is giving birth really hard???what did you felt when you're in labor?

Hi, urcheekyangel. My first labour was around 4.5 months ago. I was afraid few months before the labour and always have the imaginations how pain it would be. I read many labour experiences from the forums. And most of them had painful and difficult labour. But few of them did have easy labour. I knew that the the labour is depending on the person. I was overdue, then the doctor suggested me to have an induced labour. I was really anxious and nervous the day before. But when the day came, i was no longer afraid. I was calm and waiting for the birth of my lovely baby. From the book, i have learnt that taking the calcium + magnesium can ease the pain. Then i saw one women experienced easy labour also took the calcium tablets during the pregnancy and few capsules the day she gave birth. I did the same too. Guess what, i did have an easy labour. I did not feel any pain until my cervix was already dilated 7cm. The nurses and doctor was impressed and said i am a wonderful woman. I thought i would have difficult labour as what the old people told me all the time as i did not do much exercises and i did not walk so much like they wanted me to do so. But fortunately, i did have a wonderful experience about the labour. i guess it was because of the calcium? I do not know the reason. Ok, perhaps there are also some other reasons. But do not worry so much at the moment first, try to be relaxed and learn the breathing. This would help. The breathing teniques helped me alot during the pain, my husband was there to support me. Have a nice day and happy mylottng.

Since my very JOB is to help laboring women (I'm a doula), I will chime in on this one too! Congrats on your pregnancy. Early labor usually feels like menstrual cramps. They come and go, you feel an aching in your lower back, hips and lower abdomen, like you are getting your period. It intensifies over time, the contractions get longer, stronger and closer together. Try to distract yourself in early labor - bake something, watch a movie, take a nap if you can. Once labor gets tougher, you will need to find a coping mechanism. Breathing works wonders: long, slow breathing, and it's OK to use your voice and sigh - remember to keep the sound low-pitched, not high. Low pitched means your throat is nice and relaxed and open.. open throat = open cervix! Best thing you can do is concentrate on each breath in and out, and relax EVERY muscle, especially those surrounding your uterus. Any tension you hold in your muscles will not only waste energy, but cause you more pain. Have someone you love dearly with you during labor, whether it's your partner or your best friend, sister, mom, aunt. Yes labor hurts, and yes it is hard. But nothing worthwhile is ever easy!

I have home births which are relaxing. I had a 8 hour labor with my first baby using a water pool plus gas and air. I had a 2 and a half hour labor with my second baby with no pain relief. It is possible to have an active and natural birth using movement and breathing techniques for birthing. Contractions vary in strength and strong ones are painful. The head crowning feels like something prickly like sitting on pine cones. I was pleasantly surprised by the lovely birth I had with my second baby. I only had 20 minutes of strong contractions and my baby came out in the space of 2 contractions. I felt so happy to have such an easy birth. First births can be long. Good luck and I am sure you will be fine.

I can't help with first hand experience as I have not had my baby yet but I wondered- do you have any classes you can go to which will help prepare you for birth? We have private classes which I am signed up to do, but there are also classes which are free available at my local health centre. You'll get to learn about what happens in labour from professionals but also get a chance to talk about your fears and meet other women in your position.

Don't worry it's not that hard, you can become a proud mother.

Well, i wasnt scared until almost time to have my daughter, and i was absolutely terrified when my due date was a week away. I can tell you eventually, it gets to the point you dont care, you just want the baby out. When they finally admitted me my daughter came out ten minutes later so i didnt have time for any pain medication. It felt like a really bad period for me. Like, think of the worst period youve had, then multiply it by ten. Thats about what it feels like. The worst part was in between contractions. You know the pain is coming back, but you dont know when, and the anticipation is horrible. I know it felt like my back was ripping open, my stomach felt okay though, and my legs hurt pretty bad, but it was bearable. When the baby finally started coming out, it felt like the biggest poo ive ever taken in my life. It didnt even hurt as bad as i thought, yeah it did hurt, but it felt like, well, youre super constipated but youre trying to get this huge poo out anyways. haha. Thats the best way i can describe it. They had to cut me down there to get her out because she was so big, and when that happened i felt like i was on fire, but the best feeling in the world was when they pulled her out, and my stomach just fell. I was so tired, but all the pain stopped, and it was just great. Then they numbed down there when it was all over to put stitches in! I was like, you couldnt have done that before? Youll be alright though. My sister always told me, if starving ethiopian women can do it, so you can. And if it was dangerous, do you think people would do it more than once? Im pregnant with my second now, and ill tell you, enjoy this while you can. Even the labor is easy compared to the recovery, but im sure youll do just fine. You dont even reallu have to push. The doctor told me to stop pushing, but i couldnt because my body was doing it by itself.

The first time is always the scariest, at least for most women. I know it was for me. I was scared out of my mind! But I got through it, and hopefully you will too. Unfortunately every pregnancy/delivery is different and varies from woman to woman. So, one woman may say that it hurt like hell, while another may say it wasn't that bad. You can't go by either of those, because your labor will be unique as well. But I will tell you this much...I've had another one since and I wasn't scared one bit with giving birth. Good luck!

Hi friend, Well I have had three children. My youngest is 15, so yes it has been a few years. However, having a baby hasn't really changed in hundreds and thousands of years. I went through labor with my first, but unfortunately I had to have a c-section in the end. So I have been through both types of pregnancy labor. One is as good as the other. We all know that labor is just that, labor. You work really hard, but in the end its so much more than a pay cheque, isn't it. What I always tell women that are close to giving birth is this: I have had three children. Yes labor does get pretty uncomfortable. However, if it was that bad, why would silly people like me have three? It is a pain that you forget very quickly, so it's not that bad. I hope you did labor classes. As hokey as it sounds, the breathing and concentrating really is the key to a good labor. If you haven't taken the classes, it is never too late. I found that I picked a focal point (it was a picture of a teddy bear on the wall) and that is what I concentrated on with every contraction. This really did help. Good luck to you urcheekyangel. I know everything will be alright. Please keep us informed on your pregnancy and how you are doing. Sincerely, Cheryl

hi, my son is now 3 years old, I can imagine what you might be feeling as the days are coming nearer but don't worry pain will last for sometime but you will feel good when you hear the babies crying and feeds him for the first time pain will go automatically..

Pregnancy itself is difficult.Labor is painful and you have to be patient waiting for hours till you deliver.As long as you are in labor, you wouldn't know if you will deliver it abdominally or spontaneously unless you have an outright indication for cesarean operation.

Its lovely I am pregnant with my second and I am too 7 months gone.... My daughter is 1 year old so her labour is still very fresh in my mind.. Unfortunantly she was low birth weight which helped me have a veeery long labour 19 hoours to be precise but every second was magical. I dont think I will go term with this one tho as I have had to have steroid injections today and have to have another set tomorow to strengthen her lungs as I am under alot of stress with my neighbour causing me problems so am a bit more concered about this labour experience. I was due to have a home birth and Im hoping and parying she holds on long enough for me to have a home birth as to me that means she will be strong when she is born. By this I mean she will have matured enough in my womb for me to give birth naturally and without any problems. Congratulations on the pregnancy you have nothing to worry about you will be fine! Just make sure you plan in advance as much as you can... for example make sure your hospital bag is packed.. make sure you have your birth plan written as this will show the midwives what youy would like from labour and how they can make it a positive experience for you!! Good luck and let us all know how it goes!!