I also would describe my labor as gratifying. In the same way that doing anything physical and hard and succeeding is gratifying, like climbing a mountain. And oh the endorphins when you're done! (As a non-athlete, I don't get a lot of endorphins in my life).

What happens in labour if you don't try? They yell at you to push and stuff--what if you just fucking can't? Does that mean they have to do a caesarian to avoid bad stuff?

I'm all about the endorphin rush, but not so much when it gets you a dependent human. Though I'd love to sit up (or loll limply) after labour and enthuse "That was better than krav!" Mostly for reaction's sake.

I never thought I'd say this: Maybe Mariah's problem is that she wears too much clothing.

While I'm serial posting, this article tells of weirdness, but the choice of graphic cracks me up.

I happened to be at the hospital visiting another new mom when a friend of mine gave birth. After 20 hours. I've never seen anyone that exhausted be that perky in my life. Hell, she's perky normally, and I don't think I've ever seen her that perky before. If she could have stood without falling, she'd have been bouncing off the walls. Apparently, she reacts very cheerily to the endorphin rush.

shrift, we are sharing a day. You know what doesn't help you calm down from three rush requests and discovering your developers fucked up 2 years ago and no one told you? Dealing with fuckhead drivers including one ambulance. I pull out of the way. Some moron pulls parallel to me, blocking the road. I move to allow the ambulance to pass. So does fuckhead. Meanwhile, the damned truck is now tailgating me, honking, blinding me with its lights and I'm just trying to get out of the way and people are getting in MY way.

Then it passes me and parks in the one ONE! location which is only wide enough for one vehicle. They finally moved, but I was yelling at that point.

God I hate people.

ita, thanks to you I'm now know what the hell is going on (well, not really, but I know what it isn't) when I get the weird stress headaches that feel like someone tightened my scalp at the back of my head. I figured it was some weird muscle thing (and would ponder if unscrewing my head might work,) but no! It's right where all those ocipi... nerves are! I couldn't figure out how it could be muscles, because my neck and shoulders never hurt with those things. My scalp is just too tight and crampy.

What happens in labour if you don't try? They yell at you to push and stuff--what if you just fucking can't? Does that mean they have to do a caesarian to avoid bad stuff?

Your body's doing 80% of the work without you. Back in the day, they'd put women in twilight sleep, and they'd deliver.

There are some schools of childbirthing on the woowoo side that tell you not to push, as I recall.

Most women I know have really, really, really felt the need when the time came, though. It's physically not unlike feeling as if you really, really, really need to use the bathroom.

Sara, I bought Gray's Anatomy flash cards, and was starting on the neck and spine section, since that's most of my issues these days. But studying gave me a headache so I stopped.

Your body's doing 80% of the work without you

So you could just chill and then when the urge came over you, push? I also remember TV deliveries yelling at the chick to stop pushing, even if she felt like it.

So you could just chill and then when the urge came over you, push?

After they gave me my epidural (I was 7cm and 80% efaced), I went to sleep. Deep sleep. I slept all the way through transistion. Joe asked the nurse, "How will she know when to push if she's asleep?" The nurse told him, "Her body will tell her."

Sure enough, 10am I sat right up in bed, and announced, "I need to push." The nurse came in and yep. 10cm and fully effaced, baby at station negative one.

A friend of mine didn't even realize she was pushing until suddenly there was a baby in the tub with her. I didn't tell my SIL that, though. She's still not over the fact that the base hospital was waaay understaffed christmas eve and they didn't have a spare person to give her a epidural or any pain mgmt drugs.

A friend of mine didn't even realize she was pushing until suddenly there was a baby in the tub with her

I hope at least she knew she was pregnant. Otherwise, quite a scare.