Pregnancy Info HOME

get the epidural after your water breaks. i will be honest and say i went to the hospital for high blood pressure to only discover i was contracting every 3 minutes. i felt one pain after they broke my water (i was in labour for 16 hours according to the machines by the time this happened - still painless) and a slight burn when i tore during delivery (only needed two stitches). i really did NOT have contractions that i felt. there are women out there that don't hurt at all, and i turned out to be one of them. i was in "labour" for my mother was the same way and i assumed when she told me her experiences that she was trying not to scare me, but it turned out that she really did have painless labour and births. dont go in assuming you will be in pain - tension and anxiety can make it worse. remember this is a natural process, let your body do whatever it needs to do. best to you in your upcoming labour and delivery. its amazing to see your baby for the first time! enjoy :)

pregnant 40 weeks having gas like pains, cramps off and on. and also pain in my rectum off and on. A lot of pressure in myp pelvis area. I am 1 1/2 m.cervix thinned out 80% for two weeks already. My due date was Sept. 8th. Do you think I will go into labor this week.

Hi ladies, This is my 2nd pregnancy, and I can tell you this, when someone tells you that you will know when they are contractions, they are right. You wont be able to sit, stand, walk, talk anything. I would have to describe it as really bad menstrual cramps or really bad diahria cramps. Your stomach from just above your belly button to your pelvic will be hard during contractions and it will feel really tight like squeezing. I knew I was first in labor with my son when I would sit and rock myself, holding my stomach cause it hurt so bad and then it got to the point where I would want to stand and then I would stand and then that didnt do anything. after 5 hours of labor I had an epidural and it was amazing, it didnt hurt and I was soo relaxed after that, I slept the rest of my labor until I had to push. hope this helps. but if you have never had menstrual cramps or diahria cramps, then there isnt anyway of really explaining it besides what ive already listed. :-) good luck girls, I have 4wks 2 go.

p.s. Another thing I found out that I always wanted to know was if I was in labor if the baby would still be moving. and yes they will. but not when your having contractions, so I guess that is a good way to tell too. I was told that if I am having pains in my stomach and my baby was moving during those pains, it wasnt contractions. :)

It basically feels like a poo that won't come out. And when it is coming out, it BURNS!

My due date was yesterday and I would love to know what contractions feel like too! I havnt had any pains throughout my pregnancy no braxton hicks or anything. It's my first baby, I'm only 1 cm dilated and the baby hasnt even dropped! I'm getting so impatient and the doctors talking about C section, all I can say to that is no thanks!

this is my 3rd child. all deliveries are different. contractions with my very 1st were hell.to me it felt like knife stabbing me over and over in my stomach and someone taking my muscles in my back and pulling them tight as possible. when the head was coming out it felt like my body was being ripped in half all that is because i was scared didn't no what to expect wouldn't cooperate with what the nurse and dr. was telling me and also i had no pain medication. i was only 17.my second was a breeze. i had contractions but it just felt like someone pinching my stomach.i didn't know i was in labor. kept going to bathroom to pee like 10 times in a hour called doctor told me to go to hospital bcuz it was after hours that i might have bladder infection. got to hospital i was checked i had dilated 5cm. i had my daughter 1hour 15 minutes later.i was 22 then. this pregnancy i am having a few pinching sensations last checked i had dilated 2cm i am 37 weeks that was 3 days ago.

I had two children, on my third, I had both of them naturally, but not because I am super brave, with the first one they did not give me anything and with the second one I was 8 cm when they gave me an epidural and it did not work, except for on my lower right leg.
What does it feel like? To me it was like having my insides ripped out. kinda like in the movie Braveheart where they cut him open and rip all his intestins out. I am not trying to scare anyone, but I met so many women that said "it was wonderful" or "it was not that bad" well good for them but I felt like they lied to me, and I told myself I would never sugarcoat it for anyone. So honestly it felt like hell, and at some point, with the first, I did think I was going to die - but I didn't. the second one was just as bad but the never-working-epidural at least gave me hope and made me think it would go away any minute. With this one I hope I can get to the hospital before 8 cm and get all the drugs in the world. Good luck to all of you and dont worry mother nature magically erases your memory afterwards, or none of us would ever have another one.

as I said before,I have had the 1st vaginal,it was a nightmare,the 2nd elective c-section.People say after the baby is there you forget,recovery is easier well to feel like your legs are beibg ripped apart knowing you have to go on,the meds either making you sick or not working,no way was I going through that again.What a difference with the so called "major" surgery,I enjoyed getting ready for the birth,the birrth itself,ok I was sore afterwards,but with the pain meds it was great.

i always wondered what contractions would feel liek and everyone kept saying youd know youd know. and i was like but i might now. alal I KNOW. ive been contracting for a while now and things are getting underway and there getting pretty ouchy. haha youll know. haha YOULL FEEL it... for me the first though was... i know this is supposed to get worse but i dont know i can do this now how will i do it than.... its hard to explain as im sure everyone feels it different to . mine started as a nasty cramp times 100.. like the pain u get right before you get massive diahreaa.... with some period pains in there... and for me i felt them around my belly button to ... liek the baby was trying to crawl out my belly button

Hi! I was 16 when i had my first baby and am now 22 and pregnant with my second. to be honest with you the worst part of the labor is when you have back labor the part when the baby comes out for for a second only till the head comes out the rest is a piece of cake but its so worh it. As for an epidual i had one and i would recommend you try it natural unless you cant handle the contractions cause to me thats all that it helped with everything else you could still feel

I'm 38 weeks and 3 days..I've been having menstrual-like cramps and feeling like I have bad gas for about a week...does this mean anything if the pains arent regular like they say they should be?

Contractions feel like the most horrible period cramps, but I think I have the most close answer for when the baby comes out. Put your fingers in your mouth and pull at all angles at the same time. The burning your mouth feels is the exact same burning you feel as the baby comes out. Its termed the ring of fire. Oh and the epidural does work wonders but forget it on the ring of fire. Nothing takes the burning sensation away.

i had an epidural with my first daughter and i didnt feel her coming out whatso ever.so i guess it just must depend on how it effects you personally.i also found it only worked on one side of my body as far as contractions went.i had my second daughter naturally and i prefered that so much more. no tearing or anything.im hoping to have my 3rd naturally as well coz i just felt so much better afterwards-38 weeks today so i guess i'll have to wait and see how it gos!

I have not experienced labor myself yet, but I was given two really neat (but kind of scary) anologies about childbirth by a childbirth instructor. The first one being what a contraction feels like: it feels like you are doing a chin up on a pull-up bar, and right when you think you will just "die" if you have to hold it any longer...you have to for any extra 30 seconds. The second one is what if feels like when you stretch for the baby to come out: imagine sitting on the floor and bending to reach your toes...now reach until you can't go any further...now you have to go a whole 6 more inches! That is what it feels like when your perineum has to stretch around the baby's head. I heard about these analogies years ago, and they have just stuck with me so I thought I would share. Most important advice I can give as a doula: Trust your body... relax and go with the process...your body knows best! Good luck and congratulations to you all.

I think I have discovered a way to explain what a contraction felt like for myself. Well imagine having a Charlie horse in your calf or leg. Now imagine having this pain in your stomach. There is really no position to relax that muscle and if you move it makes it worse, now can you imagine that?? Hope that helps.