Natural Birth
kcs7
member
Natural vs. Epidural experience?
kcs7
member
I posted this on the second tri board since I wasn't sure, and I thought I'd copy my post to this board as well and see what experiences I can find out about on here as well. 
This was my post...
I'm at 26 weeks today, and have just now been reading people's experiences with natural birth. I like to try and make informed decisions, so I am curious as to people's personal experiences of epidural vs. natural...
Has anyone experienced both that they can tell me plus and minus of their experience? I know every experience is different.
I'm also just curious as to how many people have experienced some of the bad side effects of the epidural and what were those effects?
Thanks for any thoughts for me to consider!
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Re: Natural vs. Epidural experience?
Emeline 5.28.13
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I have only had a med-free birth and plan to do so again. I think epidurals can be helpful and appropriate in the right situations but there are serious risks and side effects that should be considered. Personally I think its better to try and go as long as possible without one. You may be surprised at what you can do. If while in labor you really feel like you need one for your specific situation then I don't think there is any shame in that.
I think your approach is really smart. By doing your research you will be able to make an educated decision about what is best for you and your baby.
I had an epi with DS#1 and went natural with DS#2. There were plusses and minuses of both. I don't know if it was just the personality of my boys, but DS#2 was way more alert and latched like a champ right after birth, while DS#1 was just more sleepy generally. (I'm not trying to start a debate - I'm just presenting *my* experience.) On the other hand, I did not experience the quick recovery from a natural birth that many people describe. In fact, my recovery from the natural birth was much more difficult. But I'm fairly sure that I'm unusual in that regard. But a few things have me going natural again this time:
1. It just wasn't as bad as I was expecting to be.
2. My mom had both of her kids without any meds and, if she can do it, so can I
3. After getting the epi, I had a couple of epi side effects that I would prefer to not have again (nothing serious, just a little fever during/after delivery that caused them to monitor DS#1 more closely than they otherwise would have; and a weird swelling in my legs/feet that lasted for about a week after delivery - apparently it's from all the fluids they push with the epi. Really strange to have, especially since I never had edema during pregnancy...)
So I do think that an dpi is fine, useful, whatever. And I am totally not judgmental about people who have them (if this labor totally stinks, I may have one again!) But if this delivery is anything like my last, I just don't see the need. Good luck with your decision!
I planned to go natural for as long as that was what was working for me and the baby. I had read all about both epis and natural births, and my husband is a neonatologist, so he had lots of great articles for me to read. In the end, he really supported whatever decision I made--but he didn't believe that the epidural posed nearly the risks that I had read about in some of the natural birthing books and websites.
My water broke early in the morning at 40+3 days. I hung out at home for about 3 hours, then went to the hospital (my husband's only non-negotiable item was that we had to be in a hospital with a NICU available--just in case). It turns out there was some meconium in my fluid and I wasn't dilating, so they hooked up a low dose of pitocin. I labored for several hours without any progress at all. After about 4 hours of the most intense pain and misery I have ever experienced (and I am a former college athlete that has pushed my body pretty far in the name of training and competition) and all my "coping strategies" not doing a thing to touch the pain, I asked for the epidural.
It was amazing. Took away the pain, but not the sensation. Could still move my legs. In just 3.5 hours filled with beautiful hanging out with my husband and family, I went from a 3 to a 10. I could feel each contraction, but in a way that didn't hurt--just felt like Braxton Hicks contractions.
I could feel the need to push, but it didn't "hurt." I pushed 4 times over the course of about 10 minutes and our baby was born! A tear in between a first and second degree that was stitched up without any pain/problems.
I was up walking around that same evening. Discharged in under 48 hours. Took a family walk down the street the day I was discharged. Super, incredibly easy recovery. Baby was so very alert when she came out and breastfeeding was great--did it until she weaned at 15 months.
I have the same plan with #2 due this October. I will go in with a fully open mind, but if I experience the same pain that I did the first time around (realizing that each labor is different and this one might be more like the more subtle pain/pressure that I read about on this board all the time), I will be glad to get an epidural, as it actually progressed my labor very quickly with no adverse effects.
I had an epi with DS1 and went natural with DS2.
Pros of the epi: I didn't get a chance to feel the intense contractions in active labor. Therefore I didn't have the chance to get nervous and possibly tense up and fight against the contractions. I didn't get tired out by the pain.
Cons: I had no idea when I was having a contrax and there had to be told when to push. I tore, and I think it's because I pushed too hard or at the wrong time. I had some swelling post epi. I had to have the standard IV/fluids and therefore had to be "tied" to the IV pole and in bed the whole time. The blood pressure cuff going of every 15 minutes. The epi slowed my progress down during early labor. DS was very sleepy during the first 24 hours of life. Obviously I don't know that the epi caused this, but it could have.
Pros of going natural: I felt in control of what was happening the whole time. I was able to tell when to push and how hard. I was up and walking literally an hour after birth. I went home from the hospital about 30 hours after birth - could have gone sooner, but DS2 was circumcised and needed to wait till 24 hour mark for that to happen + recovery time. Birth took 4 hours from 1st contraction to last push. It was so empowering to be able to work with my body & have the birth I wanted.
Cons of going natural: The nerves/anticipation leading up to birth - not knowing if I'd be able to do it med free or not.
I had a med free VBAC with DD2. It was insanely hard. But I was scared of the repercussions of intervention again, so I was very prepared and it led to success. My labor was 11 hours and being able to change positions often was key in getting her to properly descend.
Kudos for doing your homework! ;]
My first birth I wanted to have a natural birth. I labored for 8 hours without medication, mostly at home. But then my water broke, and when we went to the hospital I wasn't progressing past 1cm. The OB came in, examined me, and said, "Well, you're probably going to need a c-section but we can try to induce." I decided that I didn't want to try and make the decisions I needed to make without some sort of pain relief--which I would probably need anyway, since there was no way I was doing pitocin without an epidural!--so I got the epi.
Pre-epi: laboring at home was great. I was able to manage my pain pretty effectively. Obviously my experience is limited since I never made it to transition etc, but what I found was that once I went to the hospital laboring became MUCH harder. I was hooked up to an IV and fetal monitor and had to stay in the hospital bed and it sucked.
Post-epi: I was worried that getting an epidural would somehow detract from the birth, that I would somehow experience it less. That ended up being a silly fear, at least for me. It was certainly different, but I certainly still knew I was in labor! I felt the contractions very clearly. I was able to doze off around 1 am which was so helpful since I had to start pushing at 4am and I know I would have been exhausted. I woke up when LO very suddenly dropped and turned and engaged my cervix. (At least that's what I assume happened, I felt SOMETHING very clearly.) I had also been afraid that the epidural would make it hard to push, but it wore off enough that I was able to work with my contractions very easily.
So, my experience was positive, even though it wasn't what I wanted to begin with. I do have a friend who got an epidural and it made her reverse progress, resulting in a c-section, and she also got one of those awful headaches that happen to some people. So much of it really just depends on how your body reacts.