I knew I could handle drug free labors, and I have!


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## grumpyshoegirl (Mar 2, 2006)

Believe it or not, I've had migraines that are worse than labor was for me. And I was on pit for two days! I never did make it to transition or pushing, though, just four days of contractions, so maybe the perineal burning would have been worse than my worst migraines.

For me, the difference really was mental. With every contraction, I got through it by knowing it would end in a minute or a few, and that it was productive pain (turns out I was wrong about the productive part-- but that's another story) and thinking HARD about my baby. With the worst migraines, it's like contractions in my head, with no ups and downs and no end in sight. The ONLY conventional medicine I take is for migraines-- I knock myself out with Tylenol PM in addition to hot showers and the rest.


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## babygrant (Mar 10, 2005)

NOTHING has ever hurt me more than labor.

With my 1st son I was only in labor 2 hours 20 minutes and I went from no contractions to intense contractions 1 minute apart lasting 45 seconds. I had no time to transition into the harder contractions.

With my 2nd son I was only in labor for a little under 3 hours. My water broke at 1:30, had my first contraction around 2:40 am and from that point on it felt like my back was going to split in half. The nurse in the hospital told me just to lay on my back. Didn't suggest any other positions or anything. Well my son came out face up so no wonder it hurt so bad. 3 hours of back labor laying in a hospital bed on my back!!! OUCH.

Both labors were non-medicated.


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