Leading up to the birth of my son, I was super-curious about contractions. Of course, by “super-curious,” I mean “absolutely terrified.” I never experienced any Braxton Hicks contractions, so I was completely in the dark as to what real contractions would feel like. Once they arrived, I was totally overwhelmed. I can only imagine what my baby was thinking during contractions, and how the whole "muscles tensing up at an alarming and painful rate" situation felt like from the inside.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we don’t retain memories of childbirth. I mean, essentially birth is going from that warm, dark, cozy womb you've known for a number of months, to the cold outside world; which is arguably anything but warm and cozy (unless you are way more in control of your birthing experience than I was). So, not only does a baby have to deal with a drastic change in overall scenery, but they have to deal with literally being pushed out of their home by these things called contractions. That has to be intense, to say the least.
I’ve seen portrayals on TV and in films (fellow '90s kids are probably still not over Look Who’s Talking), but really, I don’t think we’ll ever really know what labor is like for the babies involved. We can sure have fun guessing, though. So, with that in mind and because we could all use some fun these days, here’s what I think my son was contemplating during each and every contraction: