Let's talk about THE pain...

I dropped off the little sprog at "school" again today. It's Day 2 and today I'm feeling it a little bit more. Yesterday I guess I just didn't let myself think about it. Today it's cold and gloomy and *sigh*...

I think about what he will feel waking up in a strange place with strangers all around him (he was sleeping when we dropped him off). Even adults get disoriented and confused if they suddenly find themselves all alone in a strange place where they don't know anybody, right? Now my baby, who depends on me for everything, for food, for warmth, for shelter, will wake up to room full of strange adults and other screaming little confused tots. *sad* Maybe today I'll go and check on him during lunch.

Anyway, to get my mind off things... let's talk about something else. The pain of labor and childbirth. Like I said, I'm eternally grateful for the advent of the Epidural Anasthesia. Maybe I would've been able to stand the pain but like what Mr. Mine says... "why should you?"

I went into labor at around 1.30 in the morning on the 4th of April 2008. Obviously I didn't KNOW I was having contractions. It felt like a moderate case of food poisoning, so I kept going to the loo to do a number 2. After a few times of this, Mr. Mine had the sense to ask if I was sure it wasn't contractions. That put things into perspective. However, since I'd already gone to the ER in the 6th month of pregnancy due to severe stomach cramps that turned out to be gas, I was understandably apprehensive about making another drama episode at the hospital.

Mr. Mine got busy bundling things into the car while I was deciding whether I really was popping the sprog that night. So after taking a shower in between feeling like having to poo really really bad, we ended up in the hospital at 4am where I was hooked up to the Baby and CTG monitor. And at 5.30 am, I decided, To Hell with the heroics, bring on the magic mushrooms (errr, the drugs).

Now about the pain. I was asked today if it was bearable. The thing is this... you know how it feels like when you really really have to go the bathroom to do a number 2, really really urgently, but there isn't a clean bathroom in sight so you have to hold it in? That's how my contractions felt like. Bearable? Well, it comes in waves. When it hits you, you... well I, I grit my teeth, tense up and swear that I want that 6 inch needle stuck in my back NOW. But then it goes away. It goes away and its as if it never happened. So you think, oh well, that's not so bad all thoughts of being heavily drugged disappears. And then it hits you again and you kick yourself in the head for not having had that needle stuck in your back. Get it? Oh well, you had to be there.

My advice is this. Don't be a hero (although my Mum Idol of all time gave birth to a baby the size of a mini cooper, NATURALLY) and opt for that Epi early on in labor. I mean, there's a reason why God created the Epidural! Because if you wait long enough, it might be too late. And then... well, good luck, mate!