Signing Up For An Epidural - Page 9

[TripMom]

I did my first time around. Where did it come from? The idea of squeezing a watermelon out my bottom! PAIN! I was intensely afraid of the pain. Even the idea of the pain. Is that really so hard to understand???

To be honest, it wasn't until after I had DS and met some really cool moms in my neighborhood that were pretty crunchy . . . . had homebirthed . . .etc. . . . . that I could even conceive of NOT wanting one?

Really, I am still amazed at women who go in to childbirth more motivated by not having pain relief than by avoiding the pain?

[eclipse]

I ended up with three epidurals - one for each birth. The first one I wanted from thetime I got pregnant. while I was crunchy in many ways, at that time I was of the "I wouldn't get dental work without pain relief, why the the hell would I push something that big out of my yoni without something to take the edge off?" school of thought. I figured I'd play it by ear, but didn't really do any research on med free birth until the very end. When labor hit me, it hit me hard and I got one soon after checking in.

With DD, I planned a natural birth but between the back labor and the hospitals monitoring rule about being on the monitor 20 minutes of every hour and the anisthesiologist who stopped by "to say hi" while I was in transition, I ended up getting one.

With DS2, I planned a medfree birth center birth. He came early and I was totally unprepared. My then 27 month old (and then 4 yo) were at the hospital with dh and I (too early for the birth center) and we couldn't get in touch with my mom to get them. Everytime I moaned through a cxn, dd would cry, the cxn would hurt more, dh couldn't figure out whether to comfort her or me, and it was a big clusterf*ck. I decided on an epi and a bout 5 minutes after it took affect, my mom came to ake the kids and about 10 minuites later, DS2 was crowning. It's sort of annoying how close I got to a med free birth.

[TripMom]

I did my first time around. Where did it come from? The idea of squeezing a watermelon out my bottom! PAIN! I was intensely afraid of the pain. Even the idea of the pain. Is that really so hard to understand???

To be honest, it wasn't until after I had DS and met some really cool moms in my neighborhood that were pretty crunchy . . . . had homebirthed . . .etc. . . . . that I could even conceive of NOT wanting one?

Really, I am still amazed at women who go in to childbirth more motivated by not having pain relief than by avoiding the pain?

[UrbanCrunchyMama]

As the original poster, I wanted to chime in to let everyone know that I'm still reading everyone's replies and to clarify my original question.

What was my intent? Really, to understand someone else's perspective. I know where I'm coming from (pro med-free birth), and I was looking for first-hand experiences to better understand other moms' experiences.

When my husband's friend got pregnant, I sent her a lovingly written letter (no scary, fear-inducing stuff, just the positives that people rarely disclose about labor and birth), as well as Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and Birthing From Within. I shared portions of our personal story and provided information.

Why did I reach out to her and her husband? There are hardly adequate analogies to make between birth and any other life event. But...if I had just hiked an amazing trail (both unexpectedly treacherous and unexpectedly awe-inspiring at the same time) and passed another group on the way back down the trail, my conscience would at least urge me to pass the information along to the other group of hikers. I would feel negligent otherwise.

[Mom2Lex&Cay]

You've gotten a ton of replies, but I thought I'd chime in.

With my first I was young, uneducated, and very fearful. It was a 36 hour labor and at some point I was exhausted and scared, so I got the epidural for the last 4 hours of labor. It was my intent to go without, not because I believed in the benefits and that it was healthier, but I felt I was supposed to prove I could handle it. I was disappointed I "gave in."

With my 2nd I took the approach that I was going to get the epidural as soon as I was the least bit uncomfortable because afterall "you don't get a medal." Only that was the birth that taught me so much!

Because of my previous experience I wanted to stay home as long as possible with my 2nd. It turned out to be a quick labor and we almost didn't get to the hospital in time, leaving me without my epidural.

After the birth I felt fantastic, my baby was alert and latched on easily, I was able to bond with her....all the things I struggled with after my first. I also learned that birth is not scary and terribly painful. It is painful, but I was strong enough, I could cope, and it was not unbearable. I felt empowered!

I finally sought the information I needed, learned that the medical community had not told me the whole story. I have read and read and finally feel like I can make an educated decision about my 3rd birth.

I'm looking forward to my next birth! It will be our first attempted homebirth.

[guest~*~]

I prepared for a natural childbirth and after 16 hours of labor with absolutely no progression downward from the baby and incredible AMAZING pain, I had my first epidural of the labor.

What we didn't know was that I had a nerve tumor the size of a grapefruit growing off my S2 nerve (benign). Talk about being on my last nerve- I was in a WORLD of hurt. No one knew that's what was going on and that's why the baby never dropped.

The epi failed after just 4 hours, then I had a spinal which didn't "take" and then another epi that lasted just 45 minutes. I felt all of the pushing stage, and the stitches afterwards.

Thank God I had a vaginal delivery. Traumatic? Yes. Worth it? Completely.

As for next time... they've fully removed my tumor now via full abdominal incision. I debate whether or not I want to do it medicated next time. There's never a guarantee the epidural is going to work (as in my case).

Brittany

[leafwood]

I didn't "sign up" for an epidural. I went into dd's birth wanting to be unmedicated. However, I started having contractions and either they came on very fast or I didn't notice the earlier stages. We were out to dinner and by the time I got home, passed my plug and had "show" I was completely freaked out (10pm). I remember clearly begging dh to get me to the hospital in time for an epidural.

Now, in retrospect, it would have been nice for him to try and calm me down and work through the labor, but I understand that he got just as freaked out as me and we wound up at the hospital (too early, 1cm dilated). My water broke when they checked me, I had an epi at 2am....at 7am they started pit telling me I wasn't contracting (which I insisted I was) and dd was born at 9:16 after 10m of pushing.

I am entering this birth with resolve NOT to have an epidural.....but I can understand being taking by suprise during a first labor, and hearing horror stories from others with the only "nice" outcome being an epidural may be enough to sway some people.