If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Pain
I was reading the very long thread regarding unassisted childbirth and
pain and it got me thinking.... When people say that the pain becomes unbearable, what do they mean exactly? At what point do you know the pain is unbearable? Does the pain become unbearable for the mother (ie. you pass out)? Or does it become unbearable for the baby (ie. they become stressed)? Or both? Has anyone experienced a birth that was unmedicated and you went past the point where you could have an epidural and it became unbearable? -- Shannon Please remove -NO SPAM from email address to email me personally. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Pain
"Shannon" wrote in message news:2004051112485411272%shannonNOSPAM@sdf1net... I was reading the very long thread regarding unassisted childbirth and pain and it got me thinking.... When people say that the pain becomes unbearable, what do they mean exactly? At what point do you know the pain is unbearable? I had one unmedicated birth and the pain was never even close to unbearable. That's because the pain was incredibly intense at the peak of a contraction towards the end of dilation, but peaks pass in a matter of seconds, and between contractions, there's no pain. It's not pain just driving at you the whole labor. It goes away in between ctx. If you have having ctx back to back, it's probably almost over anyway. I never had those. I think unbearable means you are not listening to your body and surrendering to the process, or you have an extremely rough labor like back labor for hours and hours, that you can't seem to remedy. This can happen even in prepared people I would think if they have a precipitous labor or a baby stubbornly stuck in a bad position. Most people don't have this. Does the pain become unbearable for the mother (ie. you pass out)? Or does it become unbearable for the baby (ie. they become stressed)? Or both? Has anyone experienced a birth that was unmedicated and you went past the point where you could have an epidural and it became unbearable? No. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Pain
My advice is that you should go as long as you can without any medication
and then if you can not handle it anymore then go straight to an epidural. I did not really find it all that painful more unnerving and it bothered me that I could not pinpoint the discomfort. Also it bugged me to be moved arround but the nurses kept wanting to reposition me and that is when I finaly got an epidural I was fine when left alone in one spot. Also make sure you have plenty of suport on hand. you may not want anyone in the room with you but if you dont ask anyone to be there then if your husband does not end up suporting you as much as you need then you will probably want an epidural sooner. I wanted someone to hover over me and tell me it was ok but I did not really get that and got an epidural instead... I was honnestly planning my next child while I was in labor if that tells you anything It did not feel like being stabbed or even like when I had what they thought was a gall bladder attack. It was not even as bad as some twisted ankles I have had... I guess the best way to describe it is that it is a "differant" pain. It does not compair to any other pain I have had. Tori -- Bonnie 3/20/02 Anna or Xavier due 10/17/04 "Shannon" wrote in message news:2004051112485411272%shannonNOSPAM@sdf1net... I was reading the very long thread regarding unassisted childbirth and pain and it got me thinking.... When people say that the pain becomes unbearable, what do they mean exactly? At what point do you know the pain is unbearable? Does the pain become unbearable for the mother (ie. you pass out)? Or does it become unbearable for the baby (ie. they become stressed)? Or both? Has anyone experienced a birth that was unmedicated and you went past the point where you could have an epidural and it became unbearable? -- Shannon Please remove -NO SPAM from email address to email me personally. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Pain
Shannon wrote in message news:2004051112485411272%shannonNOSPAM@sdf1net... I was reading the very long thread regarding unassisted childbirth and pain and it got me thinking.... When people say that the pain becomes unbearable, what do they mean exactly? At what point do you know the pain is unbearable? It's not an exact point. It gradually becomes too much. (In my experience) Does the pain become unbearable for the mother (ie. you pass out)? Or does it become unbearable for the baby (ie. they become stressed)? Or both? Mother. #1 was so relaxed during labour-she slept through most of it. What I found was for #1 I had contractions starting at 1am. Mild, like period pain, lasting about 60seconds 5 minutes apart. Too strong to sleep through-and I was excited so didn't really try to sleep. About 12 hours later the contractions got more painful. I went into hospital. After about 15 hours they checked me and said "well done you're 6cm dialated". By 22 hours later I had contractions coming every 2 minutes and lasting about 60 seconds still. Bear in mind that I had not slept for 22hrs either. They checked me again and said "you're doing really well-8cm" That was the point I called for an epidural (got it 2hrs later! Why do they make you sign consent forms in the middle of labour? I'd have signed ANYTHING that they'd said would take away the pain!) If they'd said 9cm I think I'd have coped but it had taken 7hrs for 2cm and the thought of another 7hrs for the last 2cm!!! I needed the rest, and couldn't relax at all. Labour was 30 hours in total. #2 I never got to the point of feeling overwelmed by the pain. Debbie Has anyone experienced a birth that was unmedicated and you went past the point where you could have an epidural and it became unbearable? -- Shannon Please remove -NO SPAM from email address to email me personally. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Pain
Unbearable is a relative term, you know? If you don't die about it and you are
here to tell the tale, then I guess you were able to bear it! For me, as long as I was able to be in control of my labors I did not find the pain unbearable. The only time I had an epidural for *labor* was when I was confined to bed on my left side hooked up to everything under the sun, including pitocin, when I had preeclampsia. Leslie |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Pain
"Shannon" wrote I was reading the very long thread regarding unassisted childbirth and pain and it got me thinking.... When people say that the pain becomes unbearable, what do they mean exactly? At what point do you know the pain is unbearable? For me - the unbearable pain was the back pain associated with back labor/posterior babies. Not unbearable to the point of passing out, or anything like that. It felt like someone was ripping my spine in two - I remember in one of my birth stories saying that I was trying to escape from it or something similar. It gets better after birth. I have back troubles anyway, though, so my experience might be not the norm. Does the pain become unbearable for the mother (ie. you pass out)? Or does it become unbearable for the baby (ie. they become stressed)? Or both? You know, I've not really thought about labor being so painful for the baby that they would get stressed. Is that part of the reasoning behind c-sections for preemies, I wonder? I remember reading somthing about that a year or so ago. I would guess that for a term healthy child, it wouldn't be that bad. Has anyone experienced a birth that was unmedicated and you went past the point where you could have an epidural and it became unbearable? I haven't - well, actually I might have.. My 2nd birth was extremely painful because of the back and I did have a shot of something or other at the hospital. If that hadn't worked, I might have gone to something stronger (like a c-section.. she was in distress but no-one but dh and I knew until she was born) With my #5 I thought very seriously about going to the hospital for medication. Seriously enough that between contractions, dh was getting the little people dressed and had the phone ready to call 911 if need be. Both of those times - and with my other births as well - just after the point where I couldn't take it anymore, I started pushing and had a baby within minutes. -- Shannon Just my experience.. Personally I found dental surgery/recovery and recurrent kidney infections to be much more painful overall than any of my labors. The labor was done sooner and I got a great reward from dealing with itg Stephanie mom to 7 - 4 hospital, 3 unassisted 17, 15, 12, 8, 6, 3, and 11 months (1 on Sunday) |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Pain
On Tue, 11 May 2004 12:05:33 -0700, "Circe" wrote:
By my definition, unbearable is the point at which you feel that you are feeling fear and stress as well as pain during contractions and cannot relax between contractions because you are already fearing the next. When that happens for any individual is impossible to pointpoint. But especially when you lose the ability to relax between contractions, you're in trouble, IMO. Another component of the bearability index is also exhaustion. I think many women who opt for pain medication after planning not to have it give in because they have been laboring for a long, long time and are so tired that they're no longer able to muster the mental and physical resources required to cope with the contractions. You've keyed in on my experience with my first labor. I was so exhausted and so stressed about the *next* contraction hitting me that I couldn't relax. I got a shot of Demerol in my IV and that enabled me to relax enough to doze off between cx and my son was born less than 2 hours later. Nan |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Pain
Shannon wrote:
When people say that the pain becomes unbearable, what do they mean exactly? At what point do you know the pain is unbearable? By my definition, unbearable is the point at which you feel that you are feeling fear and stress as well as pain during contractions and cannot relax between contractions because you are already fearing the next. When that happens for any individual is impossible to pointpoint. But especially when you lose the ability to relax between contractions, you're in trouble, IMO. Another component of the bearability index is also exhaustion. I think many women who opt for pain medication after planning not to have it give in because they have been laboring for a long, long time and are so tired that they're no longer able to muster the mental and physical resources required to cope with the contractions. Does the pain become unbearable for the mother (ie. you pass out)? I've never heard of this happening, though I suppose it might. I think, mostly, unbearable to me just means that you are not able to exert any mental or physical strength to cope with the pain any more. Or does it become unbearable for the baby (ie. they become stressed)? Maternal pain doesn't induce fetal stress, to my knowledge. Although fetal stress certainly can occur during labor, I don't believe it has any relationship to the mother's experience of pain. Has anyone experienced a birth that was unmedicated and you went past the point where you could have an epidural and it became unbearable? Nope. I had an epidural in my first labor and wasn't really at the point where it was unbearable (though I didn't really have much rest between contractions, something I attribute to the pitocin). In retrospect, I know had less than an hour to go to full dilation and it probably would not have gotten much worst than it was. -- Be well, Barbara Mom to Sin (Vernon, 2), Misery (Aurora, 4), and the Rising Son (Julian, 6) Aurora (in the bathroom with her dad)--"It looks like an elephant, Daddy." Me (later)--"You should feel flattered." All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful. Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Pain
Shannon wrote:
I was reading the very long thread regarding unassisted childbirth and pain and it got me thinking.... When people say that the pain becomes unbearable, what do they mean exactly? At what point do you know the pain is unbearable? My guess is they believe the pain is more than they're willing to bear, given that there are alternatives available. Does the pain become unbearable for the mother (ie. you pass out)? No, you generally don't pass out. It just hurts. Or does it become unbearable for the baby (ie. they become stressed)? The baby can become stressed, but I've never heard of it being because the mother was in pain. There are times when mom is stressed enough that an epidural allows mom to relax enough that labor gets back on track. Has anyone experienced a birth that was unmedicated and you went past the point where you could have an epidural and it became unbearable? In many places, there really isn't a time when it's too late for an epidural unless the baby's out (maybe not even then, if there's a lot of repair needed ;-) Also, for many women pushing is not the most difficult part of labor. Still, I have to say that in three births I never got to the point where I found it unbearable. It was hard work, and intense sometimes, but I never found it unbearable and never felt out of control or panicky. Best wishes, Ericka |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Pain
Tori M. wrote:
My advice is that you should go as long as you can without any medication and then if you can not handle it anymore then go straight to an epidural. I did not really find it all that painful more unnerving and it bothered me that I could not pinpoint the discomfort. Also it bugged me to be moved arround but the nurses kept wanting to reposition me and that is when I finaly got an epidural I was fine when left alone in one spot. Also make sure you have plenty of suport on hand. you may not want anyone in the room with you but if you dont ask anyone to be there then if your husband does not end up suporting you as much as you need then you will probably want an epidural sooner. I wanted someone to hover over me and tell me it was ok but I did not really get that and got an epidural instead... I was honnestly planning my next child while I was in labor if that tells you anything It did not feel like being stabbed or even like when I had what they thought was a gall bladder attack. It was not even as bad as some twisted ankles I have had... I guess the best way to describe it is that it is a "differant" pain. It does not compair to any other pain I have had. You've identified two huge factors that affect the experience of labor pain--interference with the mother's choice of position and movement, and lack of support. That's part of why it's uncommon to find unmedicated hospital births and uncommon to find homebirthers who wish they'd had drugs. They mess with you a lot in the hospital, and at home you're the boss. (You can limit the amount of messing they do in the hospital, but even the least they'll do is almost always a lot more than you'd have to deal with at home.) Best wishes, Ericka |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Chiro care of baby penises (also: Dr. Poland never sued Dr. Gastaldo) | Todd Gastaldo | Pregnancy | 6 | April 7th 04 04:58 PM |
Night backache in pregnancy (also Pelvic pain after delivery) | Todd Gastaldo | Pregnancy | 0 | February 22nd 04 02:29 AM |
| | Kids should work... | Kane | General | 13 | December 10th 03 02:30 AM |
Kids should work. | LaVonne Carlson | General | 22 | December 7th 03 04:27 AM |
FDA MDR: Obstetric tables (also: Pregnancy low back pain/Lordex Spine Institute) | Todd Gastaldo | Pregnancy | 0 | September 30th 03 05:49 PM |