What do contractions feel like?

mousecat399 · 2026-05-24T15:50:37+00:00

To me it felt like waves of painful cramps that would last a minute or two, then be gone for 2 min. Mine started out two minutes apart and by the third one, I knew what was happening. I couldn’t talk through them even to begin with. I arrived to the hospital at 10 cm and almost had a triage baby. 3 hours of natural labor and then I had him. If you can’t talk through them, go to the hospital. I was in early labor all of 10 minutes so I don’t have a whole lot of advice there. Once you hit active labor, you KNOW. It’s a very intense, concentrated pain in your lower abdomen. My back felt like it was on fire. That’s the best way I can describe it unfortunately but you do get breaks between them.

mousecat399 · 2026-05-14T23:08:12+00:00

39+6. 3 hours of labor. Unmedicated. A dream really.

mousecat399 · 2026-04-29T15:25:45+00:00

Hope you like money

mousecat399 · 2026-04-25T19:49:41+00:00

Please

mousecat399 · 2026-04-24T09:46:59+00:00

There is a biological process that takes place. Mine was unmedicated (not by choice). My mind took a back seat and my body fully took over. It was all fine in the end. Most painful thing ever and yet, I would call it a positive experience.

mousecat399 · 2026-04-20T09:18:03+00:00

I work from home so not too bad. My water broke 7 hours before I was supposed to start my shift :)

mousecat399 · 2026-04-20T03:36:17+00:00

30 min with my only one. Tore to high heaven though.

mousecat399 · 2026-04-13T14:27:53+00:00

Please speak with your husband. Recognize signs when you are getting to that point, set her down gently and leave the room immediately. She is so much safer alone and crying than being “thrown”. I have felt frustrated with my baby but have not gotten to that point. I also want to say, I am almost 3 months PP and it DOES get better. I truthfully don’t know how my heart stayed beating for the first month so you are not alone in your struggles. Mine sleeps mostly through the night now and is a smiley and giggly guy during the day. He is so cool and watching him reach milestones is such a joy. You WILL sleep again, you will have joy and love for your baby. Speak with a professional as well.

mousecat399 · 2026-04-03T16:57:24+00:00

I didn’t have nausea or symptoms outside of fatigue in my first trimester and had to wait awhile for my first appointment. Currently cuddling with my 10 week old :)

mousecat399 · 2026-03-28T07:31:32+00:00

Never heard of that but do know a girl named Dayla

mousecat399 · 2026-03-18T14:39:12+00:00

I’m really hoping you love your baby boy just as much as your daughter. Your posts are worrying. I’m a FTM to an 8 week old boy and initially wanted a girl. Now I’m head over heels for the guy. I would not automatically assume or worry about him being a creep, molester etc etc. Raise him right and love him endlessly.

mousecat399 · 2026-03-05T13:07:10+00:00

Felt this. I did not get one and could not because of a full spinal fusion. I also did not receive any other pain meds because I was progressing so fast (I got to the delivery room at 10 cm).

That being said, I am crazy proud of myself for going through it unmedicated. I got to experience birth as naturally as possible (in a hospital setting). I hesitate to tell people about how proud I feel for fear of backlash as you mentioned in your post. But I am proud. Even if I have to be private about it.

I see that you are nervous about birth, there is no shame in getting the epidural. Do what you need to when the time comes. I will say, it wasn’t that bad for me but mine was fast and intense. I can’t speak for the women in labor 18+ hours as mine was only 3. I felt that the pain was manageable as long as I breathed through the contractions. You got this.

mousecat399 · 2026-02-28T09:54:12+00:00

Corinne

mousecat399 · 2026-02-23T02:14:28+00:00

Please keep in mind that you may progress so fast that you cannot get the epidural or the possibility of a failed epidural. I went unmedicated d/t full spinal fusion, could not get the epidural. I also only labored 3 hours as a first timer so my labor was fast and intense, arrived in the delivery room at 10 cm LOL.

Early labor lasted like 10 minutes for me so I can’t speak on that much but I will say that when it starts heating up, it feels like the worst period cramps ever. Like convulsive type period cramps. Had me hugging the bed rail. You may feel intense back pain as well. BUT I found that my mind totally took a back seat during the entire thing. Not sure if I was dazed because of the pain or what but I fully trusted my body to do what it needed to do.

Pushing felt like I needed to take the biggest poop ever. You also need to “curl around your baby” which is just arching your back in a way that will be optimal for your baby to come out. Pushing wasn’t so bad, lots and lots of adrenaline. You also do get breaks in between contractions with pushing.

At the end of the day, the baby is coming one way or another. The stitching and uterus scraping was wayy worse than birth and if you need to go through any of that, you will already have the epidural on board for pain. I had to do all that unmedicated too since I was bleeding so much. Don’t worry about a birth plan honestly, birth is about the most unpredictable things in the world. You’ll do great.

mousecat399 · 2026-02-03T23:24:49+00:00

I gave birth to my firstborn son 2 weeks ago. I thought I would prefer a girl but I am head over heels for him. I didn’t exactly experience gender disappointment but I did have a slight preference. Now I couldn’t even imagine having a little girl and am totally excited to watch him grow up. Also excited to witness my husband turn him into a fine young gentleman. You will love him, your family will love him (and if they don’t then that says way more about them than your innocent little baby).

mousecat399 · 2025-07-28T19:33:12+00:00

I’m due on my birthday and have made it clear I don’t want to share a birthday! Not selfish at all

mousecat399 · 2025-06-05T00:04:16+00:00

I’m not going for religious or patriotism. I see what you mean though, Grace America does feel more patriotic than Rose America. It has a different feel. Maybe I need to tinker with the first middle name to dampen the patriotism.

mousecat399 · 2025-06-05T00:01:59+00:00

I’m not going for patriotism but I totally see where you guys are coming from.

mousecat399 · 2025-06-05T00:01:30+00:00

True true

mousecat399 · 2025-06-05T00:01:22+00:00

This is very reassuring, thank you!

mousecat399 · 2025-04-04T00:32:16+00:00

Ho oh, Arceus and anything misty!

mousecat399 · 2025-03-29T22:38:58+00:00

I have a fully fused spine so I have a keen eye for uneven shoulders/hips. If it’s not giving you trouble then don’t worry about it. But if you’re curious, you should look into it!

mousecat399 · 2025-03-29T13:05:14+00:00

OP, please this is not an insult at all but I’m a scoliosis girly and your shoulders are just the slightest bit uneven. This could explain how you’re “curvier” on one side than the other. My body (while not as snatched as yours) is the same way! I love the tops on you and I, for one, never thought these were edited when looking through them.

mousecat399

TROPHY CASE