Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

So, I've had them, but on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say my worst was a 3. Then I had the epi and never felt any pain, just pressure.

Now, I know people can be in labor for hours on end.......10, 15, 20, 30+ hours...but how much of that time span is excruciating?

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

8hrs of contractions
2 morphine shots
no epi because I was a c/s and had to wait for my spinal

I'd say the last 5hrs were brutal. I remember they came so fast every 2mins or so and they hurt as I've said before like a nuclear bomb slowly going off in your uterus. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't cry, I couldn't talk. I was exhausted in pain and effort to get through them. I literally wanted to DIE. I got about 2min or less breaks in between then it'd come back. I went in at 1am with 3hrs sleep by 7am I was sleeping through each break. Odd but true. I know I could never have pushed. I only wanted to sleep and more than anything I wanted the pain to stop. I was utterly non-verbal by the time my spinal came round. I barely acknowledged commands. I was fully awake and aware but in so much pain and concentrating on waiting for the next wave. I am surprised I stayed still long enough for the spinal. That took everything.

It wasn't until AFTER the pain stopped that I could breathe and say thank you to the anesthesiologist. He looked down and said "WOW, you really had me worried there" said I was so quiet and so 'mad' he was almost afraid of me. But I perked right up when the pain stopped. He thought I was either upset at him (i was 8hrs waiting) or too sleepy. Neither I assured him. Just in god awful pain!

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I think (and was told by my doc) that my first labor was a perfect textbook labor. Went into labor on my own water broke on its own, etc. My first contraction was 3:27pm. They were very mild until 11pm or so. At 11 I went to bed and they started getting a little stronger and closer together. I wasn't in terrible pain but couldn't sleep thru them. Left for hospital around 1:30. Water broke around 3 it was around 4 or 5 when they started getting insanely painful. DD was born at 7:44.

My second I went into labor after getting my membranes stripped. The contractions started right away and were much more intense and very closebtogether but not very productive. After about 16 hours of those contractions my Dr broke my water and i got a spinal and pitocin. An hour and a half after that my DD was born.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I was in labor for 30 hours before my c-section, and while the contractions were always uncomfortable, I wouldn't say they were excruciating until after the first 18 hours or so. They started at 2am but I didn't go to the hospital till 10pm that night. From there, I tried to wait them out as long a I could but asked for the epi around 1am. Those few hours were bad- I'd say the pain was 8 out of 10- but it was nothing compared to what I felt when they turned the epi OFF. After nearly 3 hours of pushing (which wasn't as bad as it sounds, due to the epi!) my dr felt that I wasn't pushing well enough since I couldn't feel contractions. Once they shut it off, I was in excruciating pain. It was unbelievable... it was like one long never-ending contraction! There was never a break. So after another half hour they decided to do a C and waiting for the anesthesiologist to come back felt like years. I don't know how I made it through that... I remember hoping I would pass out!

Moral of the story- do NOT let them turn off your epidural!!!!!!

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

i have a very low pain tolerance and i did the entire birth without drugs- I progressed too fast to get an epi

I would say only the last 1-2 hours was difficult for me

but you can totally do it

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

if you are induced almost all of that time is excruciating...

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

You're welcome to read my birth story I just posted if you want all the gory details of my entirely drug-free experience.

It was funny because I got to the hospital after 3 hours of contractions and I was 5 cm and fully dilated and the nurse said "what is your pain level" and I said "6?" because it felt bad and she said "really? that bad?" and I was like "umm... I don't know? 4?" then an hour later she asked again and I said "6?" again... and I was at 9 cm at that point!

It was definitely at an 8 or 9 for the last hour and 20 minutes when I was pushing. The pain once the doctor broke my water at 10 cm was excruciating. Unbearable. Horrible. I have no clue how I did it. I credit DH with somehow keeping me sane.

But my entire labor lasted a total of 6 hours, with 3 at the hospital, so I was very lucky. The stitching from the tear was almost as bad as the pain of trying to push her out.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I swear different people experience way different contraction pains because when I read that women give birth without drugs I want to pass out.

I was in labor for 21 excruitiating hours and the contractions were bad for the first 4 hours, horrible for the next 8, and absolutely atrocious for the last 9. My epidural wore off several times on the left side of my body and the pain was so severe I was screaming that I wanted a c-section ( they wouldn't give me one) and to please put me out of my misery. I will say that the pitocin definitely increased the intensity of the contractions.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I didn't have any paid meds and was in labor for 7 hours. The 2 hours or so before pushing were bad, but the 30 minutes before pushing was excruciating. Hard to explain, didn't know what to do with myself type of pain... once I started pushing that actually helped with the pain.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I had a 20 hour labor.

There are many things that go into the quality and amount of pain including baby position, type of pelvic opening, ect.

I had labor pain from the start of the contractions and the nurse said I'd "know" when I really needed the epidural.

My baby was not in a great position & my OB was doubting if I would be able to do a vaginal birth.

I have a good pain tolerance.

At 4 cm with the pitocin running (my water broke & I wasn't progressing) it got to the point where it was really hurting and it was hard to breathe. After that, I got the epidural and there was NO MORE PAIN. It was fantastic. I slept through the rest of labor & then pushed for 20 minutes... out came baby, bad position and all.

Of course... if you get the epidural earlier... you don't reach that point of pain.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I was in labor first for 6.5 hours with no epi because the "plan" was a drug free birth (labored for 16.5 total). I would rate my contractions as an 11. I was in so much pain and finally couldn't take it. And that was with being induced and no epi. Finally I stopped being a martyr and took the drugs. Felt instant relief but when it wore off I didn't top off or get another dose because I wanted to feel ctx so I could dilate more. After 3 hours of no epi again with intense ctx and pressure the dr. came in and told me he had to do a c-seciton b/c heart rate was dropping, I wasn't progressing, and it wasn't safe for baby. He had my son out in 5 min after that conversation-cord was wrapped around the neck.

Everyone's labor is different. Some have intense ctx some have mild. Some have higher threshold for pain and others have low. Also depends on baby's position, etc.

Message edited 1/25/2011 8:35:00 AM.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

With DS, between when I started feeling something to when I had him was 5 hours. Only the first hour of twinges was bearable and as soon as I started getting contractions they were about 3 min apart and hurting from the getgo. By the time I got to the hospital I was asking everyone who would listen for an epi. Turned out I was only 2cm dil, but since they were so strong, they gave it to me and and I dilated to 9cm in the next hour. Then needed a cs for fetal distress.

With DD, it was 12 hours from when I started having contractions to when they decided to give me a cs. The entire time they were 2-3 min apart and not painful at all. Just felt like stronger BH.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

When I got to the hospital I was already 4-5 cm dilated according to my Dr.
But before he examined me he kind of chuckled and said- Ok I'll check you, but I doubt you are very far progressed because you'd be a LOT more miserable right now if you were.
Then he checked and was shocked that I was that dilated. He was like "I would have expected you to be in a lot more pain by this point."
My answer- this is NOTHING compared to a kidney stone.
So it's all relative.
I am sure that if I wouldn't have gotten the epi shortly after that though, it would have gotten unbearable.
But I had NO desire to experience any more pain than I had to so the second he admitted me and asked if I wanted the epi I said YES!!!
So I can only say what it was like up to aroudn 5 cm when I got that blessed epi.
And for me, it was painful, but totally bearable up to THAT point.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I started having contractions in the afternoon, they were uncomfortable but definitely not a 10. Once they started to get more painful we left for the hospital and this was the point where they were painful enough that I couldn't sleep through them. It wasn't until the next morning around 10am when they started coming STRONG and that's when I couldn't take it anymore and needed the EPI.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

When i first started having contractions they were not bad at all...I got to the hospital at 3-4 cm...the md broke my water(I was already 1 week overdue at this point) and after that is when they got pretty bad...I lasted for 2 hours and was 5cm and that's when I asked for the epidural b/c I really had no clue how much worse it could get. When I got to 10cm my epi ran out and they did not give me more. When I first started pushing I could not feel anything...but a little while later I could feel everything-contractions did not hurt at this point-but the baby crowning-OMG-I told everyone in the room it felt like everything was ripping apart down there-but that was pain that really only lasted 1-2 minutes tops and then the baby was out and in reality I only had 2 small tears-like the lowest degree and only a few stitches. Oh I wanted to add it took me a little under an hour to push her out.

When I look back and now know what everything felt like I totally think I could do it without the epi next time-I just did not know what to expect the first time around. The epi also slowed down my dilating and I needed pitocin-I think if I did not get the epi I would have dilated faster on my own.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I only remember because the nurse asks you the range during labor.

These are without any pain medication:


First labor:

total labor: 14 hours
scale of 1 to 10:

pain was 5 for about an hour (9 cms dialated)
pain was at 8 for about a half hour-45 minutes (pushing)



Second labor:

total labor: 2 hours
pain was at a 6-7 for about 1 hour
pain was about an 8-9 for about um...2 minutes

Message edited 1/25/2011 9:56:32 AM.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I think everyone one is different based on the position of the baby, your pelvis etc.

I generally have a high threshold for pain (barely needed painkillers after my c-section, major lung surgery etc.). However, as I mentioned in another thread my labor was excrucitating. They turned down my epi which made it go away completely and from then on it was pure torture. I had back labor and DD was stuck so it was horrible. My contractions were coming every 30 seconds or so. That excruciating pain probably went on for about 3 -4 hours (out of a total of 18) but it felt like an eternity.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I was induced with my first. Pain maybe got to a 4-5 when I had the epi. From starting me on the pitocin/breaking my water to birth was about 9 hours. With my second I was practically in spontaneous labor. When I got to the ER I was already 4-5cm and they accidently broke my water while checking. Then all hell broke loose. The contractions came one after the other and I couldn't get the epi until I took a full bag of IV fluids. I was probably at a 10 of pain before I got some relief. I have never been in so much pain and I can't imagine being in pain any worse.

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I was in labor for 22 hrs and 20 of those hours were contractions 2 mins apart and peaking over the 75% mark on the monitor. I was given demarall (excuse my spelling) but it did absolutely nothing for me. After 15 hours the let me have an epidural even though I was only 2 cm. Id say most of my labor wad horrendous pain

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I was scheduled for a C/S in August, at 27 weeks I went into early labor, started having contractions and had them for almost 2 months every 2 hrs, every hr, every 45mi-30 min, on and off, dilated 2cm , ended up in the hospital twice where they hooked me up to all kinds of meds to make the labor stop, they sent me home but had to be on bed rest and take meds, but even while being on meds my contractions continued, I had them every 20 min or so for weeks and weeks and on the scale of 1-10 they were 5-7 (yup ) I had to go into the dr's office every week to check the baby's heartbeat and make sure I wasn't dilated more. They wanted to try and get me to at least 34 weeks (if I remember correctly)
But even after all this I never went into what's considered an "active" labor until I was 39 weeks, the night before my scheduled C/S my water broke , lol. I was in active labor for 5+ hrs -contractions every 3-5 min- by the time they were ready to start the C/S, excruciating pain.
couldn't breath, couldn't speak, by the time one was done another came... then they gave me the spinal and I was in heaven

Re: Let's talk contractions - clear up a few things for me.

I was induced at 8am. Asked for EPI at 1PM.
EPI fell out then it just didn't work.
Saying it hurt pretty bad is an understatement, the only relief was when i was able to push, about 7:30 PM, DS was out at 8:10 PM.
While the pain is really bad, somehow I dealt with it. You kinda focus on it. Anytime anyone interrupted me I got really ****** and it hurt more. The nurse asked me to roll on my side and I wanted to rip her head off. I've heard of people laboring and moving around in stuff, for me there was no way in hell I was able to move, it hurt that much.
It sounds cheesy but visualization really helped a lot.