TSara & eKayak: Knocked Up!!! :^D

[Alelou]

Ah. That's better. I was thinking that you were taking the natural thing to new heights there...

People are all over the place when it comes to pain tolerance. I used to think mine was really good until childbirth and the new dentist who can't seem to figure out how to numb the nerve she's actually working on, though she does get the whole upper side of my face deadened. I'd rather give birth again than have another root canal with that woman. She can't even seem to numb the upper teeth when she does cavities, but at least cavities are fast.

Which reminds me I really ought to find another dentist I trust a little more in these situations before I actually need one again.

[enterprikayak]

Don't let them scare you. It's not as bad as all that. Kind of like a menstrual cramp times ten.

That's exactly what it's like. B4 you do it, you're imagining unknown horrors and thinking of gore and blood and etc. But really, childbirth pain is mostly just like a gas cramp that gets worse and worse and then goes away. And then comes back and gets worse and then goes away. And on and on. By time anything gory is going on (ie pushing) you're actually almost done all the "pain of childbirth"...it's just feels like the worst gas you ever had. The pushing part's actually refreshing in a pyschotic cavelady kind of way since you're so tired of lying around shouting about these awful gas cramps, you're glad to jump right in and do something to get that kid out.

So the question is...how much gas can you handle?

I think it's weird how, one moment you think this nasty cramp is going to kill you, and then it's gone and you can just get up and go for a little walk or laugh over a joke, and you're in no pain at all. And then BAM it's back. And then BAM it's gone. Very weird.

[enterprikayak]

Ah. That's better. I was thinking that you were taking the natural thing to new heights there...

People are all over the place when it comes to pain tolerance. I used to think mine was really good until childbirth and the new dentist who can't seem to figure out how to numb the nerve she's actually working on, though she does get the whole upper side of my face deadened. I'd rather give birth again than have another root canal with that woman. She can't even seem to numb the upper teeth when she does cavities, but at least cavities are fast.

Which reminds me I really ought to find another dentist I trust a little more in these situations before I actually need one again.

Upper molars have a 3rd root that is fed by a different nerve than the other 2 roots, and so the doctors are supposed to freeze in a couple of specific spots to make sure all 3 roots are numb, and some don't do it very well.

[Alelou]

Oh, thank you! I was beginning to wonder if I'd just turned into the worst wuss. I never had trouble dealing with the dentist before this one. Naturally they're sweet and nice and local, but I've had enough.

I also didn't appreciate it when they took FIVE x-rays of my root canal because they just couldn't get it on the film.

[justTripn]

Two weeks ago I had a root canal and the dentist poked all around asking if this hurts or that hurts and I said no, I'm fine, then he reaches in my mouth and I jump like I've been shot. He goes. Did you feel pain. I went yes, but that's Ok. I just didn't know you were going to give me that injection. He goes I didn't give you an injection. That was a que-tip with novacaine. HA!

So alot of dealing with pain is psychological preparedness. And enterprikayak's description of the contractions is exactly right.

I would like to add that part of the natural childbirth philosophy was to make a nice inviting environment for the baby, welcome him to the world (which is probably kind of silly given all the horrible things that will happen down the road) but it totally worked in my son Jeremy's case. We turned down the lights on his behalf and he came out face up (yes the wrong way) with his eyes wide open. And HE DIDN"T CRY! We went heh, heh like he was going to cry then didn't. Like, OK, this place isn't so bad after all. Just started breathing and pinked right up. How about that!

Everyone said, they'd never seen a newborn look so alert. Because we had the lights down. He wasn't all squinty and crying. He was looking all around. And we floated him in a LeBoyer Bath, which is a little plastic tub of luckwarm water that babies are supposed to like. And he did! Everyone was amazed to see a newborn with his eyes wide open looking around.

[Alelou]

Well, everybody's different. Some women have back labor, which sounds like sheer murder. I can tolerate quite a bit of crampy type pain, but after a certain threshold it turns to vomiting, qnd that gets old really fast. Same when I have a bad migraine. I delayed going in with my appendicitis because I thought it was just a stomach flu. I also had an ovarian cyst once and the only really bothersome symptom I had was nausea. The doctor said that was apparently just how I experience pain.

Luckily that hasn't happened at the dentist even with Ms. Let's Ignore That Other Nerve Branch. Boy, that would teach her...

[enterprikayak]

Okay. I am OUT of the first trimester. OUT.

Will someone please tell this to my stomach? I mean, constant vomiting is good times and all, don't get me wrong.

But I've had enough. I'd like to get off please.

[Alelou]

Ugh. I just can't imagine.

Any day now. Maybe tomorrow morning.

My stepdaughter is finally feeling better after four months -- it took forever. Now she's eating like a horse.

[Distracted]

Like a horse is about right. My first child was made of TCBY Belgian waffles. I ate them morning, noon and night... with berries, frozen yogurt and whipped cream. I'd send my hubby out for them at 11 pm. It was insane. I gained 35 pounds total. It was all waffle.

[enterprikayak]

I am barfing all day and then eating like an animal at night.

I already barfed today. But I hadn't eaten yet. Barfing nothing is SO fun.

[Alelou]

That's why you're supposed to keep saltines next to the bed. So that you can barf SOMETHING.

[enterprikayak]

But on the upside, I got this video of my big bean today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlaeLPYLrZQ

She loves those ABCs.

[evcake]

Awww....

[Bether6074]

A gas cramp? You've got to be kidding! Maybe I'm just a wuss. I would describe it more as the feeling of a calf cramp only in a much larger area. That's not to mention the feeling that a sledgehammer is repeatedly pounding your back while this is going on. It's this huge crescendo of pain and the closer you get to delivery the more intense the pain gets and the longer it lasts. The part where I always seemed to lose it was when there was seemingly no break. No sooner did the pain ease up and it would start back up again. I would describe it as brutal and unimaginable pain, but well worth what you receive in the end. Not intended to scare anyone, but that is how it was for me.

[Distracted]

I really think some women either have a much higher pain tolerance or a much stretchier body than I do... or maybe they're just more masochistic. I was numb from nipples to knees from 4 or 5 cm dilated onward for all three of my kids, with the odd hot spot or underdosed epidural, quickly remedied, so I didn't even feel the "pooping out the watermelon" stage. I'm thinking this is a GOOD thing, since I would still describe what I DID feel before getting my epidurals as closer to what Bether described than a "menstrual cramp times ten". Of course, I generally don't get menstrual cramps, so what do I know? I just know labor hurts. Since I dislike pain, I asked the nice anesthesiologist to make it go away.