I felt the Contractions (even with the epidural)

My ginger daughter is about to turn two and I have been reflecting on her birth.  

I had an epidural with my three oldest kids, but I still experienced a lot of pain during my third child's birth. Unlike my other two, I could feel the contractions in my neck. Thankfully, her labor was short and the truly painful contractions only lasted for 2 hours. I spoke to my physical therapist after her birth about why this happened and learned that my neck and shoulders had been too tight during labor. My body was overreacting and there were several things I could have done to prevent this from happening. 

First and foremost, I was tensing up too much during labor. The best way to get through labor is to lower your shoulders, unclench your jaw and be conscious of your breathing. If you can't relax through the pain, you won't open up as easily. In Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, a lot of the women describe labor like a wave or a flower opening up. Visualizing what your body needs to do during labor helps your body to do it. 

Secondly, I hadn't spent time before labor healing my shoulder from an injury. Our illnesses and injuries are magnified during labor. I hadn't been regularly doing my stretches and strengthening exercises and paid the price during labor. 

Lastly, I labored in a position that strained my neck. I labored on my back and was often crunching up to get through the contractions. The position we labor in greatly affects how we progress through labor. When you labor on your back, you pull your legs up towards your chest and hold them there while you push. The epidural makes your legs feel heavy and asleep, so you have to use a lot of shoulder strength.