has anyone chosen epidural after drug-free births?

[meowee]

Has anyone else chosen an epidural after a drug-free birth (or births)?

I chose an epidural after 4 unmedicated births. The 4th birth was a home waterbirth that was horrifically traumatic for me in terms of pain (the first three were definitely painful, but I managed). When I discovered I was pregnant with #5 I literally went "white" with fear of experiencing what happened with the home waterbirth. I realized it would be better to give myself the option of an epidural, and be less anxious for the whole pregnancy, than to force myself or try to talk myself into not having one or the option of one.

I was really shocked that my experience with the epidural turned out to be not bad at all. Dealing with being in the hospital, on the other hand, was awful.

Obviously I have mixed feelings about it. I do believe an unmedicated birth is best and I am so glad I know what it feels like to give birth the way my body was meant to feel it. But I am also very grateful that I got to experience one birth with no pain whatsoever. In a way it seemed miraculous to have that option.

I did have the side effect of residual back pain, but it is now completely gone after a year.

I now wonder what will happen if I get pregnant again-- I have no idea what I would choose. My midwives' practice has closed down so I might have no choice but a homebirth, which of course would mean no epidural.

Has anyone else had an epidural after med-free births?

((I would really appreciate it if this does not turn into a debate thread or an "if you had only done ___ or___ thread."))

[JeDeeLenae]

I actually did it the other way around. Epi then no epi. I don't have much else to say...

[DayDreamer]

I had an epi with my first, no epi (hb) with my second. I'm pregnant with my third.

You know, the labor with my second was HARD and it did HURT. It was literally the most pain I've ever felt. But it didn't last long. Labor was 6 hrs total. With my first it was 14 hrs. And the epi didn't seem to have worked on me. B/C I still had pain.

Now I was with my SIL when she had my nephew. She did have an epi. Her cntx were one on top of the other with no break whatsoever in between. She had a rather long labor (I don't remember the hrs) and was getting exhausted. She took the epi and had immediate relief of pain. She actually got some sleep and was pretty rested up when it came time to push.

So I went through this in my mind. The thought of the "pain free" birth is soo appealing. I HATE pain. But I just don't know if I could do a hospital birth after having the HB. So that is why I am looking into hypnobirthing. I've heard it works wonderfully. I think I'm going to give it a try.

So i guess, technically I haven't chosen a epi after drug free, but the thought has crossed my mind.

[MamaTaraX]

I haven't, but I had a client who did.

Namaste, Tara

[DocsNemesis]

Its tempting I just couldnt do it because it would require me being in a hospital which would mean my baby being treated badly....I guess if I had a legitimate reason to be in the hospital anyway, I might get one. But then, I had one with my first and it didnt work, so I dunno. That was really awful-being stuck in bed because of the epidural (and an amnio infusion) but with no pain relief. Ack!

[TwelveOaks]

I had an epidural after 6 drug-free births. Everyone I knew had had one and they raved over it so I thought,"Why not?"

Well....I ended up having my baby about 20 minutes after they actually gave me the epi.

And what makes this sad story even worse is that I was one of the lucky people who get the infamous headache after an epidural. :

I should have known better!!

[Katana]

My babysitter's mother did.

She had 7 unmedicated births, most of them homebirths.

The 8th one, she went into the hospital, got an epidural, and had her last daughter. She said she was tired, feeling old, and the doctors had scared her too much because she was over 40.

She said it was the best birth she'd ever had.