i am amazed - and impressed

cameragirl21 wrote: that no one here is saying that the natural childbirth was so painful you'd not redo it.
i've lost count of how many pg women i photograph who then come back for the newborn pics and tell me how horrible it was and how they'll never do it again and that the epi is the greatest thing ever invented, etc, etc, etc.
even my doc, who is female and so far childless says that after over a decade of delivering babies, she'd not considering going without an epi under any circumstances and thinks anyone who wants to is just .
you are a strong group, kudos!

MotherForever2043 replied: I would NEVER have a natural childbirth!!

C&K*s Mommie replied: It really was not that bad. Not painful whatsoever. But everyone has a different threshold for pain, and if you know your tolerance for pain is lower than an epi is a good choice.
We are all strong women from the moment of conception to the time we have to "let go" of our babies as they move on and up in the world through marriage, college, or careers. That is where I think my strength as a mom will falter... the day Chris and I will "give away" our babies.

moped replied: It is a pain you forget - I never thought in a million years I would say that - I didn't go all natural and it still hurt like H**L but you do forget

PrairieMom replied: honestly, It wasn't fun, by any means, but it really was not that bad. All women have the strength go to through it with out meds, that is how it was done until really very recently in our history as humans. When I though about how women had been doing it that way for thousands of years, I knew that I would have the strength go to through it too. I had both of mine with out and Epi, and would definitely do it again. I am actually more scared of complications that you can have from the Epi its self.

MoonMama replied: I didn't plan on a natural birth I thought it was going to be H**L from the get go and I wouldn't be able t handle it. But when we got to the hospital I was already 10 cm and ready to go and you know while it hurt like HECK, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I think I could do it again.

~*Just Me*~ replied:
Why not ?

redplaydoh replied: For me, I have never felt so empowered as a woman than when I birthed my babies. With each contraction I thought of it as hugging my baby that was soon going to be in my arms. I went into pregnancy knowing I could birth my babies naturally because my body was designed for that. I knew I would only be pregnant twice and I wanted to experience each aspect and "feel" the labor process.
People say you forget what the pain is like, but honestly I can remember it so well and I treasure it. I worked and labored to bring my baby here... It hurt, but gosh it was a good pain because my baby was coming to meet me.

Do I sound totally whacko now? I hope what I wanted to say came across in the above. This was my personal feeling and I know it isn't the way everyone feels which is what makes each of experiences unique. I love reading ALL birth stories by the way!!!

My3LilMonkeys replied: The pain was much worse with the natural childbirth for me (I had an epi for Brooke, 100% natural for Madison) but the recovery was so much easier that I would never do anything but natural again. I'd rather deal with a few hours of pain natural vs a week of recovery from the epi.

cameragirl21 replied:
you don't sound wacko at all, DeAnn, you sound like one proud and happy mama!

jcc64 replied: I did the first 2 with no drugs, and the 3rd with an epi ( I foolishly let my mother talk me into it), and if I ever had another- I'd go natural again. I had a traumatic experience with the epi- yes it took the pain of the contrax away, but "coming down" from the drugs was AWFUL. I was shaking and sweating so much that my dh thought I was having convulsions. I couldn't even hold my baby for the first 2 hrs after her birth. The pain of childbirth, as others have said, is something we are physically equipped to handle. Emotionally- that's up to the individual.

DansMom replied: Just after birthing Daniel, I felt like I had been in a car accident for several weeks. This was mostly from how much I tensed my muscles during contractions during 23 hours. I also had a 3rd degree tear that took months to heal, incontinence and all the normal stuff. I said at the time that I wouldn't want to go through it again---part of the reason Daniel is an only child, though not the only reason. But I would go natural again if I were to have another child, and I'd hire a doula this time---that is what was missing, I think, in my experience: someone to coach me to relax my muscles, someone who was there just for me (DH did his best but couldn't help with techniques and coaching much).

CantWait replied: I've done it twice now, and would do it again without a thought. I think it's just a much better feeling when everything is over being completely lucid and aware of everything going on around you and being able to feel everything.

HuskerMom replied: My threshold of pain is not very high at all and luckily with my c-section I didn't have to know what the pain of a natural birth is like. I applaud anyone who can go through a natural birth Luckily for me the hospital here doesn't have VBAC