The seven stages of pain

1st stage:
At the ward, I was strapped to the fetal monitor to check the contraction rate, and the nurse looked puzzled at my "slight pain" answer when she asked if it was painful during the peak of the contraction.

2nd stage:
10 minutes after induction, I could feel stronger contraction, but I could still think happy thoughts and did the deep breathing in and out thing. The contraction got a lot more frequent at 1 minute apart, but the pain wasn't intense so I didn't call the nurse until my in-laws urged me to. Thank goodness I did, because by the time I was wheeled to the labor room, it went to the 3rd stage of pain.

3rd stage:
I could barely take off my clothes and change into the hospital gown. I got strapped to the fetal monitor again and had to lie down on my back, which I reaaaaally hated, because it was hard to control the pain in that position. Lunch arrived (porridge), but I could barely shove 3 spoonfuls into my mouth before pushing the tray away.

4th stage:
I found comfort in biting Rueben's shirt (not the flesh ok?) when the contraction peaked. I could still calmly do the deep breathing in and out thing. But at this point, I was praying hard that it would be over soon. I didn't really feel like talking at all, but only wanted Rueben to hug me for warmth and for the shirt. After a while, I was offered my towel instead. Okay, better than nothing. I actually managed to doze off for a while before the pain woke me up. Apparently, my water bag burst (more like leaked) at this time, but I only barely notice some dampness down below.

5th stage:
I had to scream to relieve the pain. Well, more like wailed when I exhaled. I knew the time was near for pushing, but didn't know how near. And there was an annoying nurse who kept popping in to ask "an jua? ai pain relief bo?" ("so how? do you want any pain relief?") I really felt like screaming $^$%#^$*( to her, but I decided to ignore her instead, even when she wanted to check my dilation.

6th stage:
I felt the urge to push. But because I refused to let the nurse check my dilation to see whether I was ready to push or not, I had to hold on and squeezed my legs tight to prevent myself from pushing the baby out when I was not ready. My mind was moving in many different directions at the same time, and I requested for an injection to relieve the pain, only to change my mind again and asked for the gas instead.

7th stage:
Somehow the nurses and the doc knew the time was near, and by the time I inhaled the gas for the 3rd time (I think), I was ready to push. If I had known earlier, I would've held on till the end without the gas. I wanted to scream more, but one of the nurses asked me to keep my strength for pushing. Push instead of scream. So, okay, I could do that. And I did, and before the 2nd push ended, the baby was out.