Whichever poster above said labor is like your entire abdomen clenching up into a ball and then relaxing–that is the best description of labor I’ve read. That’s exactly how it felt for me both times.
I highly recommend reading Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy . This was my bible all through my last pregancy–it even went to the hospital with me. Very honest and straight-forward info and it’s a very funny read too, which is a pleasant distraction from all the stress and worry.
Big fat ditto here. I don’t think I could get a kid out without breaking something.
Shana, I can’t give you any insights, but I remember reading this somewhere and thought it might give you a little chuckle, either now or when you’re in the hospital wondering why you ever decided to do this.
“Q: Is it true that you don’t really feel any pain during labour, that it’s really just pressure?”
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado is really just a bit of wind."
But what if the baby is late? Would one really have a choice not to be induced?
With the way doctors are so induction-happy these days, you’ll be lucky if you hit your due date. No doctor, though, is going to let you go more than a week late, tops. About the only way you’re going to go late is if your conception date is iffy and the baby’s size confirms that you might not be as far along as they thought.
There’s things you can do towards the end to coax the little darling out, though. Evening primrose oil, lots of walking, eating really spicy foods, sex, boob stimulation, etc. All of those should be tried, IMHO, before resorting to induction but then IANAD and I do see how sometimes the kid’s gotta come out right now. Given that everything’s going well, though, it may not hurt to ask your doctor if you can have a day or two to give it the college try before they go ahead and put you in the hospital.
Sweetie, if you think labor sounds scary, wait until you actually have the baby to take care of!!! It’s much more intimidating, IMO. Thank Og for my mom.
And please, get all the books you can and read up on everything. An informed mother-to-be is her own best advocate. If you educate yourself, you will learn that you can tell the doctors no on some things, and that plenty of it is your decision.
I’ve always felt the more you know, the more equipped you are to handle anything that happens. Going in uninformed would be much scarier, IMO.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
What to Eat When You’re Expecting
Kegel Exercises—tons and tons of them
Walking, or any kind of exercise—every day
and last, but not least…
VITAMIN E OIL!!! Rub it from shoulders to knees and all the while your belly is growing and you’re sitting on the couch eating M&M’s, rub the oil. Do it while watching tv, do it after showering, do it before bed. Just do it, and the possibility of stretchmarks is diminished. Some will dismiss this as an old wive’s tale, but I gained about 60 lbs. with my baby, and didn’t get one mark. Rock on with the vitamin E, baby. 
It’s been almost 25 years but that 's pretty much what happened to me. I just thought the pizza and ice cream I had didn’t agree with me. (Cut the time down to about three hours instead of five in my case.) By the time I clued in we had less than twenty minutes before my daughter was born. We made it to the hospital, my water burst in the fromt seat of my stepdad’s new car, I fell to my knees with a contraction on the way in the door and then it was over with before I could finish yelling out “They said I could have drugs!”. My jeans were still on when she made her appearance and the doctore was no where in sight.
I’ll second the walking too. I walked all the time in the last month, mostly out of boredom, but maybe that’s why it went so fast. Yes, it was painful, but it didn’t last very long in my case.
Asking women if labor hurt is like sticking your arm into a hive of pissed off bees, before you know it they are all swarming about you buzzing, buzzing, buzzing until you can’t get away from them fast enough!
If labor were truly that bad and that awful the population of the Earth would have stopped after Cain.
It will suck, at times.
It will hurt, yes.
Can you endure it? Depends on your pain threshold and, more importantly, how tough you are a a woman.
It will be one of your toughest physical moments in your life and the pain will fade.
You are stronger than you realize and it isn’t a failure to ask for drugs…sweet…sweet drugs. I viewed an epidural not for me, per se, but for the millions of mom’s before me who did not have the option of it.
Thanks Shirley Ujest for putting it all into perspective
I guess if it were that horrendous no one would have more than one child. Although after some of these stories I would not blame any woman for going right out and having her tubes tied! I’ve had chronic Lyme disease for years - and with it a fair amount of pain. Pain sucks! But as long as there’s a beginning and an end to it that I can conceivably wrap my mind around, I’m ok! Actually, I’ve really learned some valuable tips from this thread. I just wanted someone to tell me the truth so I could prepare myself! And of course the SDMB has done that…so thanks to all!!
Shana
I’m a Registered Nurse for the 4th busiest birthing center in CA. We do a lot of high-risk, but basically, we see a LOT of births. I myself have 2 children that I delivered vaginally, neither with epidurals and the first with the assist of a vacuum device.
I support your seeking information. Too many women come in totally unprepared physically and emotionally to labor. TV and movies have not been accurate: they cut to the action, not bothering with the hours of gradual build up and preparedness.
You can do anything, if you know it’s going to be over in a day or so.
I know this isn’t the Pit, but I Pit midwives who describe contractions from hell as “little tightenings”. You ain’t fooling anyone, lady.
Does it hurt? Depends. I’ve heard of women who give birth without much pain - maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones. Mine was less painful than I imagined it would be - and less lengthy. The OB nurse got me my epidural although she thought I’d entered transition - the cervix gets stretchy and dialation can be a matter of “opinion” - she came in right after shift change and the previous nurse hadn’t checked in three hours because “you can’t be that far along yet.” Although, since afterwords I discovered I’d into the worst of it without the epidural, I probably could have done the whole thing that way.
But here is the thing you don’t know yet. Give it another four months and you won’t care if labor is the equivalent of a root canal without medication. The last trimester is about one thing - making you realize that no matter how painful it will be, you have to stop being pregnant because being the size of a baby whale sucks. Anything is better than not being able to fit in your car and having to look at the same ugly maternity outfit one more day.
Obviously, as you’ve seen here, the experience varies incredibly from one delivery to another, but I’ll give you my 2 cents worth.
I’ve had two children, both vaginal delivery, no drugs. I’ve had worse pain from sinus infections and toothaches. The labor pains felt to me like a really, really intense muscle cramp. You know how sometimes you can get a “charley horse” in a muscle? That kind. The difference is, and this is something you must remember, is the MOST OF THE TIME you are NOT having a contraction. It starts out as a few seconds several minutes apart. For MOST women, they eventually get to contractions as long as, say, 45 seconds. But that’s only for the end labor, and you will soon be able to push, which is hard work, but a welcome change.
I took Lamaze classes and practiced all the exercises religiously. The very most important thing about that is to LEARN, to the point that it’s automatic, how to make your non-uterine muscles RELAX. The thing that IMHO causes a lot of women unnecessary pain is that they have not learned to do that. If your muscles are tensed up, you are fighting against what your body needs to do. Labor then becomes more painful. Which makes you more tense. Which makes the labor longer. A recursive – and bad – feedback loop.
That said, obviously there are situations where drugs are appropriate and necessary, and I wouldn’t presume to judge someone else’s needs and actions. I was just worried about possible effects on the new baby. Also, it was really nice that afterward I was not groggy or in any way impaired. I could eat right away (and boy, was I hungry!), stand up, walk, etc. In fact, after my first child, I was so happy, so hyped up and energized that even though we’d been up all night, and I’d been working hard for a couple of hours, I could not sleep. It was a wonderful, wonderful day. One of the two best days in my life, the other being the day my second child was born.
Thanks MLS , that actually makes me want to take Lamaze classes. As someone else stated in this thread, it’s probably a good idea to read everything and try everything. It can’t hurt!
I’m hoping that Indygrrl will come back and tell me what brand of Vitamin E oil she used for her stretch marks? 
Shana: Off topic, but when are you due? I’m due September 15th.
/Ms Cyros
Woo hoo Cyros ! I’m due September 16th.
Here’s hoping we are on time and have EASYYYY labors, huh? 
No kidding. I’m hoping my first trimester from hell is no indication of how the rest of the pregnancy will go. So far, I’m betting this kid will be an only child, easy labour or not.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly for us both!
/Ms Cyros
Shana - Let me tell you about my sister’s second child. She was overdue, so she shovelled the snow from the driveway. Sure enough, she went into labour that night. She but her 16 month old son to bed around 8:00 pm. She started feeling contractions around 10:00. She went into the hospital at midnight and had the baby at 2:00 am. She sat up chatting with the doctor all night. She left the hospital at 7:00 with the baby, saying she felt fine and there wasn’t anything they could do for her there that she couldn’t do for herself. The nurses didn’t want her to take the baby, but she said they were both fine.
Everyone’s labour is different. Be as prepared as you can and don’t worry too much. It’s not going to change anything anyway.
StG
I used Palmer’s. It’s cheap. Slather it on babe, it certainly can’t hurt anything.
I also found that in later times the practices and exercises I learned in Lamaze helped me with other painful or stressful situations.
I am expecting our first by end of June. Before I became pregnant my husband would insist he wanted ‘2 or 3 children’. I always said I’d only have one child. After a first trimester from hell and a second trimester, that although considerably easier, has brought sleeping problems he’s never mentioned the subject again. I reckon he has good preservation instincts.
Anyways, thanks **Shana **for starting this thread. It’s been very educational. Here’s hoping that you have an easy delivery and a healthy child. Me, I will deliver simply by exploding. Boy, I already feel huge!