As weird as I\u2019m sure it may sound to many women who have been experienced labor, after three times I still do not find contractions \u201cpainful\u201d.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying they\u2019re enjoyable or something I want to experience regularly but I don\u2019t experience them as a \u201cpain\u201d or \u201churting\u201d sensation.\u00a0 With Honeybun, once I was hooked up to the Pitocin drip, the contractions were debilitating.\u00a0 Despite taking a hypnobirthing class I was unable to breathe or relax through the intensity of the contractions. All I could do was suck my breath in and couldn\u2019t manage to breathe out which is essential to relaxation (and life!).\u00a0 This feeling of losing control and having no labor support led me to choosing the narcotic pain relief which I found even worse than just bearing the contractions (see\u00a0“The Best Laid Birth Plans”<\/a>).<\/p>\n When I became pregnant with Sugarplum, I began a strict regimen of preparing for labor.\u00a0 Each morning while Honeybun\u00a0napped, I practiced deep relaxation, listening to a hynobirthing exercise called the \u201cRainbow Relaxation\u201d.\u00a0 At night when as I fell asleep, I did peaceful visualizations and practiced deep relaxation more.\u00a0 As the pregnancy progressed I added soothing music to my nighttime regime and a favorite scented oil to my day time relaxation.\u00a0 As I got closer to delivery I began practicing deep, relaxation breathing during my Braxton-Hicks contractions.\u00a0 All this preparation worked out for me.\u00a0 During my labor with Sugarplum I was able to easily relax and breathe through each contraction, curling myself around my sweet baby and then come back to normal between contractions, carrying on a normal conversation.<\/p>\n With Doodle I was not as regimented about practicing my relaxation and was a little worried I would not cope as well with my contractions but when my labor started, my body remembered exactly what to do and I easily breathed and relaxed through each contraction until the very end when I was ready to push.\u00a0 In fact, I managed my contractions so well that my midwife had trouble timing my contractions as needed because she couldn\u2019t tell when I was having one.<\/p>\n While I\u2019m sure every mommy experiences labor differently and many will disagree with my description, here\u2019s the best comparison I can personally make for how labor contractions feel to my body:\u00a0 Imagine sitting with your leg tucked under you for so long that your entire limb from the knee down falls asleep.\u00a0 Then you have to get up and walk on it, causing the blood to surge back into the limb causing an intense, crazy tingling sensation throughout your entire lower leg and foot.\u00a0 While you know it will eventually die off and be back to normal, the intensity of the tingling makes you want to climb out of your body and run away from the uncomfortable sensation.\u00a0 All you want is for it to be done and go back to normal but there is unfortunately nothing you can do except wait for the feeling to pass.\u00a0 Then repeat every few minutes for several hours. (Can you tell I hate the sensation of an asleep limb reawakening?).<\/p>\n
![\"duckie\"](\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/duckie-300x198.jpg\")
<\/a>Me with the rubber duckie used to monitor the water temperature during my water birth with Sugarplum. \u00a0I was 7 cm when I got in the pool and was all smiles between contractions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"