Pain

I went to playgroup this morning.  N's technically aged out, but he's finishing out the month.  The moderators are okay with this.  One of the moderators is a Lamaze teacher.  She doesn't like me very much. LOL  I think it's because I managed to have a natural birth and came out of it saying I'd do it again.  The C-section rate from her Lamaze classes is close to 90%, and today, 3 of her students were laughing over the comment, "Lamaze is to get you until you can get the epidural."  Funny for some, sure, but I don't really care one way or the other.  What does irritate me is this moderators attitude toward my birth.  As if it was no big deal, and not that special because I 'must have a high pain tolerance.'@@  For her information, it's not that high. 7 years of horrible menstrual cramps sort of prepared me for it though.  Labor hurt.  Labor hurt like hell, but you know what?  It was worth it.  I feel that I treasure N all the more (than I would--just me) because of all the work I went through to have him.  My labor story was not a walk in the park, nor was the birth, but I'd go through it all again in a minute for another child.  It really was worth it.  DH says I'm tough. :)  That makes me feel pretty darn good.  I don't like it when someone minimizes what I went through so other people don't feel bad.  Other people are entitled to feel whatever they want.  If they want to feel bad, then so be it, but I did not force them to feel that way.  Giving birth hurt.  I did it anyway.
            Our society looks at pain as a really bad thing.  Not to say that all pain is good, but think about it.  We have antiseptics with lidocaine so disinfecting doesn’t hurt.  My parents poured peroxide on my wounds (boy does that make me sound old) to disinfect them.  I learned to control my pain through things like that.  I would stare at the bubbles that the peroxide made, and (after some information from Dad) would think about those little bubbles destroying the germs in my cut.  While it didn’t serve to lessen the pain, it did help me see some pain as constructive.  Menstrual cramps were a bitch.  They didn’t have a purpose that I could see, and somehow, despite plenty of over the counter painkillers, they hurt anyway.  I think that some pain is constructive.  The pain I felt during labor helped me appreciate my son.  I’m not saying that moms who don’t feel any pain don’t appreciate their children, but I know me, and I know I would not feel such a tremendous sense of accomplishment if I did not work through those long days on my own.  Experiencing the pain was important to me.  Not because I like pain (I don’t), but because I needed to know I could get through it.  I feel that now that I have endured pregnancy, labor, and delivery, there is nothing I can’t do.