From quick and easy to rough and long, there are as many stories about giving birth as there are new moms. Yet while each childbirth experience is unique, women tend to share some of the same sensations. Here real moms and experts weigh in on what you might expect to feel (and it's not always pain!) on the road to giving birth to your baby.

"A contraction feels like a very bad menstrual cramp that tightens your entire mid-section," says Sarah Francomano of Foxboro, Mass.

Dr. Kellie Flood-Shaffer, division director and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, agrees that many women describe them this way and also notes that "as they progress, they are somewhat like the sensation of the blood pressure cuff tightening on your arm except that it tightens around your body – abdomen and back." Some women claim they could even feel tightening up and down their legs as contractions became stronger.

While some women say they barely noticed their first contractions, others report more severe, stabbing-like pain. Many women quickly realize that their contractions are falling into a pattern of feeling one coming, a burst of pain and then a period of calmness.

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