period pain / IBS vs labor contractions

Okay, so I just gave birth like two and a half weeks ago and I have had horrific period pain and stomach pain my entire life. In high school, I had such bad periods that I had to miss school. I would get sick, I would faint from the pain. It was so bad. And then throughout my twenties, I had just horrible stomach pain. I've done a bunch of work to manage it, but it's still been so bad that I have literally just been writhing in pain. So I've always wondered my whole life about labor. And I was like, how does this stack up? Because if it's much worse, I would literally be dead during labor. I would be unconscious. So now, on the other side, I went through labor and it's so satisfying because I feel like I finally have the answers. And I never heard anybody talk about this before. So if you're somebody who's had horrible period pain or stomach pain, this is my experience. So to caveat, I did get the epidural when things got real spicy there towards the end. And that was the plan the whole time. And y'all, I was floating on a freaking cloud. I freaking love epidurals. Whoever invented those, I want to kiss you. But up until then, like contractions kind of get worse as they go along. And I just remember being dumbfounded in the room, wearing my gown, just talking to my mom and being like, this is not as bad as my stomach pain. And here's, here's the difference. And again, I've never heard anybody talk about this before and I really wish I had heard this before I went into labor. With period pain and stomach pain, it feels wrong. Like the pain is signaling to your brain and anxiety, like something is wrong with your body, you're in pain for a bad reason, you need to fix it. It's like a bad pain. But labor contractions are a productive pain. It's like, it's like, I don't know how to describe it. It's like, I've trained for this. Like my body is doing what it's supposed to do. And it feels productive. Like it's moving the needle. Like it just felt positive pain. It's hard to describe. But anyway, for any of my girlies out there who have had horrible period pain, horrible stomach pain, like, you've been through it. And you couldn't probably deal with contractions well. Again, I don't know about the ones at the very end. I've heard those ones get really bad. But up until then, I was like, I've trained for this. Like my IBS and period pain has prepared me for this moment.