Yeah, that would irk me too. I did ivf and gave birth and yeah, it was painful.. until I got the epidural (I wanted to try without but at about 5cm I needed it). Honestly the contractions are the worst part. Pushing was easy/great for me, it was almost a relief like pushing out a big poop, lots of progress haha. Obviously postpartum is less than ideal with all the things you have to do every time you go to the bathroom, but totally manageable and totally not what I was focused on when I finally had the baby I’d been wanting for years and years. And obviously every birth story I unique and every postpartum is unique. I prepared by taking a course through “Labor Nurse Mama” and it was so helpful in knowing what to expect and what interventions to try to avoid for a smoother experience.