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To Epidural, or Not to Epidural?
Have you thought about what sort of pain control, if any, you're going to ask for?
With my first labor I was petrified of having an epidural. I went 23 hours with intense, pitocin augmented, contractions. Finally I was so exhausted that even though I had finally gotten to 9cm I caved and got the epi.
Second labor I had just gotten out of the hospital for the flu so I already had no energy. I opted for the epi again.
If I have a third labor some day, I think I'd like to skip the epidural.
What's your plan?
Tags: epidural, labor, management, pain
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by aeocampusano on -
omgoodness! i has the worst experiance when i choose epi, not only could they not get it right in my back but i was experiencing hard labor, from the scale of 1-10 10 was highest i was at an 8 and 4 hrs into the induced labor! i was in labor for 14 hours, o was not ready and did not want out! the dr doing my epi would only numb half my body and would ask if she got it i had to tell her nope, still feel this half, when they finally did it she pumped me up on pain killer it was knocking me out and I attempted to fight it which only made me feel worse, by the time o decided to grace us with her presence the epi box ran ou and i was unnumbing down there so i was starting to feel it! o tore me in 7 different places oh and the dr cut me, so i had 8 stiches which i felt the dr sewing up, but by that time i was so happy my daughter was here and fine, no pain was felt then. AC
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Permalink Reply by Jennyh316 on -
I am pro Epidural :)
My first child I oped for the epi went through the pain of getting the epidural but the nurse forgot to hook up the medicine so I had a natural delivery worse pain ever so with my second child I made sure they hooked it up right haha
Labor was a breeze didn't feel a thing it was amazing. I only felt the last 2 pushes because I asked them to turn off my epidural I was so relaxed and comfortable. Such a difference! I couldn't imagine going through all that pain when you don't have too
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Permalink Reply by krystal hager on -
I was induced with my son 5 days before my due date and going in I was planning on getting the epi .. I wanted as long as I could without it then I was ready! Lol .. I was induced at 7am and had my son at 4:09.. Not bad for my first one! Not only that, I think if I would of not gotten the epi I would if been in dying pain!! I had a 10 lb baby boy! .. Needless to say , not fun! They thought he was only going to be 8lbs but boy were they off! I'm surprised I didn't have a c section, but that's something I wouldn't get unless they needed to
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Permalink Reply by Maggie on
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As someone who has done it both ways, I can say with certainty--Epidural! I wanted to have my first baby all-natural, but was having really extreme back-labor and finally caved and asked for the Epi. Turns out it was a good thing I did because my daughter had turned around (which explained the back-labor) and came out "sunny side up" (face up). When baby comes out face up, her head can't be pushed down to make the shoulders roll in, so baby comes out with shoulders (which are the widest part) flat. This meant a considerable amount of time (over an hour and a half) of pushing. If I hadn't had the epidural, I don't think I'd have had the energy to get through the delivery and probably would've been stuck with a C-section. Baby number two came fast and by the time I was settle into the delivery room it was too late to have the epidural, so I had to just work through the pain. I am someone with a really high pain tolerance, and I was in a tremendous amount of pain. If I ever have a third, I'll make sure to get to the hospital early enough.
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on
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I knew I didn't want one and was only asked at the very beginning. Luckily, I labored most of the time at home and was really only in sever pain a few hours. I sat in a chair and left gravity do its job until the doctor got there 5 hours after I checked in and it was time to push. I ended up having a 9lb 13oz baby naturally because it was what I wanted most for my baby. And after it was over, the doctor said it was a good thing I opted for no pain relief because I may not have been able to figure out how to push because he was so big. If I ever have another baby, I'd do it all over again. Women did it for 1000s of years before epidurals. I believe we are all strong enough to do it. It's all about mind over matter. No birth class will ever prepare you. But having a great support team tellin you that you can do it helps tremendously.
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Permalink Reply by Stephensmommy on -
From the beginning my birth plan was to have a natural birth, no epidural, no getting induced and no c-section. I stayed on track with my plan for about 15hrs out of 24hrs of labor. The pain was the worst pain of my life but i stuck through them, every contraction I told myself "I can do this, stick to the plan" the nurse kept coming in asking if i wanted the epi and i kept saying no but once i hit 8cm and having no sleep and having nobody to encourage me to keep going I broke down and got it. Not saying the father of my child wasnt there because he was but he kept saying i was crazy for not getting it.
I decided to get the epidural at around shift change which is not a good idea, the anesthesiologist seemed tired and in result of that only half of my body was numb. I felt nothing on one side and on the other i still felt the horrible contractions, so they called another anesthesiologist to come. Nothing like paying for two epidurals in one labor. But when i got to 10cm they turned off the epi and waited until i could feel my legs again to start pushing. I pushed for 2 hrs before the dr came in and said I would be better off having a c-section because my son was to big. Thankfully i didnt have to have the big needle again they just gave me another epidural by the tube.
After my C-section i had the shakes so i couldnt hold my son, which also meant i couldnt feed my son. He got used to bottles that he never latched on to my nipple when i tried breastfeeding him the next day.
With my next labor, I will NOT get an epidural and hopefully the plan works out differently. I plan to have an Vbac next time around since my dr will allow me to
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Permalink Reply by Kristy on
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I had a birth plan of having no epidural. However I ended up getting one about 7 hours into labor, simply because i could not handle the pain any longer. I have a great pain tolerance, but I couldn't handle it anymore. I had a great Anesthesiologist and I didn't feel a thing he did. I ended up having a c-section after 16 hours of labor and I pushed for 3 of those hours. My baby's head was stuck on my pubic bone and he was never going to come out, and that was part of the aweful pains I experienced. My baby was 9 lbs 2 oz. But the answer to your question of if you should get the epidural or not is this. Come up with your birth plan, but remember it is a plan. The ultimate goal is to get from point A(start of labor) to point B (a beautiful baby in your arms). During your labor things may happen that cause you to change your plan. Whether its pain you can't handle or the need for an emergency c-section you don't really know what to do or expect until that time comes and your in the moment expierencing what you've waited and dreamed about for the last nine months..
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Permalink Reply by skylark97 on -
I just had my first baby and did without the epidural. (I did get the analgesic pain meds through the IV though...and they were nice. :3 I highly recommend them if you don't get the epidural. I could still feel everything, but once I got the pain meds, I just didn't care that I was in pain. It makes you hella loopy though. I was waxing poetical about the Popsicles that the hospital provided to my husband for a couple hours.) So, I have no experience as to what it was like with an epi, but my labor went pretty quick. She was born 7 hours after we got to the hospital. I pushed for an hour, and she was out. All 8 pounds, 9 ounces.
I will say though, that every mother I talked to who had to be induced said that if they're going to induce you, you REALLY want the epidural. Something about those pitocin induced contractions are five times worse than just normal run of the mill contractions apparently. ;3 In fact, I had that as part of my birth plan. If they were going to induce me, I wanted that epi, screw going natural.
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