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It's true — some moms actually don't experience contraction pain

It's true — some moms actually don't experience contraction pain

by

Laura Falin

posted in Pregnancy

I like to remind my oldest child that it took a good 36 hours of labor to birth him. I figure if someday all my kids are fighting over who has to take care of me in my old age, this fact puts him over the edge. It’s my retirement insurance.

Not all of those 36 hours were hard labor, but all of those 36 hours involved contractions. I noticed every single one of them and none of them felt good.

I have friends whose kids came quickly. I even have an acquaintance who had one in the car on the side of the road because they couldn’t make it to the hospital. I have another friend whose doctor joked that if she had any more kids, she should rent a room at the hospital beforehand to make sure she got there in time.

Before now, though, I had never heard of having a full labor with contractions…but not actually feeling them. Apparently, this is a thing. Several of you told your stories in the BabyCenter Community, and I’m fascinated.

no contraction pain

It all started with a question from Bridget182: “I dilated with my son to 7cm without feeling any contraction pain and it was a fluke the midwife even realized I was in labor. In fact, it was so difficult to tell if/when I was having contractions and we relied completely on the monitor. I was no help. I’m now pregnant with #2 and nervous that you usually deliver faster on subsequent pregnancies. Anybody else have more than 1 kid without feeling contractions?”

A few people chimed in with their own stories. SarahValencia said, “I didn’t feel anything with my first until they broke my water at 8cm, and then I got an epi. With my second my water broke at 34 weeks and contractions never started. With my 3rd I was induced at 39 weeks and never felt contractions before or after my epi…” (for the record, I, too, have had epidurals with all of my children, and I still felt contractions).

Kalayab91 said, “I didn’t know I was having contractions at all. ..I was 4cm when they said I had to go into L&D. Only knew I was having contractions through the machine.”

Wow. I’m trying to imagine this and…just…wow.

And Tamsin NZ had this story to share. “I made it to full dilation or very close to it with baby #1 while I was sleeping…With baby #2, I woke up to annoying leg cramps and it took me about 30 mins to realize they were contractions. Midwife showed up 30 mins later and I was 9cm dilated. Left for the hospital straight away and baby was born 3 mins after we got there. Nervous to see how it goes with #3.”

I don’t blame you! I like to think that having a baby without feeling contraction pain would be beautiful and easy and wonderful, but the truth is – you guys face your own set of challenges.

I’m not sure if those moms who don’t feel contraction pain are just lucky or if  they all have amazing pain thresholds, and I definitely do not. But I’m going to leave you with my favorite comment from optimistic mama-to-be, Katdec17.

“Sounds wonderful! I’m a FTM (first time mom) and now I have something really unrealistic to hope for . . .”

What was your experience like? Did you have pain during contractions? 

Images by iStock

The post It's true — some moms actually don't experience contraction pain appeared first on BabyCenter Blog.

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