Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Unbearable. No breathing in the WORLD worked for me. I thought i was going to pass out from the pain. They started fast and hard right from the beginning. They were 2 minutes apart one hour into it and by the time I got the hospital I was 4 cm and jumped to 9 in a 2 hour span. for the epidural!!!!

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Hey Tara..............as you know I didn't labor long since I had a C-section however, I was contracting A LOT until my surgery. As soon as my water broke I started contracting and they were uncomfortable but I would say bearable with breathing. I don't know how bad they would've been had I labored long but in the early stages while they were uncomfortable they were tolerable.

Can't wait to see you on Sunday!!!

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

For me, the contractions were very easy to deal with until I hit 8-9 cm. They were only really difficult in the hour it took to reach 10cm.

ETA: I didn't have an epidural, and it still was tolerable.

Message edited 4/24/2009 10:32:03 AM.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

8PM - Easy
10PM - Bearable
Midnight-OMG BAD I remember thinking people
do this without drugs!!

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

all of the above

i started out not feeling them at all

then they were there but not bad at all

then they were painful but tolerable

then they were horrible

then they were mother-of-god-kill-me-please

the last part lasted longest.. Morphine helped for about an hour and if possible.. they came back STRONGER !


Is AJ 'worth it' sure.. would I volunteer for that pain HELLZ NO!

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Early labor just feels like cramps....and they get progressively stronger.

After 24 hours of labor I was starting to be in pain....my body tensed up and I really had to concentrate on trying to relax and breath calmly.

I had an epi thru the last 10 hours of labor....I cringe at what those contractions would have felt like....because on the monitors, they were monsters compared to the eralier ones.

I told my SIL that active labor contractions feel like cramps X 100 plus like you have to go to the bathroom.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

I thought they were sooooooo painful!!

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

I had back labor. I was expecting it to be much worse although I knew exactly what it was when it was happening. It was tolerable. I just jumped in the shower every ten minutes and let the water run on my lower back until my doctor's office opened in the morning. I started going into labor about 200am.Lost my mucus plug at around 600am and was almost 5 centimeters dialated by the time I got to the doctor at 10:00am. I was sent immediately to the hospital for a c section. I did feel incredibly nauseous the day before though.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

I was induced with pitocin. They were bearable at first, but once the dr. broke my water, they were very uncomfortable. I asked for the epidural 4 hours after my water broke and about 8 or 9 hours into my induction. By the next morning, I had horrible rectal pain/pressure (back labor?) and the epidural didn't provide any relief. That was the most unbearable part.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

my entire labor was drug-free..no epidurals, nada. my first contractions started around 3am and allison was born by 3pm. they were tolerable, but i had two doulas helping me breathe through each one of them. at about the 4cm mark i was about to cave and get an epidural, but the doulas upped their techniques and i went from 4cm to 9cm in the blink of an eye! the contractions were much more tolerable then, but they got more and more intense as well.

eta: i was induced. i was started on the cervadil at 7pm and pitocin at 9am.

Message edited 4/24/2009 11:47:09 AM.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Mine went from tolerable to nearly intolerable.

Even with the pitocin, they were tolerable because pushing eased the pain.. contractions that you breathe through are much worse than contractions that you push through.

For me, I also had to get my mind right meaning instead of thinking "WOW this hurts like hell" I made myself think "this pain is going to pass in 2 minutes." That aside, the contractions weren't the worst part of labor for me... it was the last 5 minutes that was the worst.

I do have a very high pain threshhold but it's because I'm very stubborn and strong minded. Once I decided I could handle it w/o an epi it was as good as done.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

my labor was something like 34 hours the first 6 were between easy and tolerable..... The next 8 hours were nearly tolerable.... the remaining time before the epidural (given 24 hours after entering labor) was unbearable.

To me, it wasn't the individual contractions... they were managable... it was the fact that they came back after a minute and lasted a minute (so 1 min contractions 2 min apart)... there was no break...

I think I could have done the entire thing w/o an epi if I actually progressed at all between 12 and 24 hours... but I didn't. I was stuck at 4cm. the moment they insisted on pictocin to kickstart my labor (which makes the pain much worse) I insisted on an epi.... at that time, I was so exhausted from pain that I don't think I could have pushed w/o some pain relief and sleep (over a day w/o eating or sleeping, and intense pain )

the epi made it all better.... and I only had to push for an hour

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Mine started out easy, like having my period cramps. I didn't even know they were contractions.

Fast forward about an hour and a half and they were awful. Not scream and claw your DH's hand off kind of awful, but I can't breathe this is so bad.

But, I'd still do it again.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

not horrible honestly, infact i was already 5 cm when i got to the hospital and decided to wait a little to get the epidural b/c i wasn't in a lot of pain. It got a little worse as i progressed, felt sort of like STRONG period cramps/tightening and at that point i decided to just get the epi so i could relax LOL

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

I was induced both times so they were very painful.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

My early labor was tolerable. My active labor was increasingly awful.. but it was helpful knowing they were only going to last a bit and then go away. BUT... once they stuck me on Pitocin it was completely unbearable. The reason is that the contractions came in such rapid succession that I had no chance to recover from the last before I was onto the next. I spent a good deal of time just quietly weeping during my loonnnngggggg labor.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

In the beginning the contractions were bearable. It felt more like constant AF cramps. When the contractions started coming closer together, the pain for me was unbearable. When I finally got to the hospital I was begging everyone and anyone for an epidural...even the secretary who was taking my info

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

completely and totally UNBEARABLE!!!!! i was writhing in pain and could barely breathe. every time they hit, i curled into a ball and screamed. i thought i was going to die--it was so unmanageable. once i got the epidural, it was the best feeling in the world. i was able to push and could feel my legs. i pushed for 5 HOURS --thank god for the epidural.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Message edited 4/24/2009 3:03:06 PM.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Ever have a charlie horse in your calf? Well, think of that in your stomach/back. Thats how mine felt, only 10x worse.

To me, my whole birth experience was a blur. I was on so many meds, I was on cloud nine after getting the epidural.

But from what I do remember, it was painful. Very painful.


Would I do it again?

Abso-friggen-lutely.


The end result totally justifies the means... I cannot even stress this enough.

Re: BTDT Moms: Your experience with contractions. Easy, tolerable or unberable?

Easy for me - I lucked out.

I woke up ca. 6AM feeling that I had to go the bathroom. I just had constipation-like pains for a couple hours - didn't really get that a pattern was going on.

About 9AM I called the MD to make sure all was OK (at mom's suggestion) and they asked me to come to L&D. My mom came to pick me up about 9:30AM and I was just saying ouch every minute or so. I still wasn't sure I was in labor. My mom just kept saying, "ouch again, it hurts AGAIN?"
Then I tried to go the bathroom again and realized I was about to deliver a baby in my toilet if I didn't get moving.

My water broke on the car ride, and it was getting uncomfortable - but I wasn't screaming, just OUCH every few seconds at this point.

We got to the hospital a little after 10AM. At this point I was panicked and I thought if I get in there and this is just 3-4 cm then I'll probably sign up for the epidural, otherwise, I can do this drug free.

Got in, I was 9CM - he was born at 10:24AM.

ETS: I should mention I have a high threshold for pain (at least I think I do).

Message edited 4/24/2009 3:39:46 PM.