BDTD moms; Epidural birth stories

MNturnsVA

Hi ladies,

I did a search and didn't find much on a thread related to this topic specifically.

I'm curious to hear the things about your experience with the epidural- like how many of you got no relief or not much relief?  How many of you couldn't feel your legs and bottom half of body and for how long after delivery? How hard was it too push since you were not able to be in tune with your body and what it was trying to do on it's own?

I'm just curious to hear about this aspect.....I know most would say they were thankful for the drugs- but I'd still like to know the real deal experiences with this aspect of the meds- or anything I didn't mention.

Thanks!

mrsvoorhees-2

I got complete relief, I couldn't feel anything from the waist down. It was a weird feeling because I couldn't feel my legs and when they told me lift my leg and put it in the stirrups to get ready to push. I told them I couldn't. And the nurse said, "yeah, you can, it just feels like you can't." And then boom, totally lifted both legs haha. Once I was in the stirrups, i couldn't stop wiggling my feet, no idea why. It ended up wearing off halfway through pushing but j was scared to hit the button because I was afraid j would t be able to push, but they told me it would be fine, and it was. I hit the button and could still push just fine. It was a very positive experience.

the nurses will tell you when to
push by watching your contractions on the monitor, so you're still working with your body. 

Only negative I experienced was when it was being put in, the dr grazed mu
sciatic nerve and that shot lightning pain into my ass cheek. Really awful feeling. And for months after, the skin on my right thigh was numb, bjt NBD.

as far as when it wore off, I'm really not sure. I know that by the time they moved us to our room, it was gone and I walked. But gosh, I don't know how much time passed, it's a blur.

jevers

It's crazy how much I forgot after only 2 years but I do know I had complete pain relief but could still feel the pressure and need to push. After one push the nurses told me I had too much of the epidural and needed to not push the button and let it wear off a bit. I guess I was pushing wrong or being unproductive. We waited 30 minutes which sucked because I felt the need to push but breathed through it. I was never in pain though, the pressure was an intense feeling but not pain. Once 30 minutes passed I pushed again and could feel more, again not pain really. The nurses said a perfect epidural allows you to feel what you're doing/be productive but takes away the majority of the pain. I was able to get up to pee about an hour after my daughter was born. My legs were shaky but I did it with help from a nurse.

drmh22

I also had complete relief. Only knew I was having a contraction by looking at the monitor. I ended up having a c-section. I was thankful that they could just up the epidural and I didn't have to be put under all the way. 
ETA: I think it took close to 6 hours to wear off, but mine was more potent because of the c-section. It was also kind of cool because it forced DH into daddy mode...he changed diapers and did other things with DD because I couldn't walk. 

vampirina

Did anyone experience a slower or stalled labor due to the epidural? Did anyone find it helped progress labor? 

mom2adoodle

@PoodleDoodleOoo I'm curious too. I read all these things about labor stalling, leading to more interventions, having crazy adverse side effects, etc. Eek! Curious to hear first hand experiences.

vampirina

@mom2adoodle both my mom and sister were diagnosed with failure to progress and ended up with c sections after 24 hrs of active labor! So I'm super worried about a stalled labor!

mrsvoorhees-2

Mine did stall. I was progressing really fast naturally, and then after the Epi, it stalled so they did pitocin. Then that stalled so they did more and it finally got me to complete. 

@camichael84 had the opposite happen, she progressed hella fast after.

jennlynn777

Have had the epidural with 4 births and honestly I don't have an complaints. Pain or no pain is how I look at it. The only side effect I ever saw was just with my second and I threw up when I was coming down from it. My anesthesiologists were great. No slip ups at all there. Labor never slowed with any of them. Pushing was pretty simple but I have those childbearing hips :-) However, this really shouldn't be of much help to any other woman because everyone is different and reacts differently. Anyway, very good experiences for me :-)

asht

Mine worked.....until I started pushing....

LizC216

Mine were both successful. I had back labor with both of my girls...it was awful. My only regret the first time around was not getting it sooner. I was completely numb from waist down, but I could still feel pressure (painless) during contractions and I got that feeling like I had to poop. Sure enough, I was at a ten and ready to push both times. They also warned me that I would feel the "ring of fire", but that didn't happen either time. They told me to lay off pushing the button as birth became closer, but I kept pressing it.

I'm not sure how long it took to wear off, but when they were ready to move me to the post-partum room, I was able to get in a wheelchair with the nurse by my side just in case. 

It is kind of weird not having control of your legs. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get them in the stirrups on my own. 

My labor did not stall in either case. I was getting pitocin prior to each of my epidurals...not sure if that matters or not.

The one thing I found funny was you kind of have to lay flat to keep it evenly dispersed. I tried laying on my side and my one leg started to tingle (like if it had fallen asleep). As soon as I went back to laying on my back with some pillows propping me, everything went back to being numb.

ETA: I had two small tears with my first. I ended up with 4-6 stitches. I felt none of that. 

camichael84

@MrsVoorhees is right. Without the epi, I went from a 2 to a 3.5 in about four hours. Got the epi then went from a 3.5 to complete in about 3.5 hours. 

Regarding the epi, I got immediate and complete relief. The skin on my legs were numb at the beginning, but I could easily move them the whole time. I had no trouble pushing, but I think my epi either wore off or didn't go far down because I felt a lot during the pushing phase (pressure, water leaking with contractions, an extreme urge to push, the OB feeling my completely dilated cervix for a good 2 minutes). No one needed to tell me when to push, I told them when I was ready. I also felt her coming out and getting the stitches. Honestly, my epidural was a dream for me, and I've never once regretted getting it because it went so perfectly.

ETA: I was up and moving within a couple hours after birth. I'm pretty sure I could have moved before then, but they wouldn't let me.

JWarfield726

With DD1, I went in for an induction. I had my epidural and long story short, after laboring for sevreal hours, the cord ended up wrapped around her neck and I had to go in for an emergency c-section . I didn't know until they began to surgery, that when the epidural was administered, the tube that was inserted into my spine was placed crooked...causing only half of my body to numb. Because of this, I felt EVERYTHING during the c-section on half of my body.

Because of what happened, my biggest fear with DS1 was the epidural...as I knew there was no way I could experience that pain again. Luckily, it all went well and I was completely numb for that csection. 

xtina22312

I got mine at 7cm... Last possible second (I was trying to natural and got a few nasty contractions that wigged me out) anyway epi was great immediate relief for 4 hours however slowed me way down (so pitocin was increased) I ended up taking 8 hours to go from 7-10cm. And the epi was wore off every where but my knees down by delivery time. Personally thought I Might as well went natural as nothing was left by delivery. a 23 hour labor wears you down! 

But each delivery is different! I'm still not opposed to trying epi again even if it's to rest alittle bit! Best of luck! 

JennM205

I also had a good epidural experience. As PPs have mentioned, I felt no "pain" but still had full use of my legs and could still feel contractions building when it was time to push. In fact, I could feel then coming before they were registering on the monitor. I was an effective pusher - about 40 minutes total which seems about average for a first birth. I don't think the epidural slowed anything down - I was already at 8cm before getting it and quickly progressed the final 2cm and then spent another half hour or so "laboring down".

My only complaints about the epidural were the need for an IV and catheter. For whatever reason, they wouldn't uncath me for what felt like forever which meant I was confined to bed. Then, they wouldn't take the IV out until the next day and I couldn't take a shower until it was out so that was more than annoying. Some might say they were small prices to pay for a painless labor but they (along with how fast my labor went and how well I managed prior to the epi) are honestly enough for me to reconsider my pain management decision for baby #2. 

Just as an FYI - I've always heard that getting an epidural too early could slow labor and increase the risk of later interventions. I was reading an article just the other day that said new research shows that the timing of when an epidural is adminstered has little effect on either. Getting an epidural in general can slow labor and increase later interventions but it supposedly doesn't matter if you get it at 2cm or 8cm. 

camichael84

@JennM205 I can't believe cathed you for that long, and especially since it sounds like you didn't labor with with epi long! They didn't even keep the catheter in me. They did it once during labor and once after because my full bladder was causing me to bleed more than I should have been. 

asht

I had a Cath put in around 9 pm and had it in until just after 5 am. They wanted to put it sooner but I asked to make sure they had staff to help me get up when I needed to before they took it out.

JennM205

@camichael84 I've heard so many people say that they were never cathed or were cathed for just a very short time. Idk why it wasn't that way for me! Maybe because L&D was swamped the day I had DD? (11 babies on the same day!) I hate to think that would be why but am also realistic that so many nurses can only do so much and when it's a busy day, it's a busy day!

mommytimesfour

I had two great experiences with an epidural. It took the majority of my pain away, but I was still able to feel a ton of pressure which was a good thing when it came to pushing. I was able to move my legs as well. After my epidural was placed each time, I progressed very quickly. My OB explained to me that it happens for a lot of women because it allows your body to relax, therefore making it easier for your cervix to dilate. I had no complications or side effects and I was up within 2 hours after giving birth both times. I absolutely plan on getting an epidural ASAP this time around too. 

mrsvoorhees-2

@JennM205 I have wondered about timing of the Epi. I got mine at 8cm and had progressed so fast up to that point. Then it slowed down so much. I was thinking of maybe trying to get to a 9 this time but I'm scared they will tell me it's too late. Good to know that it probably doesn't matter. 

Also, yeah, that's a long time with the cath! They took mine out while I was still a little numb because they said they didn't want me to feel it coming out. I was thankful. And my IV came right out too, I think....I don't remember but I do know it was out when they moved me to my room.

CoffeeBeanFiend91

My epidural was spotty. Even with adjustments I could feel every contraction in my vagina. 

KimmySchmidt

My epidural was a godsend. Total relief. Still was able to comfortably move my legs.

It was probably the one element of my labor that went as smoothly as possible, and thank god for that, because I was on it for about 10 hours. 

They turn it off when you start pushing, because it takes a while to wear off and they want you to be able to feel some sensation to work with the contractions. I pushed for 3 hours and it was completely out of my system by the time the baby was actually born, which was horrible, but really had nothing to do with the epidural itself. 

KimmySchmidt

Oh, also I labored for 5 hours to get to 2 cm, which is when I decided to get the epidural and my labor continued at its horribly slow pace. I think my labor was already so slow, it's impossible to say if the epi had any effect.

re: being cathed. I actually had one for the full day after. I don't remember exactly when they took it out. It may have been two days. This was due to my labor injuries, not the epidural.

marajay6

I was at 7cm when I got to the hospital at 8PM.  I requested an epidural right away and it probably got placed around 9 or 9:30. I am not sure if it slowed down my labor, but by midnight they had me start pushing. Even though I never pushed the button to give me more, I still couldn't feel a thing when it was time to push. The nurse had to tell me when to push by looking at the monitor. It took 1 1/2 hours of pushing and DS was born at 1:30 AM. I have heard some people say that feeling the urge to push helps you time your pushes better and have less taring.  I am not sure how true that is, but I had quite a bit of taring with my son - granted he was 9lbs 10 oz. Around 4 or 4:30 AM they moved me to recovery. I felt like I could transfer myself from my bed to wheelchair but they insisted on helping me. When I got to recovery, I wanted to sleep so I am not too sure how well I was able to move around. It was the most comfortable sleep I had during my stay - there was still enough epidural in my system to not be bothered by the uncomfortable bed.

danielle1290

I loved my epi! It gave me so much relief, I could barely feel anything from the waist down and I don't remember the needle really hurting at all (I think the contractions pretty much drowned out any other pain). At the hospital I go to, as long as there are no complications, it is pretty much mandatory that you have an hour of skin-to-skin after baby is born and I think most of the effects of the epi had worn off by the time I was done with that, it might have been 2 hours at the most. I do remember having a feeling in one of my legs, which I can only describe as what I would imagine a blood clot feeling like, kind of like a blockage or something, but this went away as soon as they stopped the epidural after giving birth. I remember having the urge to push even with the epidural and being aware of most contractions, they just weren't painful.

ETA: I was in labor for a total of 47 hours from the first contraction, so I don't know if I would have gotten through it without the epi since I was so exhausted, it helped me a lot to sleep and relax before DS's arrival.

mrsvoorhees-2

I wanted to add, they give you little shots of numbing stuff before you get the actual epidural, so there is no pain! The shots don't hurt either, just a little uncomfortable.

TheTamedShrew

JWarfield726 said:

With DD1, I went in for an induction. I had my epidural and long story short, after laboring for sevreal hours, the cord ended up wrapped around her neck and I had to go in for an emergency c-section . I didn't know until they began to surgery, that when the epidural was administered, the tube that was inserted into my spine was placed crooked...causing only half of my body to numb. Because of this, I felt EVERYTHING during the c-section on half of my body.

Because of what happened, my biggest fear with DS1 was the epidural...as I knew there was no way I could experience that pain again. Luckily, it all went well and I was completely numb for that csection. 

OMG what??! That's horrifying!



I loved my epidural. My labor was very very slow, and I waited until I was 5cm to get it, and was completely dilated 4 hours later. So I guess for me it sped things up.  While pushing, I could still feel a little bit of pressure enough to know when my contractions were happening.

JWarfield726

@TheTamedShrew Oh, I know it's horrifying.  From what I've heard, it's not all that common, just happened to be my luck!

mom2adoodle

Did anyone notice an affect on baby from the epi? I guess it's hard to isolate the variable and say "The epi caused my son to be drowsy and less alert" but I swear that's what some ladies on the internet say! lol

AmMcc12

Thank you for posting this. I have been wondering about this we well. I plan on laboring as long as possible without the epi, but and scared that when I want it they will tell me it's too late. I start birthing classes and have a meeting with the maternity care coordinator next week so hopefully I can get nor clarification on hospital practices around this. 

camichael84

@mom2adoodle It shouldn't make baby drowsy because it doesn't cross the bloodstream (based on what I was told at my birthing class). My daughter was very alert... crying before they suctioned her nose and mouth, wide eyed, and didn't sleep at all until we headed up to the postpartum rooms 2.5-3 hrs post birth. 

Trgree1712

Loved my epidural! I would recommend one to anyone having a vaginal birth. Once the doctor gave it to me I did not feel anything from the waist down and was able to watch movies and read while I progressed. The nurses did have to stop the drip after a while because it worked so well I couldn't feel when to push. I didn't have any tearing or major pain when pushing because of it. 

mrsvoorhees-2

My DD was very alert and nursed just fine right after birth, I didn't notice anything off about her from the Epi.

this time, after I get it, I plan to sleep! I regret not sleeping last time. 

Tippy05

The first time it was painful!  The shot itself was incredibly painful but after it was in (I think he had to readjust or something) it was great.  I have no idea how long I was cathed for but I know I had the IV for at least another day or so. I know I could move my feet but couldn't feel myself doing it. It was bizzare. 

The second time the epi was the best thing ever.  It was instant relief and I had no pain whatsoever. 

The epi had zero effect on either baby.

nativetexan512

JWarfield726 any idea why they didn't sedate you? I know two people who went in for a c section not completely numb, but the second the doctors figured it out they put both people under completely.

This sounds terrifying.

JennM205

nativetexan512 said:

JWarfield726 any idea why they didn't sedate you? I know two people who went in for a c section not completely numb, but the second the doctors figured it out they put both people under completely.

This sounds terrifying.

I was wondering the same thing - my sister wasn't fully numb with her first c-section and was put under general anesthesia as a result.  I can't BELIEVE they would let someone go through the pain of a c-section without being fully numbed!!  Horrifying!!

asht

JennM205 said:

nativetexan512 said:

JWarfield726 any idea why they didn't sedate you? I know two people who went in for a c section not completely numb, but the second the doctors figured it out they put both people under completely.

This sounds terrifying.

I was wondering the same thing - my sister wasn't fully numb with her first c-section and was put under general anesthesia as a result.  I can't BELIEVE they would let someone go through the pain of a c-section without being fully numbed!!  Horrifying!!

Usually they do a series of things to make sure you can't feel pain. I would hope people would speak up

berh2001

I was induced 2 weeks early and the pitocin contractions were excruciating.  So after a couple hours of "dealing" with the pain I asked for the epi.  It immediately removed the pain of the contractions so I could relax.  About 2 hours later I could feel the pressure and my body was telling me I had to push.  It was getting tough not to push while I waited for the doctor to come in.  I could pretty much feel everything while I pushed but it was pressure not pain.  They took my catheter out before I started pushing.  Once my son was out I told them I REALLY had to pee.  They made me hold it for about 30 mins but they knew I had feelings in my legs so they helped me to the bathroom and boy did I have to pee!  I think I peed like 24 oz...they made you pee in a bowl to measure your first urine after birth! Haha.

i will most likely get an epidural again.  My total labor start to finish was only 5 hours last time so it will depend hour quickly this one goes.

JWarfield726

@JennM205 @nativetexan512 @asht  They threatened me several times that they were going to "knock me out" if I didn't relax...and I begged them not to because it was my first born and I didn't want to miss her birth. Looking back, it was crazy for me to not just let them put me out. But I took the pain because I wanted to be awake. :-/

JennM205

@JWarfield726 While I think it's still horrifying (ouch!!!!), I can understand what you mean. My sister was practically traumatized after being put out during my niece's birth. She felt she was robbed of the experience and those first memories and it still plagues her to this day. She had next to no pain relief from her epidural so she had no choice but to go under. If she had been even the slightest numb, I bet she would have made a decision more similar to yours, if given the choice.

KimmySchmidt

mom2adoodle said:

Did anyone notice an affect on baby from the epi? I guess it's hard to isolate the variable and say "The epi caused my son to be drowsy and less alert" but I swear that's what some ladies on the internet say! lol

Baby got a 10 out of 10 on the apgar after hours of pitocin and epidural. She seemed perfect to me!