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sweetsin, everyone is differant. as for me i was induced and had the epidural bacause for me the pain was too much, i could still feel the contractions coming but it wasnt painfull i could feel tightness in areas of my stomache. i had absolute no pain, i didnt even break out in a sweat during birth and i was up and showered half n hour later. just hope the baby comes out fine, that is what makes it all easy, my boy was in a perfect position and i didnt tear or have to get cut at all so it was the best!. you will know if you cant handle the pain i was worried that i would leave it too late and couldnt have the epidural so i asked for it at 4 cm dilated. it can slow down the labour having it early, iv heard but i was induced so it didnt mean anything! also, im the type of person that i expected it to get worse and worse than what it was so when it was over, i was also like you, expcting horrible horrible pain and was so scared. and it turned out not to be half as bad! good luck!!!

hi, it was exactly like yumymumy said about the epidural for me, i could still feel the tightning of the contractions but no pain.I was so glad i had it, i had been in labour for about 17 hours then once i had the epidural i was in heaven.it was still another 15 hours before i had him but he got out so thats the main thing.i had to be cut & the vacc_m extration for the baby as he was stuck after 2 & half hours of pushing.my advice would be to not to focus on the pain but think of your wonderful lt_ttle baby that you will have at the end of it. I was so worried about the needle going in & i didn't even end up feeling it . goodluck

Hi sweetsin - thought I'd give you a different view...I've not had an epidural so I can't tell you how it feels with that...But I've had 3 children with no pain relief so I can describe how that felt... For me it was like having a bad period cramp...my stomach got very tight and you could feel it pulse..It started up quite high and through time worked its way down...Gradually it got stronger and more intense but it didn't get worse than the pains I had as a teenager....I dealt with it by focusing and breathing - but thats not for everyone and I think I'm quite lucky with labour pain...Delivering the head is certainly the worst part of the whole thing - I felt like I was ripping or burning , it felt like an eternity but was more like seconds and the relief is instantaneous!! I have never had a tear or st_tches or anything...I do feel that you should try not to be scared of the process - easier said than done I know -tensing up will make it worse...Good luck when your time comes...

I would just like to suggest one thing to you, sweetsin. you really need to be prepared for the unexpected. you say, "i am getting an epidural". well, i thought that i would get one too, but it didnt work out that way. from my first pregnancy i remember the nurse in the childbirth cla__ses saying, 'definitely know what you want, but also know that most mothers do not get exactly what they want." of course in the end i was glad that i didnt get an epi, but it most certainly wasnt planned that way. and it is so cliche, but really - just think about the bub - its worth it end the end

Labor pain is a self-fulfilling prophesy. It hurts more if you are tense. If you are scared of the pain, you'll be tense. You see where I'm going with this? For me what worked was reading as much as possible to know what to expect. I went the natural route (no epidural) using the Bradley method. It was a wonderful experience. It hurt, but it wasn't the "OMG, I'm going to die" kind of pain. Good luck to you.

Did natural also, no tearing or cutting either. I won't lie, I was in pain, but you know what? I forgot it immediately. After that I was just plain tired. When I woke up I sat cross legged on the hospital bed and turned on tv waiting for my baby to be brought to me. The nurse came in and said "Are you sure you just gave birth?"

I was taking the contractions one at a time. When the pain would start up again, I would just think oh this contraction is going to run its course and then I'll get a break again. I didn't concentrate on the whole picture.

Sweetsin1020~ an epidural is god's gift to women in labor!!! I couldn't feel a thing except a little pressure when a contraction was coming, but it wasn't painful at all! If you have the epidural and start to feel pain, then you just push that little b___ton and tada, the pain is gone! I even broke my tail bone when pushing and no pain....well until the next day! Good luck and everything will be great....I would do it again tomorrow!

I will tell you what happened to me personally I went into labor a week late and my water broke when I was on the phone w/ my bestfriend complaining how the baby was never coming. I went to the hospital and was only a 1 cm dialated, and my dd had a meconium movement, a very small one, but she had it. My whole birth plan dissolved on the spot. Whatever...I was going to have an "all natural" birth w/ a waterbirth, I had to be on monitors the whole time, they gave me pitocin(because I am the slowest woman to dialate) and I ended up having an epi(have it if you want it). Labor is a personal experience, and for me and I am sure many other women, the closer it gets the more you forget about the scariness of it I just wanted to meet my little girl and hold her in my arms. I ended up having problems w/ her positioning and having an emergency c-section which sounds scary and awful, but all I cared about was our health, I wanted my daughter to be okay, and I was in labor for 28 hours and we were getting in distress. Trust me if something like that happens it is okay, I am thankful I was in the hospital and my doctors and nurses took amazing care of us. My contractions were like really bad period cramps and I would have been great if I could have done that d__n waterbirth, but someone(or something)had another plan for my daughters journey into this world and you know what I am okay with that, she is a beautiful big blue eyed 3month old doll, and I would do every bit all over again to see her for the first time again. Man I just got all weepy eyed, she really is amazing. It is the most amazing journey in life and I cherish every moment, even the scary ones. Good luck.

I had an epidural with my first daughter and I could not feel anything not tightening or pain nothing... I was in labor for 29 1/2 hrs and the epidural lasted for the last 16 hrs of that and then about 4 hrs after my c-section a lot of people that I even talked to said that they could feel the pressure but not me thank God... I am pregnant again 19 1/2 weeks and my daughter is only 10 months old so from going probably more worried than you are to being pregnant again, whatever I did to bring her into this world, I would do 10x over. when you see your baby you will not care about how you felt before your angel got here... congrats to all

My labor pains were very intense after they broke my water. After I got the epidural I couldn't feel anything but the back labor, which not everyone has, and when the baby was crowning I could feel the pressure. Thats about it. The epidural made my labor a wonderful experience.

I had every intention of doing a drug free birth with my dd but ended up being induced at 38 wks. The pitocin contractions were tough and once my water broke I asked for the epi. It was heaven! About 20 mins after getting it I felt an urge to push. The nurse checked and I was 10cms (from 4!). The Dr. came in and I pushed for about 3o minutes and dd was born. I had a walking epidural and asked for it to be turned down so I could feel to push. When her head was crowning it was a burning sensation that hurt but didn'y last long. My total labour was 5.5 hours. I am now 35 wks pregnant with my second and can hardly wait for labour!

sweetsin, if your epidural is administered properly, you won't feel any pain....you will feel pain up until that point (a lot of places won't administer it until you are in active labor, which they consider to be after 3 or 4 cm dialated)..If you get it too soon, before 3 cm, it can actually slow your labor down. But after you get it, you should feel no pain. You will be able to feel the pressure when the baby is close to coming out and when you need to push, but there is no pain a__sociated with it.

Hello I was so so scared, and in a way I was really pleased i was, as it made me think afterwards what was all the fuss about, however I was a big baby and had the epidural, which was the best thing in the world, It made the labour really stress free. I was in labour 13 hours and had four top ups, I couldnt feel anything, it was great. When I needed to start pushing, I did feel pressure but no pain at all. It just kinda felt like I needed to pump. Dont worry, you will be fine. Enjoy every moment.