Quick answer....Epidural or Natural

sjBear123

CircleInTheSea:

Natural.  I've done both an epi birth and a natural birth.  I did not like the side effects that I had with the epi the first time around and felt AMAZING after my natural birth.  I'm really looking forward to this delivery

 Same here, exactly. 

2-Step

JenniferAnnes:

2-Step:

KrisM86:

Natural. Our bodies are made to do this and have ways to cope with the pain. I plan to prepare myself the best I can and get through the pain. I also like to remind myself that when women say "I couldn't go natural" that's just not true. If every woman had to go natural, she would. That baby is coming out, even with no epidural. I would also like to avoid the potential side effects for me and my baby.

I'm sorry but I really hate the "our bodies were made to do this and every women could go natural if they had to" statements. Consider how many women died in childbirth before modern medicine. Not to mention the babies that died to. I'm all for going natural as a personal choice, but saying that every woman should or could have a baby come out either way just as safely is just wrong. I ended up with an emergency c-section, if it weren't for modern medicine me or my baby could very well be dead. Or I guess I should've opted to have the dr cut me open with no pain meds since that would be the natural way to get the baby out. . . .? Imagine the women who had to go through that before meds were available. I thank my lucky stars I didn't have that type of experience. I just think it is awful to say that just because women are biologically inclined to give birth that we should feel guilty for using modern medicine to aid in birth whether its for pain relief of to save a life. 

Obviously any woman planning to go natural will do whatever is necessary to get the baby out healthy if need be.  Women didn't die in the past because they were in too much pain...they died (and babies died) because medicine wasn't as advanced at the time and interventions like an emergency c-section weren't available.

I wasn't trying to say that pain meds cause less deaths, but what I was saying was that using the reasoning that a woman should make a choice about how much medical intervention she has because "a woman's body was made to do this and anyone can do it naturally" is a pet peeve of mine. Maybe because I had a complicated delivery and I'm sensitive to this line of logic being so black and white. Labor and delivery is anything but black and white and I just think saying things like this makes women feel unnecessarily guilty for choosing medical intervention of any kind. It's a tough choice to choose a c-section or pain meds or any of the other million options we are given during labor, the last thing we need is something telling us that we should be able to do it because we were made to do it and if we had to deliver naturally we could, because that is not fair or true in all cases. Honestly, before I went through it I didn't understand how many emotions come along with those decisions.

tuluwen

overture:

Natural.  At the hospitals in my area (from what I've been told by friends who delivered there) having an epidural means constant fetal monitoring, an automatic IV, ice chips only, and pretty much being confined to a bed the whole time.  Not what I want at all.  I want the freedom to move the way my body feels is necessary, to labor in water, and to eat and drink as I see fit.  I am not going to feel like a failure if the pain is way more than I imagined and I end up requesting an epidural, but I don't feel there's any reason to go in expecting one.  I'm going to take it one contraction at a time, and I am confident I can make it through.

This is me exactly. I also don't like the list of possible side effects from the epi. I have a very painful case of Endometriosis and PCOS, so I am very familiar with pain. I believe I can handle it, even though I expect it to be worse than both of those conditions.

mrs. remy

at a bunch of these replies.

FTR, I will be getting an epi again with this one. Mine was wonderful. I had NO side effects, I was up walking very soon after he was born, and it allowed me to progress quickly because the intense pain of my contractions prior to that was awful. Once I relaxed I finished dilating really fast. As far as "drugging my baby" goes, the amount of drugs that gets to the baby with an epi is actually a lot less than with other drugs. And he had no trouble latching or BFing, so whatever.

But the bottom line is, really who cares. Do what you are comfortable with.

bluejetta

Due to my medical history (clipped brain aneurysm) I have high levels of anxiety about labor and pushing and being able to breathe and do so effectively and push effectively.  Even though the neurosurgeons cleared me for a vaginal delivery I am still anxious and prepared to do whatever it takes to ease that and allow me to have a vaginal birth.  I am hoping to go as long as I can naturally but am totally prepared to request an epi in order to be able to focus on breathing and pushing safely without pain. 

xtinaxmariex

Epi!

But if I end up going natural for whatever reason, that would be fine too

FabulousMrs.P

Natural if I can. I have bad side effects with meds. That said, I was never in labor before so I don't know how much I can handle.

caffinated_tulip

Hopefully natural, but I'm leaving the door open just in case.

shabbygirl007

Natural with my past 3 sons, and in few weeks natural with my LO

Why I chose natural. My granny and mom did, so I thought if they can handle it , I should to . 

CalinsBride

I had one the first time. I had a weird reaction to it so they had to turn it off, and only my legs were frozen but I felt everything else. It was awesome

This time I am skipping it, obviously. I talked to my midwives today about laughing gas just to get me through transition, otherwise I pretty much plan on doing it med free.

mrs_rodney

Natural- I had a really fast labor and delivery last time.  The contractions hurt, but I never was to the point where it was intolerable pain and by the time I thought a little something to take the edge off would be nice, I was ready to push. 

I am not opposed to an epi per se, but will plan to do it drug free again if possible.  Avoiding the side effects is my main reasoning behing not wanting it.  I felt great after delivery last time and don't want to have wait for the meds to wear off.