Pregnant people suffer intense physical discomfort
11 posts across 2 communities in the last 30 days; 82% from r/BabyBumps.
“TLDR; 70+ hour labour, big baby, hopeful natural birth mom turned to epidural, vaginal delivery, curious why early labour was so painful/consistent and confusing. 32yo first time mom, British Columbia, Canada Monday July 13th 2026 40+2 Contractions began at 10pm, this was the…”
“Maybe this is random, but I had a lengthy labour. First I want to disclaim by saying: this is not a competition. I’m actually pretty devastated that my labour was allowed to go on for this long. Baby was in stargazer position which caused painful but ineffective contractions for…”
“Pain: I'm 35 weeks pregnant with my second and I have never been in more pain. I look forward to the labor so this hell can end. I have horrible sciatica pain on both hips but mainly the left and if it's not that, it's my shoulder blades. It literally feels like my body is being…”
Several posts describe significant physical distress during early pregnancy, including nausea, congestion, restless legs, and difficulty eating or sleeping. This experience is described as unexpectedly severe and negatively impacting quality of life.
SOURCES (29)
“I vomited so hard I got pee in my socks. :) submitted by /u/remarkably_noone [link] [comments]”
“Were there anything non obvious signs that happened to you where you were like "oh okay it's about to go down"? submitted by /u/No_Heart_2225 [link] [comments]”
“TLDR; 70+ hour labour, big baby, hopeful natural birth mom turned to epidural, vaginal delivery, curious why early labour was so painful/consistent and confusing. 32yo first time mom, British Columbia, Canada Monday July 13th 2026 40+2 Contractions began at 10pm, this was the only time they were any longer than 5 minutes apart. For maybe an hour I was questioning if I was having genuine contractions although they were much more painful than Braxton hicks which had been basically painless for me.”
“Maybe this is random, but I had a lengthy labour. First I want to disclaim by saying: this is not a competition. I’m actually pretty devastated that my labour was allowed to go on for this long. Baby was in stargazer position which caused painful but ineffective contractions for days. I started feeling contractions/cramps on Friday morning, lost my mucus plug around noon and throughout the day the contractions ramped up. Did the Miles Circuit to help baby in position and kickstart things. Went t”
“I just kind of want to come on here and talk and see what other people think to be honest. For reference I'm a STM and I had an elective induction that almost went sideways multiple times at 39w4d with my first who is now 2. I am 34w 3d pregnant with my second child. Due to the experience of the induction that i now regret scaring the hell out of me multiple times I am wanting to go into labor naturally. So I kind of figured hey why don't I give my symptoms and we can have a little fun g”
“Woke up 6am yesterday with contractions every 10 minutes. They hurt badly, but I was able to function. Then as the day progressed they were eventually 3 minutes apart and SO bad it was making my eyes tear up and I couldnt move at all. Worst pain ive ever gone through so far, and it was NONSTOP torture. Eventually went to the hospital where they checked my cervix and I was finally dilated but only 2 cm. Got sent home with a shot of morphine and they were STILL horrible. Managed to get a tiny bit”
“I gave birth yesterday at 40 weeks. 38 hours in labor and 30 minutes of pushing. I went to my weekly doctors appointment at 39.5 my blood pressure readings were high so I was advised to go to the hospital to be monitored. I was diagnosed with gestational hypertension and they were concerned about pre eclampsia so they decided to induce me. I wanted a natural birth but because of the hypertension and my asthma they recommended an epidural in case there was an emergency (so happy I listened) Altho”
“I’m 39w pregnant with my 2nd and so miserable thanks to prodromal labor (which I had never even heard of until a few weeks ago!). My first was born via emergent induction at 37w so this is all totally foreign to me. I dont even remember having Braxton Hicks with my first! I started having contractions 5 days ago, then went in the next day for my routine appt and got a membrane sweep. I was only 2cm dilated and baby was super high. That afternoon contractions really ramped up to being ~6 min apar”
“Pain: I'm 35 weeks pregnant with my second and I have never been in more pain. I look forward to the labor so this hell can end. I have horrible sciatica pain on both hips but mainly the left and if it's not that, it's my shoulder blades. It literally feels like my body is being torn apart and I'm in tears every night. If it was just the pain, I could probably tough it out but I'm getting max 2 - 3 hours of broken sleep a night. I cant remember the last time I slept more than”
“After a foley tube, water breaking, oxytocin drip, 17 hours of contractions, and finally a c-section after I hadn’t dilated past 6 cm in over 4 hours, baby came! His head was stuck in my pelvis even though he wasn’t too big, 7 pounds, 7 oz. Pregnancy was hard as I had gestational diabetes and my birth was long and unexpected but I would do it all over again. He’s healthy and happy and he’s so handsome. So far he’s been a great baby! I honestly miss him being in my belly some days, the postpartum”
“37w6 today with my first pregnancy. The ONLY thing I didn’t want was an induction. My body has not been my own for the last nine months. I just wanted to go into labor on my own. I wanted my baby to tell me he was ready and we’d go from there. I still wanted drugs/epidural/medical intervention. I just wanted my body to tell me when it was time. But I’m being induced tonight. I did the 24 hour urine test and there was protein present that was just above the range they’re comfortable with so I’ll”
“Went to Dr this am after having contractions for 30-40 min this morning. 5 min apart intense. Ended up being 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced Since 2:00 pm they started back again, they’ve been every 10 minutes for like over 3 hours then have went up and down. Now 6 hours since they started, about every 15-20 minutes. They’re bad u guys. They’re horrible. I have horrible period cramps and this is like next level. I don’t know how I’m supposed to get to a point where they’re 5 min apart…I want to esc”
“My baby is about three days overdue and they scheduled me for an induction. I want to try natural since this is my first baby but I heard induction makes it extremely painful to try and do it without an epidural. Is that true? What should I expect? Edited to add: Any advice at all about labor is appreciated because this is my first baby and I don't have a mom so I have nobody to talk to about the whole labor process. I did research but it's a lot of fear mongering for someone who is alre”