the birth

Gosh, that's hard to explain! I've had two kids, so I've experienced it twice. But both times were different. The first one went according to the book (let's say over 8 hours) and the second one was within 4 hours. And that last one was pretty intense, I'd say. The pain is hard to describe; you actually get better at handling it if you stay calm and just let it wash over you. If you fight it, it can feel more painful. But I found both times manageable, and the moment you say, "I'm done with this!" you're usually at the end! And don't focus on those cm. You can go from 2cm to 10cm in 10 minutes (for example, from 8 to 10cm). With the second one, I was at 9cm within an hour; that last cm took almost 3 hours (pushing for only 6 min, and it was a big one with 10 lbs :-)). And with the first one, those last 5cm were done in 2 hours. Trust your body, and take a yoga class or something to build confidence in yourself!

Hi Nienke, thank you so much. Doesn't sound bad-) it'll definitely vary from person to person, but I'm really curious about the general idea.
Best,
Katie

For me, it was mainly the last few centimeters because the contractions get more intense and the baby sinks deeper. Unfortunately, with my last birth, I got unlucky and started pushing contractions at 8 cm, but I wasn't allowed to push. Personally, I found that the worst because you can't really blow those contractions away. But luckily, it doesn't happen often that you get pushing contractions before you're fully dilated.

Thank you, ladies, how can you describe the pain?

Katie

For me, the dilation contractions felt like period cramps, but 100x stronger , and the pushing contractions felt like my whole body was cramping up, with no choice but to push the baby out. The description sounds more dramatic than it actually was With my first, when the pushing contractions started at 10 cm dilation, I found them a relief after the dilation contractions. You can do things, and you can see the result coming.

Just as an addition to the pain, it's indeed like period cramps (for me, it's at the bottom of my belly; I didn't have back labor, so I can't really describe that), and then the pain slowly builds up to a peak, and then subsides again, and then you have a few minutes without pain. Only those peaks come closer together. In between (if you don't have a contraction storm), you can easily catch your breath, talk, even laugh a bit :-)

I had the same thing with my second as you did, Lexie. I found it really dramatic, honestly... I was almost breathless, and you automatically give counter-pressure, right?

Hi! I'm on my 11th day of 40 weeks, today is July 1st. I didn't sleep at all last night because of the pain in my belly and back. It went on all night, sometimes intense, sometimes less so, but still painful until early morning. Now I also have period-like pain, sometimes really intense!! I had a 2cm dilation check with my doctor yesterday. Are these already real contractions? I can't take it anymore. With my first baby, I had an emergency C-section at 35 weeks, so I don't know what contractions feel like... Greetings

If you have real contractions, you'll recognize them right away, even if you've never had them before.
Probably preterm contractions. I had preterm contractions and stinging pains at the bottom for 1.5 weeks with my second daughter.

It's not comparable to menstrual pain. It's very hard to explain how it feels.

When you have real contractions and labor starts, they come closer together and the pain becomes more intense.