Photo by Geminilashes
Now, if you've never given birth before, don't get too freaked out about this. Besides, you already know labor's gonna hurt, right? 🙂
From ladies who've been through it, over in Answers, here's what some CafeMoms had to say was the most painful part of labor.
— When they said "Don't push!" I hated that!
— The shot in my back during the epidural. That hurt like hell, because I was having a really bad contraction the entire time and couldn't move.
— My doctor trying to rotate the baby in the birth canal — he'd wait until I had a contraction, shove half his arm up in there, and then tell me to push. It was bad. If someone told me today I'd have to go through that again, I'd shoot myself.
— Having the epidural put in. I'm a wimp.
— Labor was a breeze. It was not being able to fit back into my regular sweatpants right after that was really painful.
— Them reaching in and yanking out my placenta. That was the absolute worst.
— The shots they gave me before stitching me up. My labor went too fast to have the epi, so up until then it was all natural, and OMG! It hurt so bad!
— I had an intervention-free birth at home and the transition was the hardest part — it took about 45 minutes, and the contractions were just one on top of another. My doula helped me see that I didn't have to fear the pain — that it wasn't gonna "kill" me. If a natural birth is your goal, I'd recommend getting a doula.
— WAITING to see the baby. Labor was nothing for me.
— Pushing was the most painful. Such a big head through such a small hole. Labor was fine, but pushing? Ouchie.
— I would have to say back labor or being stitched from my episiotomy.
— Pitocin-induced contractions.
— I had an emergency C-section — the worst part was waiting to see my son and hold him in my arms.
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Yours truly? My labor was actually pretty easy. But a couple of days before, my midwife stripped my membranes to see if we could get things moving without drugs (it didn't work.) Um, OUCH.
By far the most painful part of my pregnancy and birth.
If you've given birth before, what was the most painful part? Spill!